In business and law, a credit broker is a company or individual that deals in brokerage of consumer credit. Essentially a credit broker links somebody looking for consumer credit, a debtor with a company or individual willing to provide it, a creditor, normally for a commission. Credit brokers include mortgage brokers and loan brokers. The commission normally comes from the individual or institution offering credit, and the broker is therefore not entirely objective. Some credit brokers also levy a separate charge on the person looking for credit, without the knowledge of the offering institution. In British law, credit brokers are covered by the

Consumer Credit Act 1974 The Consumer Credit Act 1974c 39 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that significantly reformed the law relating to consumer credit within the United Kingdom. Prior to the Consumer Credit Act, legislation covering consumer credi ...

and the

Consumer Credit Act 2006 The Consumer Credit Act 2006 (c.14) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom intended to increase consumer protection when borrowing money. Provisions The main provisions of the Act are to extend the scope of the Consumer Credit Act ...

, which defines a credit broker not just as a mortgage or loan broker, but also as a vast range of other intermediary bodies such as car dealers, shops that introduce customers to financial houses for hire-purchase agreements and

solicitor A solicitor is a legal practitioner who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally-defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and ...

s who negotiate advances for non-corporate clients. Under the 1974 Act, such businesses require licenses from the

Office of Fair Trading The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) was a non-ministerial government department of the United Kingdom, established by the Fair Trading Act 1973, which enforced both consumer protection and competition law, acting as the United Kingdom's economic ...

. If the business is unlicensed, any agreements made are considered "tainted". In this situation, agreements are only enforceable with a direct order from the Director General of Fair Trading. In addition, the unlicensed trader also commits a criminal offence. This only comes into effect if enforcement is sought through the courts, however; it has been pointed out that agreements can still run their course regardless of the status of the broker. In certain situations under the 2006 Act, credit brokers become agents of the creditor.MacIntyre (2008) p.431

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* * * * *{{cite book, last=Macleod, first=John , title=Consumer sales law: the law relating to consumer sales and financing of goods, publisher=Routledge, year=2002, isbn=1-85941-700-0 Financial services occupations Credit