Petition launched against CCCFA

Squirrel boss John Bolton is getting good support for his petition to change the controversial Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act (CCCFA).

Wednesday, December 15th 2021, 6:00AM

by Eric Frykberg

Just on 3500 people have signed the petition against the Act saying it is costly, ineffective and unneeded in most cases, and should be reworked to remove the features that make it harder for ordinary people to buy a house.

The petition says the time to process a home loan has increased from five working days to more than 15 working days.

In addition, new home borrowers will expect to pay establishment fees going forward of $500 to $1,000.

The petition adds the CCCFA will make it harder for New Zealand's small business owners to raise capital using their family home which is the predominant way that they borrow.

It will also be harder on older borrowers who will be considered more vulnerable simply because of their age, and it will make bridging finance more difficult to get.

The petition also stresses that debt arrangements will be more complex after a divorce or separation. In addition, switching arrangements such as moving to an interest-only mortgage will be harder to manage, as will getting a top-up to a loan.

“The law change was designed to protect vulnerable borrowers from shop trucks and predatory lenders, but nobody in Government thought about the wider impacts on regular Kiwis trying to go about their lives,” the petition says.

The petition has been organised by John Bolton of the Auckland brokerage, Squirrel, operating as an individual.

He says his work has nothing to with company's brand, it is about the industry working together to solve a problem.

“This legislation is terribly written, poorly executed and needs to change,” he says.

The petition is available on Change.org.

People signing it have already listed several reasons, “The Government has no idea,” said one. “It is a ridiculous law,” said another. “I do not agree that drilling into private data to approve loans is OK,” said a third.

Tags: CCCFA John Bolton