Protecting Consumers in Consumer Credit Contracts in the Financial Crisis

The study analyses how the EU and national legislation protects the rights of consumers with consumer and mortgage credit contracts in the financial crisis, where many consumers are in default and are subject to enforcement proceedings. It examines whether and how the principle of responsible lending is able to prevent consumer over-indebtedness, what forbearance measures are used in practice to protect defaulting consumers, and how consumer rights are protected in the case of refinancing. It also assesses whether and to what extent there is a case for extending consumer credit regulation to micro-credit, deferred payments, and platform lending. Finally, it will look at abusive practices used to the detriment of consumers in case of debt recovery. The study focuses in particular on the experiences of the Nordic and Baltic credit market and also evaluates the effectiveness of the European consumer credit legislation.