Information for Consumers: Consumer Credit
Information for consumers: consumer credit
Read this text from a website the European Commission has established to inform the public about its work and then do the tasks below:
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25 / “How will I be able to make the best decision when taking out credit?”
Yiannis, from Greece, wanted to buy a motorboat to go on trips round the Greek islands with his son. He hadn’t managed to save up enough from his job, so he was thinking about taking out a loan.
“Borrowing the money means that I’ll have enough to buy the boat straight away and can then pay back the amount over time. But how can I be sure that I won’t mistakenly opt for a bad deal?”
The opportunity to borrow money (consumer credit) is a useful way for consumers to purchase things such as cars, holidays, furniture or clothes, without needing to pay the full amount up front. However, too much exposure to credit may also be a risk.
You as a consumer have certain minimum rights when you take out consumer credit, wherever you are in the EU. European legislation provides certain obligations for creditors that cover both the terms of the credit agreement (e.g. the right to early repayment) and the information you are entitled to receive.
By the latest from May 2010 on, after the transposition of the new Consumer Credit Directive in national law, your position as consumer will be reinforced:
In good time before concluding a contract, the creditor will have to provide you with a comprehensible set of information on the credit. This information will have to be given to you in a standardised form (Standard European Consumer Credit Information). It will include the Annual Percentage Rate of Charge, i.e. a single figure representing the costs of the credit.
The creditor will have to indicate key information in the contract.
If you regret your decision to take out a credit, you will be entitled to withdraw from the credit agreement without giving any reason within a period of 14 days after the conclusion of the contract.
You will have the right to repay your credit earlier than foreseen in the contract, while the creditor can ask for a fair and objectively justified compensation.
Source:
Tasks
a) Find expressions in the text that mean the following:(1) Verbraucherdarlehen
(2) effektiver Jahreszins
(3) Kreditbetrag
(4) (Kredit-) Vertrag
(5) Gläubiger/Kreditgeber
(6) vorzeitige (Darlehens-) Tilgung / b) Translate these expressions into German:
(1) to pay the full amount up front
(2) the terms of the credit agreement
(3) before concluding a contract
(4) to take out a credit (loan)
(5) to withdraw from the credit agreement
(6) to repay your credit earlier than foreseen
c) Mediation: Summarize the consumer rights regarding European Consumer Credits in German.
Solutions
a) / (1) consumer credit(2) Annual Percentage Rate of Charge
(3) amount
(4) credit agreement, contract
(5) creditor
(6) early repayment
b) / (1) den vollen Betrag sofort bezahlen
(2) Bedingungen/Konditionen des Darlehensvertrages
(3) vor Vertragsabschluss
(4) einen Kredit/ein Darlehen aufnehmen
(5) vom Darlehensvertrag zurücktreten
(6) den Kredit früher zurückzahlen als vorgesehen
c) / Um Verbraucher zu schützen, stehen ihnen überall in der EU bei der Aufnahme eines Verbraucherkredits bestimmte Mindestrechte zu:
Der Kreditgeber ist verpflichtet, dem Kreditnehmer rechtzeitig vor Vertragsabschluss verständliche, EU-weit standardisierte Informationen zum Verbraucherdarlehen auszuhändigen. Dazu gehört auch der effektive Jahreszins, welcher die Kreditkosten in einer einzigen Zahl wiedergibt.
Der Kreditgeber muss im Vertrag bestimmte Schlüsselinformationen festhalten.
Der Kreditnehmer hat das Recht, innerhalb von 14 Tagen ohne Angabe von Gründen von der Kreditvereinbarung zurückzutreten.
Der Kreditnehmer hat das Recht, den Kreditbetrag früher als im Vertrag vorgesehen zurückzuzahlen, wobei der Kreditgeber hierfür eine angemessene Entschädigung verlangen darf.