Consumer Credit Protection Act

The United States federal wage garnishment law, widely known as the Consumer Credit Protection Act guards employees from discharge by their employers because their wages have been garnished in any one week. It was approved by the government in 1968. The Wage and Hour Division of the United States Department of Labor includes the Employment Standards Administration, who administers the act. The informed use of credit is administered by the United States Congress and stabilizes economic acts to be enhanced with competition informed unto various financial institutions that are engaged in extension of consumer credit that would be strengthened otherwise by informed credit use.

source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumer_Credit_Protection_Act

Consumer Credit Act 2006

The Consumer Credit Act 2006 (c.14) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom intended to increase consumer protection when borrowing money.

Provisions

The main provisions of the Act are to extend the scope of the Consumer Credit Act 1974, to create an Ombudsman scheme, and to increase the powers of the Office of Fair Trading in relation to consumer credit. In addition, it permits borrowers to challenge in court "unfair relationships between creditors and debtors".

Consumer Credit Act 1974

The 2006 Act brings two further types of agreement under the scope of the 1974 Act:

* Consumer agreements above £25,000, to reflect growing levels of consumer borrowing and debt;
* In section 1, to include small, one-man businesses and partnerships of up to three people.

Ombudsman scheme

The 2006 Act gives consumers the option of using the Financial Ombudsman Service if they are unhappy with their lender's dispute resolution service, whether the lender consents or not. Complaints may also be raised against other types of credit related companies, such as debt-collection agencies.

Office of Fair Trading

The 2006 Act empowers the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to investigate applicants for consumer credit licences, to impose conditions on licences, and to impose civil penalties of up to £50,000 on companies which fail to comply with its conditions, appeals from which lie to the Consumer Credit Appeals Tribunal and thence, with leave, to the Court of Appeal.
source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumer_Credit_Act_2006

Consumer Credit Act 1974

The Consumer Credit Act 1974 (1974 c. 39) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that significantly reformed the law relating to consumer credit within the United Kingdom.

Prior to the Consumer Credit Act, legislation covering consumer credit was slapdash and focused on particular areas rather than consumer credit as a whole, such as moneylenders and hire-purchase agreements. Following the report of the Crowther Committee in 1971 it was decided that wide-ranging reform of consumer credit law was needed, and a bill to do this was introduced to Parliament. Despite its progress through Parliament being disrupted by a general election, the bill passed quickly through the legislative process thanks to support from both the government and the opposition, coming into law on 31 July 1974.

The Act introduces new protection for consumers and new regulation for bodies trading in consumer credit and related industries. Such traders must have full licenses from the Office of Fair Trading, which may be suspended or revoked in the event of irregularities. The Act also regulates what may be taken as security, limits the ways in which credit organisations can advertise and gives the county courts the ability to intercede in the case of unfair or unjust credit agreements. It also gives additional rights to the debtor, including certain limited rights to cancel concluded agreements. The Act was superseded by the Consumer Credit Act 2006, which significantly reformed the 1974 Act and made it largely irrelevant.

source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumer_Credit_Act_1974