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Recently, ASIC raised concerns about the pre-contractual conduct and advertising of popular vehicle lease provider, Green Light Auto Finance Pty Ltd (Green Light), trading as Carboodle.

Misleading statements

Right to purchase

ASIC required Green Light to clarify statements in its advertisements that may have misled consumers. These statements were:

  • ‘Making car ownership easier’
  • ‘Put simply, Carboodle is a smarter way to buy a car’
  • ‘At the end of 48 months…you can hand the car back to Carboodle with no further obligations, or purchase the car from Carboodle at the residual price’

In fact, Green Light’s contracts did not give consumers any right to buy the leased vehicles. Under the contracts, consumers can ‘offer to purchase’ the vehicle, but Green Light does not have to accept the offer. ASIC found these representations of ownership may mislead consumers by encouraging them to believe they had a right to purchase, even though no such right existed in the contracts.

Pre-authorised respossession

Also, Green Light included a ‘Form 13’ for consumers to sign as part of its lease contract documents.  This ‘Form 13’ supposedly ‘pre-authorised’ the repossession of leased vehicles, in the event of a default.

In fact, by law, the repossession of vehicles from private property can only occur with a court order, or the written consent of the occupier of the property, in the form of a ‘Form 13’ consent. This ‘Form 13’ consent should be signed before the repossession, not as part of the lease contract documents.

How can CCLSWA help?

Last year, CCLSWA assisted a client in making a complaint to ASIC about Green Light’s pre-contractual conduct and advertising.

If you have leased a vehicle from Green Light and you feel you may be affected by ASIC’s concerns, ring our Telephone Advice Line on 9221 7066 for free, confidential legal advice.

Alternatively, you may choose to lodge a no-cost complaint against Green Light or Carboodle to the Credit and Investments Ombudsman at http://www.cio.org.au/.

Click here to see Green Light’s letter sent out to its existing lessees.

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