When I handed over my passport to renew my residency visa I discovered a bank has filed a police case against me. This is because of defaults on a loan with a total outstanding amount of Dh16,000. I have already informed them that I will be making a payment for the full amount on October 29 but they are still making a case against me. I want to know how to clear that police case as only then can I renew my visa. SV, Dubai
If a person defaults on their loan repayments for more than a couple of months, a bank has the right to take further action and register a police case. Although SV says he has told the bank that full repayment is forthcoming, until they can see evidence of this it is unlikely they will withdraw the case. It usually takes some time for a case to go to court so I would expect that the bank is doing this to ensure that payment is actually made. Often a partial payment or even a reduced monthly payment will buy some time as it shows a willingness to pay, but if there have been no payments at all for several months then the borrower is in clear breach of the loan conditions and the bank will take steps to reclaim its money. The police case will most likely only be cleared once all outstanding payments have been made.
Keren Bobker is an independent financial adviser with Holborn Assets in Dubai, with over 20 years’ experience. Contact her at keren@holbornassets.com. Follow her on Twitter at @FinancialUAE.
The advice provided in our columns does not constitute legal advice and is provided for information only.
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