The economic recession has forced banks to take precautions against potential non-performing loans -- including hiring repossession companies to go after those who default on auto loans.
Accompanied by KMT Legislator Apollo Chen (
After having missed three monthly payments of NT$24,000, Chang said he was told to pay up NT$35,000 if he wanted to reclaim his repossessed car, which the bank forcefully towed away without his consent.
Chang later negotiated the repossession fee down to NT$25,000 before he could get his car back.
Shortly afterwards, Macoto asked Chang to clear all loan payments in advance while charging him another NT$1,000 in cash for breaching the contract.
"It's just too expensive to have the car towed at a one-time cost of almost one fourth of the principle, which strikes me as a lot," Chang told the press conference yesterday morning, adding that the bank's receipt failed to give a detailed breakdown of the actual repossession costs.
With banks claiming their repossession mechanisms are in accordance with the law, Legislator Chen yesterday attacked banks for picking on the "little guys" and urged all loan takers to carefully read through contracts before signing.
"After failing to collect debts from big-time entrepreneurs, banks only take on little people and steal their money," Chen said, adding that more than 14 similar petitions have been filed this year while many may have remained silent.
Henry Lin (
Lin also argued that forcefully confiscating private properties without court orders was a violation of the Civil Law.
Wang Te-ming (
Wang, however, added the law needs to be revised to better safeguard consumers' rights.
As of the press time yesterday, Macoto had failed to respond to Chang's accusations, saying the bank is still looking into the dispute.
But other bank officials argued that "repossession costs are high and have nothing to do with how much clients owe banks."
"NT$35,000 is a standard charge for a one-time tow. It takes repossession companies a great deal of manpower to locate the cars," a bank manager surnamed Hsieh yesterday told the Taipei Times.
Hsieh added that banks would usually notify their clients before taking action. If they turn in the collateral as requested, clients won't have to bear any repossession costs before they pay up overdue loans, Hsieh added.
Another bank official, surnamed Lin, yesterday said that whether or not repossession costs are too high, remains debatable -- but banks should make such fines clear from the beginning, lest any dispute should arise.
Two legal repossession companies contacted by the Taipei Times yesterday refused to discuss their operations or comment on Chang's case.
Anna Bhobho, a 31-year-old housewife from rural Zimbabwe, was once a silent observer in her home, excluded from financial and family decisionmaking in the deeply patriarchal society. Today, she is a driver of change in her village, thanks to an electric tricycle she owns. In many parts of rural sub-Saharan Africa, women have long been excluded from mainstream economic activities such as operating public transportation. However, three-wheelers powered by green energy are reversing that trend, offering financial opportunities and a newfound sense of importance. “My husband now looks up to me to take care of a large chunk of expenses,
State-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) yesterday signed a letter of intent with Alaska Gasline Development Corp (AGDC), expressing an interest to buy liquefied natural gas (LNG) and invest in the latter’s Alaska LNG project, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a statement. Under the agreement, CPC is to participate in the project’s upstream gas investment to secure stable energy resources for Taiwan, the ministry said. The Alaska LNG project is jointly promoted by AGDC and major developer Glenfarne Group LLC, as Alaska plans to export up to 20 million tonnes of LNG annually from 2031. It involves constructing an 1,290km
NEXT GENERATION: The company also showcased automated machines, including a nursing robot called Nurabot, which is to enter service at a Taichung hospital this year Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) expects server revenue to exceed its iPhone revenue within two years, with the possibility of achieving this goal as early as this year, chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) said on Tuesday at Nvidia Corp’s annual technology conference in San Jose, California. AI would be the primary focus this year for the company, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), as rapidly advancing AI applications are driving up demand for AI servers, Liu said. The production and shipment of Nvidia’s GB200 chips and the anticipated launch of GB300 chips in the second half of the year would propel
‘MAKE OR BREAK’: Nvidia shares remain down more than 9 percent, but investors are hoping CEO Jensen Huang’s speech can stave off fears that the sales boom is peaking Shares in Nvidia Corp’s Taiwanese suppliers mostly closed higher yesterday on hopes that the US artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer would showcase next-generation technologies at its annual AI conference slated to open later in the day. The GPU Technology Conference (GTC) in California is to feature developers, engineers, researchers, inventors and information technology professionals, and would focus on AI, computer graphics, data science, machine learning and autonomous machines. The event comes at a make-or-break moment for the firm, as it heads into the next few quarters, with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s (黃仁勳) keynote speech today seen as having the ability to
RSS