Client Newsletter

First mobile traders sentenced under new laws with increased penalties

The Commerce Commission have advised that mobile traders Goodring Company Limited (Goodring) and Betterlife Corporation Limited (Betterlife) have been fined a total of $171,500 after being sentenced in Auckland District Court.

They are the first to be sentenced under strengthened Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act 2003 (CCCFA) laws for lenders which came into force last year.

Goodring was fined $98,000 for breaches of the CCCFA, and the Financial Service Providers (Registration and Dispute Resolution) Act (FSPA). Betterlife was fined $73,500 for breaches of sections 17 and 32 of the CCCFA.

Goodring and Betterlife had earlier pleaded guilty to 28 charges and six charges respectively under the CCCFA, relating to their lending practices. Both companies failed to provide borrowers with the legally required information and the information was also not provided in a clear and concise way, as required by the Act. Goodring faced two additional charges under the FSPA. Under that Act, lenders must be registered on the Financial Service Providers register. Despite being aware of this requirement, Goodring was not registered.

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