(79)Given the significant consequences of the enforcement proceedings for creditors and consumers and potentially for financial stability, it is necessary for creditors to deal proactively with emerging credit risk at an early stage and to put in place necessary measures to ensure that they exercise, where appropriate, reasonable forbearance before enforcement proceedings are initiated. When deciding whether it is appropriate to exercise forbearance measures, or whether it is justified to offer them reiteratively, the creditor should take into account, among other elements, the individual circumstances of the consumer, such as the consumer’s interests and rights, his or her ability to repay the credit and his or her reasonable needs for living expenses, and the creditor should limit the costs for the consumer in the event of default. In particular, when the consumer does not respond to the creditor’s offer within a reasonable period of time, the creditor should not be required to offer forbearance measures reiteratively. Member States should not prevent the parties to a credit agreement from expressly agreeing that the transfer to the creditor of goods covered by a linked credit agreement or of proceeds from the sale of such goods is sufficient to repay the credit.