The Office of Fair Trading has issued a directive that if lenders and collectors have failed to fulfil debtor requests for information, they should not threaten legal action.
 
The OFT have disagreed with the courts on the draft guidance under sections 77-79 of the CCA 1974, in that they have stated creditors and debt buyers must notify debtors that they are not allowed to enforce. Sections 77-79 of the Act, which allow consumers to request information regarding their credit agreements, have been reviewed by the OFT due to concerns being raised that debtors are being misled into thinking that these sections can be used as a loophole to get debts written off and creditors not understanding their obligations.
 
The OFT has agreed that a "true copy" of agreements can be provided and that a copy of the debtors signature is not required to fulfil their obligations. If a creditor fails to provide the information then the debt is unenforceable, but not necessarily written off.
 
The OFT disagree with the courts, who take the view that threatening legal action does not constitute Enforcement.

"A creditor should in no way mislead a debtor as to the enforceability of the agreement; to do so would be unfair business practice and would be highly relevant to the creditor's or owner's fitness to hold licence".

The OFT have made it very clear that any communication with the debtor should state whether the debt is enforceable or not.