S.L. 378.10 Art. 9Obligation to assess the credit worthiness of the consumer.

(1) The creditor shall, before concluding a credit agreement, make a thorough assessment of the consumer’s creditworthiness, taking appropriate account of factors relevant to verifying the prospect of the consumer to meet his obligations under the credit agreement.

(2) Creditors shall establish, document and maintain the procedures and information on which the assessment referred to in sub-regulation (1) is based.

(3) The assessment of creditworthiness shall not rely predominantly on the value of the residential immovable property exceeding the amount of the credit or on the assumption that the residential immovable property will increase in value unless the purpose of the credit agreement is to construct or renovate the residential immovable property.

(4) Where a creditor concludes a credit agreement with a consumer, the creditor shall not subsequently cancel or alter the credit agreement to the detriment of the consumer on the grounds that the assessment of creditworthiness was incorrectly conducted: Provided that this sub-regulation shall not apply where it is demonstrated that the consumer knowingly withheld or falsified the information within the meaning of regulation 12.

(5) The creditor shall only make the credit available to the consumer where the result of the creditworthiness assessment indicates that the obligations resulting from the credit agreement are likely to be met in the manner required under that agreement.

(6) The creditor shall, in accordance with Article 10 of the Data Protection Directive, inform the consumer in advance that a database is to be consulted.

(7) Where an application for credit is rejected, the creditor shall inform the consumer without delay of the rejection in accordance with regulation 10.

(8) The creditor shall, before any significant increase in the total amount of credit is granted to the consumer after the conclusion of the credit agreement and unless such additional credit was envisaged and included in the original creditworthiness assessment, re-assess the consumer’s creditworthiness on the basis of updated information.

(9) This regulation shall be without prejudice to the Data Protection Directive.