CREDIT MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION OF THE PHILIPPINES (CMAP)

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Address : Room 401 Cattleya Condominium, 235 Salcedo Street, Legaspi Village, Makati City, Metro Manila

Tel. No. : (632) 812-9880 / 817-8386

Fax. No. : (632) 892-9102

URL www.cmap.com.ph

The Credit Management Association of The Philippines, also known as CMAP governs all financial institutions that provide loans and credit. Its members are banking, financing, services, trading, manufacturing and insurance sectors. CMAP aims to instill, develop and nurture credit consciousness, responsibility and discipline among ourselves and among credit grantors private sectors and to promote active and voluntary interchange, and mutual reciprocal use, of quality credit information.

All loan and credit information is managed by CMAP, so whether you have made all of your monthly payments on time, paid off a loan, or defaulted on a loan, all is kept in CMAP, typically for a period of 5 years. Old names are removed allegedly in order to prevent overloading of data.

But some say your name will be on CMAP listing permanently, the record will only be updated showing CLEARED/PAID once you have paid your loan. But this is not automatic. You have to go to their office and present all the proof of payments you made and certification that you have settled your arrears. But do not give out original copies.Sometimes they tend to pressure you to give out original documents.

When you try to open a bank account or apply for a loan, CMAP is checked first. Also when you apply for a loan or credit card, your eligibility and rates are determined by your CMAP credit score. Here are the current score rankings:

Excellent Credit - 750-850

Good Credit - 660-749

Fair Credit - 620-659

Bad/Poor Credit - 350-619

No Credit - 0-0

Check this link to read a case decided by Regional Trial Court (RTC) where CMAP was made to pay damages for keeping the name of an importer in the CMAP listing of court cases for 27 years and thereby causing damage to the importer:

https://sites.google.com/site/momarcoimport/cmap-decision

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Non Payment Of Credit Card Debt

Non Payment Of Credit Card Debt

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Failure to pay one's credit card debt will definitely not get you into prison. This is a rule enshrined by no less than our 1987 Constitution which states that “No person shall be imprisoned for debt or non-payment of a poll tax” (Article III, Sec. 20). This will forever be the rule such that not even a new law passed by Congress can modify or abrogate it, unless the Constitution is properly amended or revised under procedures prescribed by law, i.e. constitutional convention, constituent assembly or peoples initiative.

This therefore makes non-payment of credit card debt only a civil case. The proper case would be an action for collection of sum of money. However, Republic Act No. 8484 or the Access Devices Regulation Act of 1998 criminally punishes any act of obtaining money or anything of value through the use of an access device, e.g. credit card, with intent to defraud or with intent to gain and fleeing thereafter. Section 14 of the same law further provides that “A cardholder who abandons or surreptitiously leaves the place of employment, business or residence stated in his application or credit card, without informing the credit card company of the place where he could actually be found, if at the time of such abandonment or surreptitious leaving, the outstanding and unpaid balance is past due for at least ninety (90) days and is more than Ten thousand pesos (P10,000.00), shall be prima facie presumed to have used his credit card with intent to defraud.”

Thus, changing your residential address may be used by credit card companies or their agents such as collection agencies as evidence or proof of such intent to defraud. You may now be then prosecuted criminally under said law.

If the debt is debt does not exceed One Hundred Thousand Pesos (P100,000.00) exclusive of interest
and costs, a  small claims case may be filed under the 1998 Rules on Small Claims (A.M. 08-8-7-SC, effective starting October 1, 2008) which Rule requires only 1 hearing, and any court decision rendered therein shall become immediately final and non-appeallable. This means that the proceedings will not take long unlike ordinary cases.

In the event that the debtor or credit cardholder is being harassed by credit card companies or collection agents, they may write to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) at consumeraffairs@bsp.gov.ph about the collection agency concern.The BSP issued Circular 454, Series of 2004 (September 24, 2004) which defines unfair collection practices among banks, credit card companies and other agents;  mandates that banks, credit card companies and their agents must observe good faith and reasonable conduct and refrain from unscrupulous or untoward acts; and also enumerates what are deemed unfair collection practices, i.e.:

a) the use or threat of violence or other criminal means to harm the physical person, reputation, or property of any person;
b) the use of obscenities, insults, or profane language which amount to a criminal act or offense under applicable laws;
c) disclosure of the names of credit cardholders who allegedly refuse to pay debts, except as allowed under Subsec. X320.9 and 4301N.9;
d) threat to take any action that cannot legally be taken;
e) communicating or threat to communicate to any person credit information which is known to be false, including failure to communicate that a debt is being disputed;
f) any false representation or deceptive means to collect or attempt to collect any debt or to obtain information concerning a cardholder; and
g) making contact at unreasonable/inconvenient times or hours which shall be defined as contact before 6:00 A.M. or after 10:00 P.M., unless the account is past due for more than sixty (60) days or the cardholder has given express permission or said times are the only reasonable or convenient opportunities for contact.

Collection agencies earn on commission basis ("no collection, no commision"). Some of them are independent businesses who buy the delinquent accounts from banks or credit card companies for small amount. Some of them resort to harassment or other unlawful activities just to collect.

Action for collection of sum of money if based on written contract prescribes in 10 years.

Negative effects/consequences

Not paying your credit card debt will reflect badly on your credit history. Which means it will be difficult for you to get a personal loan when you need one.

Aside from that, some companies do check the credit history of their job applicants so a bad credit history may affect you if you’re looking for employment.

Related Post:
CREDIT MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION OF THE PHILIPPINES (CMAP)