• Do you need a loan and the lending company wants to sign a sale-and-leaseback agreement, e.g. for a fridge?
• Be careful as the costs of this type of leasing may be much higher than the maximum noninterest cost of consumer credit permitted by the provisions of law.
• The President of UOKiK Tomasz Chróstny has initiated the explanatory proceedings against three companies involved in such practice.

The Office of Competition and Consumer Protection receives complaints from consumers who unknowingly signed the sale-and-leaseback agreement for household products that they allegedly had sold to the lending company. In the course of the explanatory proceedings, the President of UOKiK wants to investigate whether in such a scenario the amount of the 'sale' does not, in fact, constitute a loan and the 'leasing interest' - a repayment for it, including the commission for the company. As per the consumer reports, it seems that the leased asset is not clearly specified. Moreover, one of the aggrieved consumers claims that he does not even own the cooker, which is the leased asset, and another one that the fridge referred to in the agreement was claimed beforehand by a repossession man.

-  We suspect that the leasing agreement concluded between lending companies or associated entities are an attempt to evade the provisions of consumer credit law. The law limits both the amount of loan interest, as well as its noninterest costs. The sale-and-leaseback agreements, which do not obligate the consumer to purchase the subject matter of the leasing agreement once it ends, are not subject to these provisions. This is why I would like to encourage the consumers to read the leasing agreements very carefully before signing them and do not agree to fictional leasing. As a consequence of such agreements, they may be forced to pay very high instalments, much higher than those permitted for consumer credits– says Tomasz Chróstny, the President of UOKiK.

The President of UOKiK has initiated the explanatory proceedings regarding the business activity of Everest Finanse S.A. and Everest Finance Sp. z o.o. Sp. k., operating under the name of " Bocian Pożyczki' and Capital Service S.A., as well the sale-and-leaseback agreements concluded by these companies.

Before you take out a loan

• Check whether the lending company or credit agent is listed in the correct register of the Financial Supervision Authority (Komisja Nadzoru Finansowego, KNF).
• Before signing, carefully read what the subject matter of the agreement is: a credit, a loan or leasing, and whether it corresponds to what a lending company representative or a credit agent claims it is. Carefully read the terms of the agreement as well as all the appendices.
• Calculate how much you will have to repay and what the credit costs will be - both interest, as well as miscellaneous and commission charges. Remember that there are statutory limits.

Interest – at the moment( as at 22 November 2021) the limit is 9.5% per year. This is twice the amount of statutory interests, which are calculated by adding 3.5 percentage points to the NBP reference rates, which at the moment is 1.25 %.

Non-interest costs can be set at up to 25%  of the borrowed amount plus 30% for each year of the loan, however, not more than 100% of the loan.

• Bear in mind that the costs of leasing agreements, which do not obligate the consumer to purchase the subject matter of the leasing agreement, can be much higher than in consumer credit agreements.
• If you are looking for consumer credit, compare the offers of different companies. A very useful tool for it is the APR - Annual Percentage Rate. It shows the cost of consumer credit as a percentage of the borrowed amount.
• Remember that you can cancel your consumer credit agreement within 14 days. In such a situation, you are required to pay back interest for the time the money was in your account.
• Should you have any doubts or problems, use free legal help.

Consumer assistance:

Tel. 801 440 220 or 22 290 89 16 – Consumer Hotline
E-mail: porady@dlakonsumentow.pl
 Consumer Ombudsmen – in your town or district

Additional information for the media:

UOKiK Press Office
Pl. Powstańców Warszawy 1, 00-950 Warszawa, Poland
Phone +48 695 902 088, +48 22 55 60 246
E-mail: biuroprasowe@uokik.gov.pl
Twitter: @UOKiKgovPL