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Saatja: Catalin-Gabriel Stanescu <[email protected]> Saadetud: 08.07.2020 16:06 Adressaat: Catalin-Gabriel Stanescu <[email protected]> Teema: Kind Request for Information - Research Project Funded by the European Commission Tähtsus: Kõrgeim Manused: image003.png; image004.png; image005.png; image006.png; image007.png; image008.png; image009.png; image010.png; ECHO_Survey_I_en_20200610.doc Dear Madam/Sir, My name is Catalin Gabriel Stanescu, I am an Assistant Professor and Marie Curie Fellow at the University of Copenhagen, currently managing a research project funded by the European Union - Horizon 2020 concerning Regulation of Abusive Non-Judicial Debt Collection in the European Union (ECHO - Grant number 798912). By non- judicial debt collection we refer here to all debt collection practices that do not involve any state judicial bodies (courts, bailiffs / executors, the police, etc), a phenomenon also known as 'inkasso'. In this regard, we contacted all consumer agencies and supervisory bodies of all the Member States in order to gather the information needed for the purpose of our research. Unfortunately, we received no answer from your Member State and in order to have a clear and representative image of regulation of abusive debt collection practices in the EU we need to obtain answers from all Member States. Thus, we seek your support in this endeavor, by kindly asking you to either fill and return the attached Questionnaire or to answer the questions below until 1st of August 2020. Answers can be inserted directly in the email. The information we seek is not sensitive, as we are interested in patterns and typologies (statistical quantitative data), not in individual cases, which may give rise to privacy concerns. We ascertain that the solicited information is public information, which can be disclosed under the relevant public data access legislation in your country, in a correct and timely fashion, without ethical or GDPR implications. The questions we seek answer to are: 1. Does your country have a sector specific legislation concerning the regulation of fair debt collection practices? If yes, please indicate the number, year, name of the law/regulation. This question seeks to establish whether your country has adopted any sector specific legislation / regulation dedicate or in connection to fair debt collection (inkasso) practices. 2. Does your country resort to EU law - such as the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive - in regulating fair debt collection practices? The 2016 Guidelines to the application of the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (UCPD) states that the directive also covers after-sale services, such as debt collection (inkasso). We are seeking to establish whether in your country the UCPD (through its national transposition) has been used to address the issue of unfair debt collection (inkasso) practices. 3. Do debt collection undertakings require a license to operate in your country? The question seeks to establish whether the national legislation establishes any administrative criteria for the functioning of debt collection (inkasso) undertakings or not. The question excludes original creditors, who should be able to pursue the recovery of their own debts. 4. Are debt collection undertakings in your country required to abide to a Code of Conduct in order to receive a license to operate? The question seeks to establish whether the acquiring of the license to operate is conditioned on the acquiescence to standards of good practices and whether good practices do actually exist within the industry at national or European level 5. Did your institution receive any complaints regarding abusive debt collection practices in the past 5 years? If yes, how many and how many have been found justified? 6. Did any of the complaints concern foreign debt collection undertakings? The question seeks to establish the existence of cross-border non-judicial debt collection (yes/know) and the size of the phenomenon (large, small). 7. Please indicate the types of complaints received by your institution in connection to abusive debt collection practices in the past 5 years: Examples can be complaints related to a) communication with consumer-debtors and debtor-related third parties (ie spouses, partners, parents or children), b) harassment of consumer-debtors and debtor-related third parties, c) violent or aggressive behavior against consumer-debtors or debtor-related parties, d) false, deceptive, or misleading forms or representations provided to consumer-debtors, e) to infringement of privacy of consumer debtors f) mistakes in connection with the debt (wrong person, wrong amount, etc) or other. 8. If you answered positively at Question 1, does your national law concerning fair debt collection practices require debt collection undertakings to validate the debt (ie to allow the consumer debtor to challenge the existence or the amount of the debt)? Are debt collection procedures suspended during the validation of the debt? 9. Are debt collection undertakings in your country allowed to add charges or other collection related fees to the debt? The question excludes interest and other fees established by the law or the original contract. 10.What types of remedies and dispute resolution mechanisms are available for consumers against abusive debt collection practices in your country (i.e.: ADR, administrative, civil, criminal)?  11.Please indicate any areas or suggestions you may have to improve the regulation of abusive debt collection practices in your country. The answer to this question is not mandatory. However, we would appreciate any thoughts or recommendations you may have. We look forward to your reply and we thank you in advance for your time and help! With Kind Regards, Catalin Stanescu Catalin-Gabriel Stanescu Assistant Professor / Marie Curie Fellow University of Copenhagen Faculty of Law Centre for Market and Economic Law Karen Blixens Plads 16 2300 København S DIR +45 35 33 43 65 [email protected] How we protect personal data