Consumer Credit Law has historically been a complex and interesting area of law. Unfortunately, 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. Fortunately, Dennis Rosenthal's Consumer Credit Law and Practice - A Guide provides an excellent flashlight for anyone interested in this area of law.
Written by a leading consumer credit lawyer, Denis Rosenthal, this extremely welcome third edition incorporates all of the recent changes resulting from the gradual amendment of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 by the Consumer Credit Act 2006. The material is written in an enjoyable and engaging way and combining this with the author’s extensive experience means the issues are comprehensively, coherently and lucidly dealt with. Consumer Credit Law and Practice - A Guide also includes an excellent index, allowing the reader to quickly locate the relevant section, and is divided into manageable sections meaning points are quickly understood.
For anyone interested in this engaging area of law, there are few guides to the legislation. Consumer Credit Law and Practice - A Guide allows experienced lawyers to double check quick points and more inexperienced readers (like junior lawyers, students or consumers) to quickly understand the legislative framework. For example, the author considers in superb detail the topical issues of enforceability of consumer credit and hire agreements. To further help the reader's understanding, the author breaks the material down into small segments and make excellent use of bullet and numbered paragraphs.
Like previous editions, Rosenthal clearly sets out the key principles referring the reader, 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. This analysis is excellent.
Consumer Credit Law and Practice - A Guide achieves its aim of providing a clear explanation of consumer credit law with considerable ease. It provides an excellent account of the legislative framework and is written in a logical and engaging way. Whilst its price has increased substantially from the previous paperback edition (this new edition is a hardback), it remains an ideal text for anyone studying, practising or interested in this fascinating area of law.
Reviewed on 12 November 2008
Student Law Journal