Written by Dennis Rosenthal
Consumer Credit Law has historically been a complex and interesting area of law. Unfortunately for practitioners and their clients, it is commonly misunderstood. The Consumer Credit Act 1974, which intended to make this area of law simpler, is nearly two hundred sections long and commonly avoided by practitioners and students alike. Dennis Rosenthal’s Guide to Consumer Credit Law and Practice manages to overcome these problems and provide an excellent flashlight through this area of law.
The key principles are clearly set out and the author refers, where appropriate, to the important authorities. For example, the author considers the decision in Branwhite v Worcester Works Finance Company [1969] 1 AC 552, which established that in a unregulated credit agreement the supplying dealer will not ordinarily be the finance company’s agent. He then considers the important (but often overlooked) decision in Lease Management Services v Purnell Secretarial Services [1994] CCLR 127 where the court decided that the finance company could be the supplier’s agent, but only where the agreement used by a finance company for leasing purposes misled the customer to believe they were leasing the equipment from the supplier rather than the finance company.
The text is written in an enjoyable and engaging way. The author’s experience means that the issues are comprehensively dealt with in a lucid and coherent way. Guide to Consumer Credit Law and Practice is also well written and has an excellent index which allows the reader to quickly locate the relevant section. The material is divided into manageable section so that the points are not lost in paragraphs of text. However, because the text was published in 2002 it does not consider the impact of the Consumer Credit Act 2006. The reader should, therefore, treat the text with caution and find out of the law has been updated or revised since publication. That said, this is a minor issue on an otherwise excellent text.
Guide to Consumer Credit Law and Practice achieves its aim with considerable ease. It provides an excellent account of the consumer credit law and is written in a logical and engaging way. At only £27.00, it is an ideal text for anyone studying, practising or interested in this area of law. I hope the author decides to revise the text and release a third edition!
Reviewed on 27 November 2007 by Russell J Kelsall, Solicitor, The Student Law Journal
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