Credit law confuses brokers and lenders

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 Credit providers and their intermediaries remain confused about the implementation of their responsibilities under new credit laws, according to credit ratings house Veda Advantage.

A spokesperon from Veda Advantage, Chris Gration, has said mortgage brokers and lenders have been focused on registering with ASIC by the June 30 deadline yesterday, but remained confused about the ongoing rollout by the regulator of the national credit regime.

Gration told the Australian Financial Review one grey area was the requirement to make reasonable enquiries into a client's circumstances when arranging a loan, with many brokers and lenders worried what the legal interpretation of "reasonable" might be by the courts.

Credit providers and brokers need to apply for an Australian credit license before January next year, giving them increased responsibility in assessing the suitability of borrowers.

  • Patrick on 3/08/2010 1:17:10 PM

    At common law what is "reasonable" is what a "reasonable person" would do. This is know as the Reasonable Man Test and you can discover the definition in about 500 or so years of British, Australian, Other Commonwealth and even American case law. Each of the thousands of cases may or may not apply to a given situation depending on the facts in that situation and how they compare to the facts in the precident case. Good Luck and Good Night

  • loanman on 3/08/2010 11:25:16 AM

    It depends which side of the fence you are on e.g. when in government what is reasonable is often directly opposed to what is reasonable when in opposition. Simple isn''t it!
    Feel a little exposed?

  • Albet on 2/07/2010 2:52:47 PM

    What is the definition of "reasonable" can someone please explain.

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