Currently, in our country with the recent classification of the National Soccer Team to the Soccer World Cup to be held in Qatar, the sales of long-term tourist plans has skyrocketed to enjoy this event.

However, it is very important to know and understand that in our country, term sales are regulated by the Law on Competition and Effective Consumer Defense, because there is a special need to protect consumers in this type of commercial transactions that involve high risks, due to it entails the advance payment of an obligation or agreement that is going to materialize in the future.

The reason why there is a specific law to regulate this matter is to avoid unfortunate situations that happen every day, in which many consumers pay or give money that they earned as a result of their hard work and effort, to unscrupulous companies that receive it with a false promise of a term project that often results into a scam, in which the money is received and then the company disappears, or at the time of taking legal action against it, it turns out the company does not have assets or capital to respond.

For this reason, the Law on Competition and Effective Consumer Defense established in article 44 that the sale of goods such as apartments and houses, the future provision of services, the sale of travel plans, shares, titles, and rights that give consumers participation as owners, partners or associates and future development projects, such as social and tourist centers, urbanizations, exploitation of industrial, agricultural and commercial activities, must have prior to being offered to the public or generalized, to be duly authorized and registered with the Consumer Support Directorate.

Now, to comply with said registration, the merchant who wishes to offer term sales of the previously indicated goods must comply with a series of requirements such as:

• Provide a detailed description of the qualities offered, the terms of compliance, the nature, extent, and benefits.
• Reliable verification of who is responsible for complying with what is offered and agreed.
• Economic solvency demonstration of those responsible for the plan. If it is verified that this solvency exists, then they must provide a sufficient guarantee and assurance to respond in the event of non-compliance.

In addition to this, the law also establishes the minimum requirements that the term sale contracts must contain, which together with the previous provisions seek to guarantee that consumers have access to all the information they require to make a final intelligent decision in addition to guaranteeing that in case of non-compliance the business can respond.

For this reason, it is very important that before making a hasty decision or letting yourself be tempted by flashy offers, you have adequate legal advice, which allows you to verify that your investment is going to be safe and that your investment and that you are going to be protected.

For this and other issues related to the promotion of competition and consumer protection, ERP Lawyers has a team of specialists who can help and guide you. Do not hesitate to contact us at info@erplawyers.com