There are 3 core record keeping obligations under the National Credit Act, one of them a new licence condition:
- Credit licensees are obliged to retain financial records for 7 years (Section 95 National Credit Act);
- Credit Providers are obliged to provide copies of loan contracts, guarantees, mortgages, insurance contracts and notices during the life of the contract and for two years after it is ended (section 185 National Credit Code);
- A licensee must keep a copy of all preliminary and full suitability assessments for funded loans and a record of all material that forms the basis of an assessment of whether a credit contract or consumer lease will be unsuitable for a consumer in a form that will enable the licensee to give the consumer a written copy of the assessment if a request is made under section 120, 132, 143 or 155 of the National Credit Act, Clause 17 of pro forma licence conditions.
There is no obligation on a credit provider to provide a copy of the assessment or the reasons if the credit contract is not entered into or the credit limit is not increased. A credit assistance provider is not required to give the consumer a copy of the assessment if it does not provide credit assistance to the consumer.
RG 209 discusses the assessment obligations in detail.
RG 209.51 notes that “assignees to whom the rights of a credit provider under a credit contract have been assigned have an additional eight business days to comply with a request for a copy of the assessment if it is made within two years of the credit contract commencing. If the request is made after two years, the assignee has an additional four business days to comply: see reg 27 of the National Consumer Credit Protection Regulations 2010. Assignees should ensure that the credit provider assigning its rights under the credit contract provides the assignee with the relevant records of the preliminary or final assessment to ensure that the assignee is able to comply with the obligation to provide a copy of the assessment on request by the consumer.”
