Late payment fee
If a borrower does not pay, or is late in paying, the interest on or repayment of his/her loan, a lender may charge costs for this. These costs are referred to as a late payment fee. It has been laid down in various Caribbean Netherlands laws (WfmBES: Articles 5:13, 5:15, BfmBES: Articles 7:6, 7:21, RfmBES: Article 2:5b) that this fee may not be higher than a predetermined percentage. This percentage is determined annually by a ministerial regulation and equals the maximum effective annual interest rate (APR). Information about the late payment fee must be provided to the consumer before the credit agreement is concluded.
Calculation of late payment fee
The maximum permitted late payment fee must be calculated on a daily basis using a specific formula. The formula and an example of how the formula is applied are provided in the adjacent link.
Voidability of agreement in the event that maximum fee is exceeded
If a credit agreement is concluded whereby higher fees are demanded from the consumer than the statutory maximum permitted, then this consumer has the right to have the agreement nullified. The lender does not have this right. If the consumer makes use of his/her right to have the agreement nullified, he/she must repay the loan received.
Extrajudicial collection costs
t could be the case that a lender hires a collection agency that charges the costs. These extra costs are also referred to as collection costs or extrajudicial collection costs. The explanatory notes to the RfmBes show that in 2012 it was established that the extrajudicial collection costs amount to a maximum of 15 percent of the principal amount of the credit. Information about extrajudicial costs must be provided to the consumer before the credit agreement is concluded.