Municipal debt assistance

There is a solution for people with problematic debts, under certain conditions. One may be eligible for partial forgiveness of all kinds of debts. The first step is to stabilize the (financial) situation so that there are no new debts. Some people can arrange this themselves, for others it is necessary to find a debt relief buddy, a budget manager or a protective administrator.

If the situation is stable (enough) and you meet certain conditions, you can apply for debt assistance from the municipality. The municipality will make an official decision on whether you qualify for this.

If the municipality decides that you are eligible for debt assistance, they will start working on your case. They check if further stabilization is necessary, and they contact all your creditors. The municipality calculates how much you could save for your creditors over a period of (usually) 18 months. Based on this, the municipality will make a proposal to your creditors for the forgiveness of part of your debts. If the creditors agree on this amicable process, the period of (usually) 18 months will start. During this entire period, you are obliged to follow all kinds of rules and conditions. If the amicable process is completed successfully, you should be rid of your debts.

The municipality may decide that you are not eligible for municipal debt assistance. The municipality can also decide to terminate the debt assistance prematurely. If you disagree with such a decision, you can file an objection with the municipality. Law Firm Elbertse can help with this.

If you follow all the rules and meet all the conditions, it may still happen that the debt assistance is terminated. This happens when your creditors do not agree on the forgiveness, and this forgiveness can’t be enforced through a so-called compulsory agreement. If debt assistance ends for this reason, the debt counselor will help you to submit a request to the court to be admitted to the debt relief program under the Debt Relief Act for Natural Persons. Click here for a separate page about this program.

Pijnacker, Nootdorp and Delfgauw are three parts of the municipality Pijnacker-Nootdorp.