By JOHN VAN KLAVEREN
A CORPORATE regulator has slammed two Geelong household goods rental companies for “irresponsible practices”.
Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASCI) hit out at Mobile Rentals and Zaam Rentals as a “crackdown” on rogue operators in the industry.
The credit licences of both companies had been cancelled, ASIC said.
Both had been told to write to customers advising them they no longer owed any monies to the companies and now owned the goods they had rented.
ASIC said surveillance of all Mobile Rentals’ franchisees found they operated with a disregard for credit laws.
Most franchisees were unlicensed and took none of the required responsible lending steps when entering into rental agreements, ASIC said.
The Mobile Rentals franchisees operated in Geelong, Ballarat and metropolitan Melbourne.
Zaam Rentals had a franchise in Belmont and three interstate.
“The targeting of poor and vulnerable consumers by rogue operators will not be tolerated,” ASIC deputy chairman Peter Kell said.
“Responsible lending laws aren’t to be taken lightly and breaching these laws can have severe consequences for a business, including franchisees.
“Franchisees who are involved in a business model that does not comply with the law will be held accountable.
“It is not good enough for a franchisee to claim they were only doing what the franchisor told them to do,” he said.
“Individuals are accountable for their own actions, whether they operate as a sole trader or under a franchise group.”
Written undertakings with ASIC excluded Mobile Rentals franchisee from the industry for three and a half years.
Two Zaam Rentals directors were banned from engaging in credit activities for six and four years.
