8/31/2020
On August 26, the Chamber of Deputies approved an urgent request for analysis and voting on the Senate Bill that aims to improve the discipline of consumer credit and provide for the prevention and treatment of over-indebtedness (PL 3515/15) .
A problem that affects a representative number of Brazilians, over-indebtedness – thus considered the compromise of the consumer’s monthly income in such a way as to make it impossible to settle debts without compromising the existential minimum – reached even higher levels due to the deepening of the COVID-19 crisis.
Condemning offers and advertising with the use of artifice to harass and pressure the consumer or simply hinder the understanding of the burdens and risks of obtaining credit facilities, the Bill presents measures such as prohibiting the use of expressions such as “without interest”,“for free”,“zero fee” and all other sort of fine euphemisms, in addition to imposing on the supplier and / or intermediary a series of duties that, if not fulfilled, may have an impact on the reduction of interest, charges, among other and even, in certain cases, cause the non-enforceability of the debt.
Duties such as the need to provide adequate clarification to the consumer about the generic and specific consequences of the default; providing of information on the identity of the financing agent and deliver a copy of the contract to the consumer, the guarantor and other co-obligors, as well as the imposition of an obligation on the supplier to assess the consumer’s payment capacity should result in significant changes in the market and in the way of offering credit facilities.
In addition, the Bill proposes changes to the Consumer Protection Code, aiming at guaranteeing the over-indebted debtor in good faith with the means of renegotiating their debts, including providing for a specific judicial procedure to define a payment plan.
Author: Heitor Tales de Lima Fávaro
