When the consumer lease must be assessed as unsuitable—remaining in lease
142 When the consumer lease must be assessed as unsuitable—remaining in lease
Requirement to assess the lease as unsuitable
For a preliminary assessment under subsection 139(2) about remaining in a consumer lease, the licensee must assess that the lease will be unsuitable for the consumer if the lease will be unsuitable for the consumer under subsection (2).
Civil penalty: 5,000 penalty units.
Even if the lease will not be unsuitable for the consumer under subsection (2), the licensee may still assess that the lease will be unsuitable for other reasons.
Particular circumstances when the lease will be unsuitable
The lease will be unsuitable for the consumer if, at the time of the preliminary assessment, it is likely that:
the consumer will be unable to comply with the consumer’s financial obligations under the lease, or could only comply with substantial hardship if the consumer remains in the lease in the period covered by the preliminary assessment; or
the lease will not meet the consumer’s requirements or objectives if the consumer remains in the lease in the period covered by the preliminary assessment; or
if the regulations prescribe circumstances in which a consumer lease is unsuitable—those circumstances will apply to the lease if the consumer remains in the lease in the period covered by the preliminary assessment.
For the purposes of paragraph (2)(a), it is presumed that, if the consumer could only comply with the consumer’s financial obligations under the lease by selling the consumer’s principal place of residence, the consumer could only comply with those obligations with substantial hardship, unless the contrary is proved.
Information to be used to determine if lease will be unsuitable
For the purposes of determining under subsection (2) whether the lease will be unsuitable, only information that satisfies both of the following paragraphs is to be taken into account:
the information is about the consumer’s financial situation, requirements or objectives, or any other matter prescribed by the regulations under paragraph 140(1)(d) or (e);
at the time of the preliminary assessment:
the licensee had reason to believe that the information was true; or
the licensee would have had reason to believe that the information was true if the licensee had made the inquiries or verification under section 140.
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