The Main Problems in the Transposition of the Mortgage Credit Directive into Hungarian and Czech Law

Abstract

The previously unregulated gap in European consumer credit law was relatively quickly filled by Directive 2014/17/EU on credit agreements for consumers relating to residential immovable property under the pressure stemming from the financial crisis. The deadline of the transposition expired on 21.3.2016, however only 9 member states published their national implementing measures in time, namely the United Kingdom, Germany, Austria, Estonia, Hungary, etc. In less developed mortgage markets with a highly reserved consumer law approach, like the Hungarian and Czech markets, the regulatory framework was created mostly because of the pressure of obligatory transposition. After a brief appraisal of the directive (1) and a short introduction on the already existing Hungarian and Czech mortgage credit regulation (2), this article will examine the main problem areas of these two national implementations: the information provision requirements towards credit intermediaries and creditors (3), and the admission of intermediaries (4).

Keywords: transposition of Mortgage Credit Directive, financial intermediaries, pre-contractual information requirement, advisory service, Czech Republic, Hungary