Less than three weeks remain before the credit amnesty deadline expires.

Less than three weeks remain before the credit amnesty deadline expires.

The office of the credit information Ombudsman has, therefore, urged consumers who still have qualifying judgment listings to take advantage of this opportunity before the deadline on December 31.

The amnesty was granted to consumers when the National Credit Act was implemented in June this year.

The major benefit for consumers is that they will be reprieved as judgment listings remain at the credit bureau for 5 years.

The other benefit is removal of the judgment listing from the credit bureau without applying for rescission in court, which is usually at the consumer's own expense.

This early removal could enable qualifying consumers, who had previously been declined credit due to judgment listings, to become eligible when applying for credit.

The qualifying criteria and process is as follows: Outstanding judgments of up to R50000 granted before September 1 last year and paid in full before December 31 this year qualify for removal from the credit bureau listings.

l Contact the credit grantor who took the judgment with your account number;

l Verify the outstanding amount;

l Pay the full amount before 31 December;

l Request written proof from the credit grantor that the debt was paid in full.

With this proof you can then contact the credit bureau.

The bureau will then validate the letter with the credit grantor and remove the data from your credit profile.