According to the financial Services Agency, the number of debtors who borrowed money from over 5 finance companies was estimated about 1,250,000 at the end of December 2007 whereas it is generally said that the debtors in over-indebtedness are over 2,000,000.
It was reported in the session of the consumer issue committee of the rural democratic party.
The history and present condisiton concerning this issue in Japan is well explaiend in recent essay in English.
Categories: over-indebtedness
The METI may consider regulating an excessive sales of consumer product or service in door step selling. It shall be basis of the Specific Commercial Practices Act reform. The law revision is scheduled in current diet session.
According to the Jiji Press on 28th February 2008, a consumer can rescind a contract for a year that is considered as an excessive sales. Whilst the consumer can conduct his cooling off cancelation right, the consumer can cancel this contract even if a cooling off period terminated; but the bill does not stipulate the criteria regarding whether it is considered as excessive sales.
The concept of this article is based on the idea of a suitability rule. The rule tends to be referred in various types of consumer regulations except the financial services trading. The significant feature of this law revision is that the bill provides the rescission right to a consumer as a civil penalty. So far the breach of the suitability rule consists of administrative sanction in any consumer protection regulations. It may affect the coming Consumer Contract Law reform.
Categories: cancellation · doorstep selling · suitability · unfair trade practices
The prohibition of unsolicited by opt-in mail shall be stipulated in the bill of the Specific Commercial Practices Act. The bill is going to be deliberated in diet the next diet cession, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported on 27th February 2008.
Comming bill
The bill shall principally outlaw the unsolicited mail as well as the forthcoming Act on Regulation of Transmission of Specified Electronic Mail bill. For the purpose of making criminal sanction easier, the bill will impose an advertiser to preserve the record of an unsolicited mail; the authority can investigate a material or a property of the advertiser to a third party such as a financial sector; if the person refuse it, he/she will be penalized.
Damage
Where the advertiser does not get acceptance of deliberation of mail to a receiver, he has to specify it on his mail; however, beyond 1% of senders abide this rule.
Categories: spam · unfair trade practices
The application of the suitability rule is expanding to the general consumer transaction gradually.
Court of appeal
The Takamatsu Appeal Court approved the original court ruling on 22th July 2007. The original court ruled that excessive kimono sales was void by virtue of the breach of public moral and ordered the sales company and the connected credit company to pay compensation, on 29th January 2008. The ruling of appeal court said as followes.
The most of goods that the plaintiff purchased were expensive products like as Kimono, Japanese traditional cloth. The defendant selling store had duty not to exercise a excessive sales with consumer; the trading was necessary to be suitable with the client’s understanding and needs of the trading; it might be estimated by her age, occupation, income, trading history in past, financial status and the circumstance of her life. Same duty was imposed to the Credit companies connected with the selling store and loaned the payment of the purchasing products, therefore they may not loan excessively beyond the borrower’s repayment capability; it was basis on good faith (civil code, section 1(2)).
The ruling also said that the contracts of selling and credit in case degree of the excessiveness was outstandingly could be void by virture of the public moral (civil code, section 90).
Law reform
The Installment Sales Law prohibits the excessive lending (art. 34); but the breach of the obligation has no effective sanction including civil penalty; the article is only in nature of declaration. While the METI considers the law reform of credit transaction, the effective regulation of excessive lending is targeted in forthcoming law revisions; it can be seen in the METI report on 10th November 2007. Above mentioned rulings shall get behind this law reform.
Categories: consumer credit · financial services · lender liability · liability · suitability
Our government would raise a criminal penalty up to 30,000,000 yen if spam sender is against the ministerial order. It would be stated in the Act on Regulation of Transmission of Specified Electronic Mail, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported on 11th February 2008.
law reform
The Act, which is going to submit our parliament in February 2008, also will prohibit spam in Opt-in basis. The bill also would ask a spam sender to write down his name, mailing address on his mail. The bill also demands to hold a record of receiver’s approval to the sender.
The bill will prohibit and penalize such practices whereas a spam which was sent from overseas is not regulated under the current act.
Categories: spam · unfair trade practices
The detriment by unauthorized withdrawal of bank deposit is getting worse comparing last year. It was reported by the Japanese Bankers Association in Japan on 7th February 2008. This finding was made clear by survey to the 178 banks nationwide.
Figure
The number of such scams is 181 cases and the damage amount is about 133,000,000 yen, in 2007. Each figure is increasing rather than last year: the number was 44 cases and the amount of detriment was 43,000,000 yen in 2006.
Depositor protection
According the Depositor Protection Act, only damages of deposit withdrawn by plastic cards are compensated; the detriment by other withdrawing measures, a savings passbook and internet banking, is not reimbursed at all.
The necessity of solution
However, under the increasing scam, Japanese Bankers Association may consider the repayment in the case of withdrawing deposit by the savings passbook or a internet banking voluntary.
