Thirty years after the vote, in December 1989, of the Neiertz law, named after the socialist deputy behind this pioneering text, the fight against over-indebtedness displays a positive outcome. In 2019, 81,000 people applied for over-indebtedness commissions for the first time, according to the latest figures published Thursday, February 6 by the Banque de France. "In one year, their number has dropped by 8%," says Stéphane Tourte, director in charge of over-indebtedness of individuals at the Banque de France.
A total of 143,080 files were submitted in order to defer, reschedule and even write off debts. "This number is down 12%, it's considerable," says the expert, who points out that in 2014, there were 230,000 over-indebted households. The total amount of debts amounted to 6.1 billion euros in 2019, down 63% over eight years!
The impact of the Borloo, Lagarde and Hamon laws
So many positive signals that the Governor of the Banque de France, François Villeroy de Galhau, associates with "a better economic environment, falling unemployment, low interest rates making borrowing less painful but above all with a preventive impact of three reforms ”. The Borloo (2003), Lagarde (2010) and Hamon (2014) laws have helped to tighten the framework for access to consumer credit and the duration of recovery plans.
"These three essential alterations to the initial text have enabled the over-indebtedness procedure to follow the evolution of our society," confirms Jean-Louis Kiehl, president of the Crès Federation, a network of thirty local associations supporting over-indebted people, created in the wake of the Neiertz law. But "this decline does not mean that over-indebted households are making themselves known, many do not dare or think they can do it alone," he insists.
Affected middle class households
The first victims of over-indebtedness are single-parent families (21%), who are more fragile, headed by single mothers, and especially the working poor. "But more and more people from the middle class are taking out a mortgage to afford a roof over their heads and consumer loans to pay for work or children's studies and then find themselves underwater to cope to their current expenses ”, summarizes Jean-Louis Kiehl.
The professional also regrets that certain profiles such as the self-employed and micro-entrepreneurs remain excluded from the over-indebtedness procedure and "always depend on the commercial courts", not always ready to examine their files. "Over the past year, over-indebtedness commissions have been managing former entrepreneurs who have personal debts or social security contributions," emphasizes Stéphane Tourte: 1,650 people benefited from them.