The Office of Competition and Consumer Protection has received complaints from consumers who unknowingly, instead of a loan agreement, signed a leaseback agreement for white goods that they had allegedly sold to a financing company. The President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection, in an investigation, wants to determine whether, in such a scenario, the amount from the „sale” in fact does not constitute a loan, but a „lease installment” of its repayment including the commission to the company.
Consumers point out that in such contracts, the object of the lease is specified very generally. One complainant believes that there is no stove at all, which is the object of the lease, and another that the refrigerator written in the contract was previously seized by a bailiff.
„We suspect that the lease agreements entered into with loan companies or their affiliates are an attempt to circumvent consumer credit laws. The law limits both the amount of interest charged on loans and their noninterest expenses. Leaseback agreements, in which there is no obligation for the consumer to purchase the object of the agreement at the end of the agreement, are not subject to these laws. Therefore, I warn consumers to read loan agreements carefully before signing and not to agree to sham leases. As a consequence of such agreements, they may pay very high installments, much higher than those allowed for consumer loans” – says Tomasz Chróstny, President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection.
In the course of the explanatory proceedings, the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection intends to examine the activity of the companies Everest Finanse S.A. and Everest Finanse Sp. z o.o. Sp. k. operating under the name „Bocian Pożyczki” and Capital Service S.A. and consumer leaseback agreements concluded by them.
