1Short title and commencement

(1)

This Act may be cited as the Hire‑Purchase Act 1959¹.

(2)

This Act shall come into operation on a day to be fixed by proclamation¹.

[(3), (4) deleted]

(5)

The Hire‑Purchase Agreements Act 1931‑1937, and the Hire‑Purchase Act 1958 are repealed but the former Act continues to have the same operation and effect in relation to hire‑purchase agreements entered into before the coming into operation of this Act as if this Act had not been enacted.

[Section 1 amended: No. 1 of 1985 s. 19; No. 70 of 2003 s. 37.]

1AApplication of Act

(1)

Subject to section 1(5), this Act applies to and in relation to a hire‑purchase agreement, and any agreement made in relation to a hire‑purchase agreement, that have effect immediately before the day on which section 38 of the Acts Amendment and Repeal (Competition Policy) Act 2003 comes into operation¹.

(2)

Subject to this section, this Act does not apply to or in relation to an exempt hire‑purchase agreement.

(3)

Section 2 applies to and in relation to an exempt hire‑purchase agreement as if, in subsection (2)(c) of that section, “in section 12A and” and “under section 12” were deleted.

(4)

For the purposes of, and subject to, section 25, section 13(1) and (2) apply to and in relation to an exempt hire‑purchase agreement as if “section 12A or” in section 13(2) were deleted.

(5)

Section 15(1) (except paragraph (a)), (2), (3) and (6) and section 17 apply to and in relation to an exempt hire‑purchase agreement.

(6)

Section 24 applies to and in relation to an exempt hire‑purchase agreement as if —

(a)

subsection (6)(a); and

(b)

in subsection (6)(b) “in any other case — ”,

were deleted.

(7)

Section 25 applies to and in relation to an exempt hire‑purchase agreement.

(8)

For the purposes of subsections (4) and (7), the Third Schedule has effect in relation to an exempt hire‑purchase agreement.

(9)

In this section —

exempt hire‑purchase agreement means a hire‑purchase agreement, and any agreement made in relation to a hire‑purchase agreement, entered into on or after the day referred to in subsection (1).

[Section 1A inserted: No. 70 of 2003 s. 38.]

2Terms used

(1)

In this Act, unless inconsistent with the context or subject‑matter —

cash includes a cheque drawn on a financial institution;

Commissioner means the person for the time being designated as the Commissioner under section 23A;

credit provider means a hire‑purchase credit provider;

dealer means a person, not being the hirer or the owner or a servant of the owner, by whom or on whose behalf negotiations leading to the making of a hire‑purchase agreement with the owner were carried out or by whom or on whose behalf the transaction leading to a hire‑purchase agreement with the owner was arranged;

default charge in relation to an agreement means such amount as, subject to any relief granted under section 36A, is payable under the agreement by the hirer where he fails to fulfil his obligations under the agreement;

Department means the department of the Public Service principally assisting in the administration of this Act;

goods includes all chattels personal other than money or things in action;

guarantee includes an indemnity;

guarantor means a person who has guaranteed the performance by a hirer of all or any of his obligations under a hire purchase agreement and includes a person who undertakes to indemnify the owner against any loss which he may incur in respect of that agreement but does not include the dealer or a person engaged, at the time of the giving of the guarantee, in the trade or business of selling goods of the same nature or description as the goods comprised in the agreement;

hire‑purchase agreement includes —

(a)

a letting of goods with an option to purchase; and

(b)

any agreement under which there is a bailment of goods and either the bailee may buy the goods or the property in the goods will or may pass to the bailee; and

(c)

any agreement for the purchase of goods by instalments (whether the agreement describes the instalments as rent or hire or otherwise) if the vendor or any person other than the hirer or his guarantor retains any interest in the goods or is or may become entitled to repossess the goods or to cause the hirer to lose his property in the goods; and

(d)

any agreement whereby the property in the goods comprised therein passes at the time of the agreement or upon or at any time before delivery of the goods, if the vendor or any person other than the hirer or his guarantor retains any interest in the goods or is or may become entitled to repossess the goods or to cause the hirer to lose his property in the goods,

but does not include —

(e)

any agreement under which the person by whom the goods are being hired or purchased is a person who is engaged in the trade or business of selling goods of the same nature or description as the goods comprised in the agreement; or

(f)

any agreement that includes a provision conferring any right or licence to occupy land on which the goods comprised in the agreement are permanently or ordinarily situated; or

(g)

any agreement that is a credit sale contract under the Credit Act 1984 or any agreement that is deemed to be a credit sale contract by that Act or any agreement that is a credit contract, or is to be regarded as a credit contract, under the National Credit Code (Commonwealth);

hire‑purchase credit provider means a person whose business is, or includes, being an owner under hire‑purchase agreements or who holds himself out as a person whose business is, or includes, being such an owner;

hirer means the person to whom goods are let, hired, or agreed to be sold under a hire‑purchase agreement and includes a person to whom the hirer’s rights or liabilities under the agreement have passed by assignment or by operation of law;

owner means the person letting, hiring or agreeing to sell goods under a hire‑purchase agreement and includes a person to whom the owner’s property in the goods or any of the owner’s rights or liabilities under the agreement have passed by assignment or operation of law;

period of agreement in relation to a hire‑purchase agreement means the period between the commencement of the hiring and the time provided by the agreement for the payment of the last instalment payable thereunder;

Schedule means Schedule to this Act;

statutory rebate —

(a)

in relation to terms charges —

(i)

means the amount derived by multiplying the terms charges by the sum of all the whole numbers from one to the number which is the number of complete months in the period of the agreement still to go (both inclusive) and by dividing the product so obtained by the sum of all the whole numbers from one to the number which is the total number of complete months in the period of the agreement (both inclusive); or

(ii)

where it is agreed in a hire‑purchase agreement that the terms charges have been calculated on a simple interest basis at a rate specified in the agreement on the amount outstanding from month to month means the amount of interest attributable to the period of complete months which at the relevant time is still to go under the agreement;

and

(b)

in relation to insurance, means the sum of —

(i)

the total amount of premium paid in respect of any annual period which at the relevant time has not yet commenced; and

(ii)

90% of the proportion of the amount of the premium for insurance in respect of the current annual period attributable to the unexpired portion of that period consisting of whole months;

and

(c)

in relation to maintenance, means the amount derived by multiplying the amount charged for maintenance by the number of complete months in the period of the agreement which at the relevant time is still to go and dividing the product so obtained by the number of complete months in the period of the agreement;

third party insurance means any insurance in relation to liability in respect of death or bodily injury caused by or arising out of the use of a motor vehicle being insurance required by the law of the place where the vehicle is registered or is being registered, as the case requires;

total amount payable in relation to a hire‑purchase agreement means the total amount to be paid or provided whether by way of cash or other consideration by or on, behalf of the hirer under a hire‑purchase agreement;

vehicle registration fees means any amount to be provided under a hire‑purchase agreement by the owner for payment by or on behalf of the hirer under the law of a State or Territory of The Commonwealth in connection with the registration and use of a motor vehicle, including any amount payable for third party insurance.

(2)

A reference in this Act to the taking possession by the owner of goods comprised in a hire‑purchase agreement includes a reference to —

(a)

the taking possession of goods by the owner pursuant to an order by any court; and

(b)

the return of goods to the owner after notice has been served pursuant to the provisions of section 13(1); and

(c)

except in section 12A and in section 13(1) and (2), the taking possession by the owner as a result of the voluntary return of the goods by the hirer under section 12.

(3)

Where, by virtue of 2 or more agreements, none of which by itself constitutes a hire‑purchase agreement, there is a bailment of goods and either the bailee may buy the goods or the property in the goods will or may pass to the bailee, then, except where the agreements are credit sale contracts under the Credit Act 1984 or are deemed to be credit sale contracts pursuant to that Act, the agreements shall, for the purposes of this Act, be treated as a single hire‑purchase agreement made at the time when the last agreement was made.

[Section 2 amended: No. 107 of 1973 s. 4; No. 37 of 1980 s. 3; No. 102 of 1984 s. 8; No. 1 of 1985 s. 20; No. 30 of 1996 s. 13; No. 57 of 1997 s. 39(10); No. 24 of 2000 s. 53; No. 59 of 2004 s. 141; No. 28 of 2006 s. 101; No. 14 of 2010 s. 11(2).]

2A. Orders making Act inapplicable

(1)

The Governor may, by order published in the Government Gazette, declare that the provisions of this Act, or such of those provisions as are specified in the order —

(a)

do not have effect in relation to a specified person or to a specified class of persons; or

(b)

have effect in relation to a specified person or to a specified class of persons to such extent as is specified; or

(c)

do not have effect in relation to a specified transaction or matter or class of transactions or matters; or

(d)

have effect in relation to a specified transaction or matter or class of transactions or matters to such extent as is specified; or

(e)

do not have effect in relation to a specified transaction or class of transactions entered into by a specified person or specified class of persons or in relation to specified associated matters; or

(f)

have effect in relation to a specified transaction or class of transactions entered into by a specified person or specified class of persons, or in relation to specified associated matters, to such extent as is specified.

(2)

An order made under subsection (1) —

(a)

may specify the period during which the order shall remain in force; or

(b)

may provide that its operation is subject to such terms and conditions as are specified in the order,

but any such order may be made only in respect of hire‑purchase transactions entered into for the purpose of providing goods for Government purposes or the purpose prescribed in subsection (2a).

(2a)

The purpose referred to in subsection (2) is the purpose of providing rail freight services that are available to the public, whether or not those services are to be provided by or on behalf of the State.

(3)

The Governor may, by order published in the Government Gazette, revoke or vary an order made under this section.

(4)

An order made under this section, including an order that is varied under this section, is to be taken to be a regulation for the purposes of section 42 of the Interpretation Act 1984 and that section applies accordingly.

(5)

An order in force under this section, including an order that is varied under this section, has effect according to its tenor.

(6)

A person to whom an order under this section applies, including an order that is varied under this section, shall comply with the terms and conditions (if any) to which the operation of the order is subject.

Penalty: $5 000.

[Section 2A inserted: No. 43 of 1995 s. 3; amended: No. 13 of 2000 s. 95.]

[2B. Deleted: No. 14 of 2010 s. 11(3).]

3Preliminary requirements to entering agreement or offering to hire; form and content of agreements; consequences of non-conforming agreements

(1)

Before any hire‑purchase agreement is entered into in respect of any goods the owner or, if there is a dealer, the dealer shall give or cause to be given to the prospective hirer a statement in writing duly completed in accordance with the form in the First Schedule Part 1, but where the agreement is entered into by way of acceptance by the owner of a written offer signed by or on behalf of the hirer, the provisions of this subsection shall be deemed not to have been complied with unless the written statement was given to the prospective hirer before the written offer was so signed and a copy of the written offer was given to the prospective hirer immediately after it was so signed.

(1a)

A dealer shall not deliver, or cause or permit to be delivered, to a prospective owner any offer by or on behalf of a prospective hirer unless that offer —

(a)

is made in writing; and

(b)

was signed by the prospective hirer or a person authorised by him and on his behalf, after the dealer had given, or caused to be given, to the prospective hirer or that authorised person a statement in writing duly completed in accordance with the form in the First Schedule Part 1.

(1b)

It is a defence to a charge arising under subsection (1) or (1a) if the accused proves that he acted honestly and that in all the circumstances the act or omission constituting the offence should be excused.

(2)

Every hire‑purchase agreement —

(a)

shall be in writing; and

(b)

shall be signed by or on behalf of the hirer and all other parties to the agreement; and

(c)

shall —

(i)

specify a date on which the hiring shall be deemed to have commenced; and

(ii)

specify the number of instalments to be paid under the agreement by the hirer; and

(iii)

specify the amounts of each of those instalments and the person to whom and the place at which the payments of those instalments are to be made; and

(iv)

specify the time for the payment of each instalment; and

(v)

contain a description of the goods sufficient to identify them;

and

(d)

where any part of the consideration is or is to be provided otherwise than in cash, shall contain a description of that part of the consideration; and

(e)

shall set out in tabular form —

(i)

the price at which at the time of signing the agreement the hirer might have purchased the goods for cash (in this Act called and in the agreement to be described as cash price); and

(ii)

the amount paid or provided by way of deposit (in this Act called and in the agreement to be described as deposit) showing separately the amount paid in money and the amount provided by a consideration other than money; and

(iii)

any amount included in the total amount payable for maintenance of the goods (in this Act called and in the agreement to be described as maintenance); and

(iv)

any amount included in the total amount payable to cover the expenses of delivering the goods or any of them to or to the order of the hirer (in the agreement to be described as freight); and

(v)

any amount included in the total amount payable to cover vehicle registration fees (in the agreement to be called vehicle registration fees); and

(vi)

any amount included in the total amount payable for insurance other than third party insurance (in this Act called and in the agreement to be described as insurance); and

[(vii), (viia) deleted]

(viii)

the total of the amounts referred to in subparagraphs (i), (iii), (iv), (v) and (vi) less the deposit (in this Act called and in the agreement to be described as amount financed); and

(ix)

the total of any other charges included in the total amount payable (in this Act called and in the agreement to be described as terms charges) and also the percentage rate of the terms charges calculated in accordance with the formula provided in the Fifth Schedule; and

(x)

the total of the amounts referred to in subparagraphs (viii) and (ix) (in this Act called the balance originally payable under the agreement); and

(xi)

the total amount payable;

and

(f)

shall contain, immediately above the space for the signature of the hirer, a clause which shall be printed as prominently as or more prominently than the terms and conditions of the agreement and which shall read as follows —

The hirer is reminded that terms charges may differ from one hire‑purchase credit provider to another and it will be in his best interests to make enquiries to satisfy himself that he is receiving the best deal in terms charges.

(3)

An owner who enters into a hire‑purchase agreement that does not comply with subsection (2) commits an offence against this Act.

Penalty: $5 000.

(4)

Without affecting the liability of any person to be convicted of an offence against this section, but subject to subsection (4a), where a provision of this section is not complied with in relation to a hire‑purchase agreement (not being a failure to comply with subsection (2)(a)), the liability of the hirer thereunder is, by force of this subsection, reduced by the amount included in the hire‑purchase agreement for terms charges and that amount may be set off by the hirer against the amount that would otherwise be due or become due to the owner under the agreement.

(4a)

Where a hirer alleges that the provisions of subsection (4) apply, but the owner alleges that he acted honestly and that in all the circumstances the act or omission constituting a failure to comply with a provision of this section ought to be excused and that the provisions of subsection (4) ought not to apply to or in relation to the hire‑purchase agreement, the owner, by an application in writing to the Commissioner, a copy whereof is served on the hirer and every guarantor, may claim relief against the consequences of that act or omission.

[(4b) deleted]

(4c)

On an application to the Commissioner under subsection (4a), the Commissioner, after considering any submissions made by or on behalf of —

(a)

the owner; and

(b)

guarantors; and

(c)

the hirer,

may grant the relief claimed upon such terms and conditions as will, in the opinion of the Commissioner, do justice between the parties to the agreement and the parties to any contract of guarantee relating to the agreement.

(4d)

In granting relief in respect of an application made under subsection (4a) the Commissioner shall have regard to the extent to which the hirer was, or was not, prejudiced by the act or omission relied on by the hirer as constituting a failure to comply with a provision of this section.

(4e)

A grant or refusal of relief by the Commissioner in respect of an application made under subsection (4a) shall be by instrument in writing signed by him and served on the hirer, the owner, and every guarantor.

(4f)

Subject to any order of the State Administrative Tribunal on an application under subsection (4g), a decision of the Commissioner in respect of an application made under subsection (4a) has effect according to its terms and, where relief is granted thereby, the operation of subsection (4), the hire‑purchase agreement and any contract of guarantee relating to it are by virtue of this subsection varied to the extent necessary and as so varied are binding on the parties thereto.

(4g)

An owner, hirer, or guarantor, who is a party to a hire‑purchase agreement, or a contract of guarantee relating to it, in respect of which a decision has been given by the Commissioner in respect of an application made under subsection (4a) and who is aggrieved thereby, may apply to the State Administrative Tribunal for a review of the decision.

(5)

A hire‑purchase agreement that is not in writing is not enforceable by the owner.

(6)

Where the goods comprised in a hire‑purchase agreement are all items of furniture, whether free standing or in‑built, as specified in the First Schedule Part 2 and the total cash price of the goods is unknown because of some substantial alteration or addition to be made to or of some substantial work to be done in respect of all or any of the goods before delivery thereof to the hirer, it is a sufficient compliance with the requirements of subsection (1) if the statement therein referred to sets out approximate amounts in lieu of specific amounts and it is a sufficient compliance with the requirements of subsection (2)(c)(iii) and (e) in regard to amounts and cash price if the agreement sets out approximate amounts and cash price in lieu of specific amounts and cash price.

(6A)

In each case referred to in subsection (6) —

(a)

the amounts and price stated are clearly stated to be approximate only; and

(b)

prior to the stamping of the agreement the true amounts and price are inserted therein and a further or amended statement in writing is duly completed in accordance with the form in the First Schedule and is given to the hirer.

(7)

For the purposes of subsection (6) an amount or a cash price is approximate if it is within 10% of the true amount or price or within $20 thereof.

[Section 3 amended: No. 113 of 1965 s. 8; No. 107 of 1973 s. 5; No. 37 of 1980 s. 4; No. 88 of 1980 s. 3; No. 102 of 1984 s. 9; No. 1 of 1985 s. 21; No. 12 of 2004 s. 39; No. 55 of 2004 s. 510; No. 84 of 2004 s. 82; No. 19 of 2010 s. 19(2)‑(4) and 51; No. 42 of 2011 s. 52; No. 17 of 2014 s. 25.]

4Owner to serve certain documents on hirer

The owner shall serve or cause to be served on the hirer within 21 days after the making of a hire‑purchase agreement —

(a)

a copy of the agreement in writing; and

(b)

a notice in writing in or to the effect of the Second Schedule, which notice may be endorsed on the copy of the agreement; and

(c)

where any part of the total amount payable consists of an amount paid or to be paid under a policy of insurance (not being a policy of third party insurance), a copy of the policy or a statement in writing of the terms, conditions and exclusions of the policy that affect or concern the rights of the hirer,

but failure to comply with the provisions of this section does not avoid the agreement.

5Conditions and warranties implied in every agreement

(1)

In every hire‑purchase agreement there shall be deemed to be —

(a)

an implied warranty that the hirer shall have and enjoy quiet possession of the goods;

(b)

an implied condition on the part of the owner that he will have a right to sell the goods at the time when the property is to pass;

(c)

an implied warranty that the goods will be free from any charge or encumbrance in favour of any third party (other than a charge or encumbrance created by or with the consent of the hirer) at the time when the property is to pass.

(2)

In every hire‑purchase agreement there shall be deemed to be an implied condition that the goods shall be of merchantable quality but no such condition shall be deemed to be implied —

(a)

as regards defects of which the owner could not reasonably have been aware, or, if there is a dealer, neither the owner nor the dealer could reasonably have been aware, at the time the agreement was made; or

(b)

where the hirer has examined the goods or a sample thereof, as regards defects which the examination ought to have revealed; or

(c)

if the goods are second‑hand goods and the agreement contains a statement to the effect that —

(i)

the goods are second‑hand; and

(ii)

all conditions and warranties as to quality are expressly negatived,

and the owner proves that the hirer has acknowledged in writing that the statement was brought to his notice.

(3)

Where the hirer expressly or by implication makes known to the owner or to the dealer or to any servant or agent of the owner or the dealer the particular purpose for which the goods are required, there shall be deemed to be implied in the hire‑purchase agreement a condition that the goods are reasonably fit for that purpose but no such condition shall be deemed to be implied if the goods are second‑hand goods and the agreement contains a statement to the effect —

(a)

that the goods are second‑hand; and

(b)

that all conditions and warranties of fitness and suitability are expressly negatived,

and the owner proves that the hirer has acknowledged in writing that the statement was brought to his notice.

(4)

Without prejudice to any other rights or remedies to which an owner may be entitled where the hirer has made known expressly or by implication to the dealer or to any servant or agent of the dealer the particular purpose for which the goods are required, an owner is entitled to be indemnified by the dealer against any damage suffered by the owner through the operation of the provisions of subsection (3).

(5)

Nothing in this section prejudices any other enactment or rule or law whereby any condition or warranty is to be implied in any hire‑purchase agreement.

6Representations etc. by owner etc. to hirer, consequences of

(1)

A representation, warranty, or statement made to the hirer or prospective hirer, whether orally or in writing, by the owner or dealer or any person acting on behalf of the owner or dealer in connection with or in the course of negotiations leading to the entering into of a hire‑purchase agreement shall confer on the hirer —

(a)

as against the owner, the same rights (including the right to rescind the agreement) as the hirer would have had if the representation, warranty, or statement had been made by an agent of the owner; and

(b)

as against the person who made the representation, warranty, or statement, and any person on whose behalf such person was acting in making it the same right of action as the hirer would have had against them or either of them if the hirer had entered into the hire‑purchase agreement with such first‑mentioned person or the person on whose behalf he was acting (as the case requires) as a result of negotiations.

(2)

A covenant, condition, or term in a hire‑purchase agreement or other document purporting to exclude, limit, or modify the operation of this section or to preclude any right of action or any defence based on or arising out of any such representation, warranty or statement is void.

(3)

Without prejudice to any other rights or remedies to which an owner may be entitled, an owner is entitled to be indemnified by the person who made the representation, warranty, or statement, and by any person on whose behalf the representation, warranty, or statement was made against any damage suffered by the owner through the operation of the foregoing provisions of this section.

[Section 6 amended: No. 107 of 1973 s. 6.]

7Hirer entitled to copy of agreement and statement of amounts paid, overdue and to be paid

(1)

At any time before the final payment has been made under a hire‑purchase agreement the owner shall, within 14 days after he has received a request, whether in writing or otherwise, from the hirer or a guarantor, send to him a copy of the agreement, together with a statement in writing signed by the owner or his agent showing —

(a)

each amount received under the agreement by the owner and the date on which it was received; and

(b)

each amount due under the agreement and payable to the owner that has not been received by the owner and the date on which it became due; and

(c)

each amount payable under the agreement to the owner that has not become due and the date on which it becomes due,

but an owner is not obliged to comply with the request if he has sent the hirer or guarantor, as the case may be, a copy of the agreement and such a statement within the period of 3 months immediately preceding the receipt of the request.

(2)

If an owner contravenes subsection (1) by failing to comply with a request made pursuant to that subsection he commits an offence against this Act and is liable to a penalty of $500 and, until the default is remedied —

(a)

the owner is not entitled to enforce —

(i)

the agreement against the hirer; or

(ii)

any right to recover the goods from the hirer; or

(iii)

any contract of guarantee relating to the agreement;

and

(b)

any security given by the hirer in respect of money payable under the agreement or given by a guarantor is not enforceable against the hirer or the guarantor by any holder thereof.

[Section 7 amended: No. 107 of 1973 s. 7; No. 37 of 1980 s. 5.]

8Payment made under 2 or more agreements, apportionment of

A hirer who is liable to make payments in respect of 2 or more hire‑purchase agreements to the same owner is entitled, notwithstanding any agreement to the contrary, on making any payment in respect of the agreements that is not sufficient to discharge the total amount then due under all the agreements, to require the owner to appropriate the sum so paid by him in or towards the satisfaction of the sum due under any one of the agreements, or in or towards the satisfaction of the sums due under any 2 or more of the agreements in such proportions as he thinks fit, and, if he fails to make any such appropriation, the payment shall by virtue of this section be deemed to be appropriated in or towards the satisfaction of the sums due under the respective agreements in the order in which the agreements were entered into.

9Assigning hirer’s rights under agreements

(1)

The right, title, and interest of a hirer under a hire‑purchase agreement may be assigned with the consent of the owner or, if his consent is unreasonably withheld, without his consent.

(2)

Except as otherwise provided in this section, no payment or other consideration shall be required by an owner for his consent to such an assignment as is mentioned in subsection (1) and where an owner requires any such payment or other consideration for his consent, that consent shall be deemed to be unreasonably withheld.

(3)

Where at the request of a hirer an owner fails or refuses to give his consent to an assignment by the hirer of his right, title and interest under a hire‑purchase agreement, the hirer may apply to the Magistrates Court for an order declaring that the consent of the owner to that assignment has unreasonably been withheld, and where an order is made that consent shall be deemed to be unreasonably withheld.

(4)

As a condition of granting consent to any assignment of the right, title and interest of the hirer under a hire‑purchase agreement, the owner may stipulate that all defaults under the hire‑purchase agreement shall be made good and may require the hirer and assignee —

(a)

to execute and deliver to the owner an assignment agreement in a form approved by the owner whereby without prejudicing or affecting the continuing personal liability of the hirer in those respects the assignee agrees with the owner to be personally liable to pay the instalments of hire remaining unpaid and to perform and observe all other stipulations and conditions of the hire‑purchase agreement during the residue of the term thereof and whereby the assignee indemnifies the hirer in respect of such liabilities; and

(b)

to pay the reasonable costs (if any) incurred by the owner in stamping or registering the assignment agreement or counterparts.

(5)

The right, title, and interest of a hirer under the hire‑purchase agreement is capable of passing by operation of law to the personal representative of the hirer and if the hirer is a company the liquidator may exercise the same rights under the agreement as the company, but nothing in this subsection relieves a personal representative or liquidator from compliance with the provisions of the agreement.

[Section 9 amended: No. 107 of 1973 s. 8; No. 59 of 2004 s. 141; No. 42 of 2011 s. 53.]

10Court may allow goods to be moved

Where, by virtue of a hire‑purchase agreement, it is the duty of a hirer to keep the goods comprised in the agreement in his possession or control at a particular place or not to remove the goods from a particular place, the Magistrates Court may, on the application of the hirer, make an order approving the removal of the goods to some other place, which place shall thereafter, for the purposes of the agreement, be substituted for the first‑mentioned place.

[Section 10 amended: No. 107 of 1973 s. 9; No. 59 of 2004 s. 141.]

11Hirer may complete purchase at any time

(1)

The hirer under a hire‑purchase agreement may, if he has given notice to the owner of his intention so to do, on or before —

(a)

where a day is specified for that purpose in the notice, that day; or

(b)

where no day is specified for that purpose in the notice, the day proceeding the day on which the next instalment becomes due after the receipt, by or on behalf of the owner, of that notice,

complete the purchase of the goods by paying or tendering to the owner the net balance due to the owner under the agreement.

(2)

For the purposes of this section the net balance due is balance originally payable under the agreement less any amounts (other than the deposit) paid or provided, whether by cash or other consideration, by or on behalf of the hirer under the agreement, and less —

(a)

the statutory rebate for terms charges; and

(b)

if the hirer requires any contract for insurance to be cancelled, the statutory rebate for insurance; and

(c)

if the hirer requires any contract for maintenance to be cancelled, the statutory rebate for maintenance.

(2a)

Where a hirer gives notice of his intention to complete the purchase of the goods under subsection (1), and in, or at the time of giving, that notice requests the owner to furnish him with particulars of the net balance due to the owner under the agreement to complete the purchase of the goods in accordance with that notice, the owner shall furnish him with a statement setting out particulars of the net balance due showing the amounts by reference to which the net balance due is to be calculated under subsection (2) as at the day specified pursuant to paragraph (a) of that subsection or on which, pursuant to paragraph (b) of that subsection, the notice has effect.

(2b)

A person who, in furnishing the particulars required by or for the purposes of subsection (2a) —

(a)

makes or authorises the making of a statement that is false or misleading in a material particular; or

(b)

omits or authorises the omission of any matter or thing without which the particulars are misleading in a material respect,

without having taken all reasonable steps to ensure that the statement was not false or misleading or to ensure that the particulars did not omit any matter or thing without which the particulars would be misleading, as the case may be, commits an offence against this Act.

(2c)

A person who fails or refuses to comply with a request made under subsection (2a) commits an offence against this Act.

(3)

The rights conferred on the hirer by this section may be exercised by him —

(a)

at any time during the continuance of the agreement; or

(b)

where the owner has taken possession of the goods, on paying or tendering to the owner before or within 21 days after the owner has served a notice in the form of the Fourth Schedule on the hirer, in addition to the net balance due —

(i)

the reasonable costs incurred by the owner of and incidental to his taking possession of the goods; and

(ii)

any amount properly expended by the owner on the storage, repair, or maintenance of the goods.

[Section 11 amended: No. 37 of 1980 s. 6.]

Hire-Purchase Act 1959

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