Work undertaken in banking and recovery matters
This chamber has acted as an authorised advocate for a district cooperative bank, and the same body of work is undertaken for individual borrowers and guarantors. The subject requires familiarity with loan documentation, the procedure for recovery, and the defences genuinely available to a borrower as against those that merely delay.
Advice begins with an examination of the loan file rather than with the notice. Sanction terms, disbursement entries, security documents, statements of account and the sequence of demands together determine what can be claimed and what can be resisted.
Matters commonly handled
- Recovery proceedings instituted by cooperative and commercial banks
- Defence of borrowers and guarantors in recovery and enforcement matters
- Examination of loan, mortgage, hypothecation and guarantee documents
- Disputes over statements of account, interest calculation and appropriation
- Cheque dishonour complaints arising out of loan repayment
- Notices relating to enforcement of security interest and their reply
Guarantors and co-obligants
Guarantors are frequently unaware of the extent of the obligation they have undertaken until a demand reaches them. The liability of a guarantor is ordinarily co-extensive with that of the principal borrower, but its precise scope depends on the wording of the deed of guarantee and on whether the bank has complied with its own conditions.
Where a guarantor is proceeded against, the first step is to obtain and read the executed documents, since defences relating to variation of terms, release of security or discharge often appear on the record itself.
How the matter proceeds
A recovery matter usually begins with a demand or notice, followed by proceedings before the forum designated by the governing statute, and thereafter by execution or enforcement. At each stage a borrower has a limited window in which to place a considered reply on record, and a bank has an obligation to establish the debt with proper proof.
Realistic advice is given about timelines and cost at the outset. Where a settlement is in the client's interest, that is stated plainly rather than discovered after prolonged litigation.
This page provides general information about legal procedure and does not constitute legal advice. No outcome is promised or guaranteed. Every matter turns on its own facts and on the law applicable at the relevant time.