What should you do if your maid lend money from money lenders
If you find out your maid has borrowed some money from money lenders, don’t panic, you are not liable to pay for any loan taken by your maid.
Here are some tips for you to follow what to do.
1,Check for the following things:
- How much she have borrowed
- How many money lenders she have borrowed from
- The interest rate
- Number of installments
- Why she borrowed
2, Find out who she borrowed from as there are two categories of money lenders: Licensed and Unlicensed(Loan Sharks). You can check through the licensed money lenders list to see who your helper has borrowed from.
1) If your helper has borrowed from licensed money lenders
- you can contact your agency to ask for advice on what to do and how to proceed.
- you can proceed to the money lender to negotiate for a reduction in the loan. If you want to be involved, you can have an informal arrangement with your helper to pay back the loan via an installment plan.
If they are harassing you, they are breaking the law and you are advised to report the harassment to the police "999".
2) If your helper has borrowed from loan sharks:
Do not worry, you are not obliged to pay back the loan!
If you are being harassed at your doorstep, you should ask the harasser to show their identification and call the police immediately. Normally, the harasser would be reluctant to show their identification and would leave.
If you are receiving threatening text messages or videos, you should be doing the following:
- Do not reply or interact with the loan shark
- Notify the police via the police emergency hotline "999" or via i-Witness, or call the National Crime Prevention Council's X-Ah Long hotline at 1800-924-5564
- Report the number as "Spam" and block the number using readily available spam filter application
Once you have accessed the situation, you have the option of going through this difficult situation with your maid or the possibility of cancelling the work permit or transferring your maid.
You can protect your FDW from falling prey to unscrupulous loan sharks or UMLs by doing the following:
- Instruct your FDW to stay away from loan sharks and not to assist them in any manner.
- Warn your FDW of the severe consequences if they are caught assisting the loan sharks in illegal activities. Their work passes will also be revoked.
- Members of the public may also call the National Crime Prevention Council’s X-Ah Long hotline at 1800-924-5664 if you suspect your FDW to be involved in any UML activities.
