Misleading and Deceptive Conduct:

The Australian Consumer Law (“ACL”), as contained at Schedule Two of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 may be one of your protections in claims relating to Mortgages. The ACL may enable remedies in response to conduct such as:

1. Unconscionable conduct which is, amongst other things, an abuse of superior bargaining power in dealings;
2. Unfair contract terms in standard form contracts;
3. Misleading or deceptive conduct;
4. False representations; and
5. Other unfair practices such as pyramid selling.

In relation to mortgages in particular, section 18 contains protections against Misleading and Deceptive Conduct and section 23 contains protections against unfair terms in standard term contracts.

Misleading and Deceptive Conduct, as outlined in section 18, states “(1) A person must not, in trade or commerce, engage in conduct that is misleading or deceptive or is likely to mislead or deceive.”

The protection against unfair terms may also benefit consumers against unfair conduct on the part of the mortgagor. These are terms that are unreasonably beneficial to the mortgagor, for example, that only the mortgagor can terminate the contract.

If you feel that you may have been induced to enter a standard form mortgage through Misleading and Deceptive Conduct, and have subsequently suffered through unfair contract terms, we recommend that you contact our firm and arrange an appointment to see one of our Mortgage & Caveat Dispute Solicitors. Please contact us by telephone on (02) 9233 4048 or send an email to info@navado.com.au. 

This webpage (and any material or wording appearing on this webpage) is provided for general information purposes only and does not constitute any Legal Advice. It does not take into account your objectives, your instructions or all of the relevant facts and/or circumstances. Navado accepts no responsibility to any person who relies on the information provided on this website. We further refer you to our Disclaimer.