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15 1960

HIRE-PURCHASE (AMENDMENT) ACT, 1960

PART III.

Amendment of the Principal Act.

Further provisions relating to postponed orders for specific delivery of goods.

15. —(1) Where a postponed order for the specific delivery of goods to the owner has been made, whether before or after the commencement of this Act, under paragraph (b) of subsection (4) of section 13 of the Principal Act, the powers of the court under paragraphs (a) and (c) of subsection (4) of section 14 of that Act (which respectively enable the court to vary the conditions of the postponement or to make an order for the delivery of part of the goods to the owner and for the transfer to the hirer of the owner's title to the remainder) may be exercised, notwithstanding that any condition of the postponement has not been complied with, at any time before the goods are delivered to the owner in accordance with an execution order within the meaning of the Enforcement of Court Orders Act, 1926 , issued in pursuance of the order; and where such an execution order has been issued (whether before or after the commencement of this Act) the court shall—

(a) if the court varies the conditions of the postponement under the said paragraph (a), suspend the execution order on the like conditions;

(b) if the court makes an order under the said paragraph (c) for the specific delivery of a part of the goods to the owner and for the transfer to the hirer of the owner's title to the remaining part thereof, cancel the execution order so far as it provides for the delivery of the last-mentioned part of the goods.

(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in rules of court, at any time before the delivery of goods to the owner in accordance with an execution order issued as aforesaid, the execution order may, so far as it provides for the delivery of the goods, be discharged by the payment to the owner by the hirer or any guarantor of the whole of the unpaid balance of the hire-purchase price together with any interest (being interest payable under the hire-purchase agreement on instalments of the hire-purchase price which are due and unpaid) the payment of which had been provided for in the postponed order, and in any such case the owner's title to the goods shall vest in the hirer.

(3) If in an action to which the said section 13 applies an offer as to conditions for the postponement of the operation of an order under paragraph (b) of subsection (4) of that section is made by the hirer and accepted by the owner in accordance with rules of court, an order under that paragraph may thereupon be made by the court in accordance with the said offer without hearing evidence as to matters specified in the said paragraph (b):

Provided that where a guarantor is a party to the action, no such order shall be made before the date fixed for the hearing of the action.

Recovery of possession of motor vehicles let under hire-purchase agreements.

16. —(1) Section 6 of the Principal Act shall not apply in relation to a provision in an agreement made after the commencement of this Act whereby an owner of a motor vehicle which has been let under a hire-purchase agreement or a person acting on his behalf is—

(a) authorised to enter premises (other than a house used as a dwelling or any building within the curtilage thereof) for the purpose of taking possession of the motor vehicle, or

(b) relieved from liability for any such entry.

(2) Where—

(a) the owner of a motor vehicle let under a hire-purchase agreement has commenced an action after the commencement of this Act to recover possession of the vehicle from the hirer, and

(b) either—

(i) one-third of the hire-purchase price has, before the commencement of the action, been paid or tendered by or on behalf of the hirer or any guarantor, or

(ii) the hire-purchase agreement is a further hire-purchase agreement within the meaning of section 16 of the Principal Act, and

(c) the vehicle has been abandoned or has been left unattended in circumstances which have resulted or are imminently likely to result in damage to, or more than normal depreciation in the value of, the vehicle,

the provisions of section 12 of the Principal Act shall not apply and the owner shall be entitled to enforce a right to recover possession of the vehicle and to retain possession thereof during the ensuing period prior to the making of an order by the court in relation to the vehicle under subsection (3) of section 13 of the Principal Act.

(3) Where, pursuant to subsection (2) of this section, an owner of a motor vehicle enforces a right to recover possession of the vehicle—

(a) he shall make an application to the court under subsection (3) of section 13 of the Principal Act not later than the fourteenth day after the day on which possession of the vehicle was recovered or, if the court is not sitting on that day, the first day on which the court sits after that day, and

(b) if, on the hearing of the action referred to in subsection (2) of this section, the owner does not satisfy the court that in all the circumstances of the case he was entitled, pursuant to that subsection, to enforce his right to recover possession of the vehicle, the court may, without prejudice to any other power of the court, award to the hirer such damages payable by the owner, in respect of the recovery and the ensuing retention of possession of the vehicle, as it thinks proper.

(4) Where, pursuant to subsection (2) of this section, an owner of a motor vehicle enforces a right to recover possession of the vehicle but does not comply with the provisions of paragraph (a) of subsection (3) of this section, he shall, notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (2) of this section, be deemed to have recovered the vehicle in contravention of subsection (1) of section 12 of the Principal Act and subsection (2) of that section shall have effect accordingly.

(5) Subsection (2) of section 12 of the Principal Act shall not apply in any case in which damages are awarded under paragraph (b) of subsection (3) of this section.

(6) The Schedule to the Principal Act is, as respects hire-purchase agreements relating to motor vehicles and made after the commencement of this Act, hereby amended by the insertion at the end thereof of the paragraph set out in the Schedule to this Act.

(7) In this section “motor vehicle” means any mechanically propelled vehicle constructed for use on roads for the carriage of persons or goods and includes a tractor.

Liability of guarantor where goods are returned to owner.

17. —(1) Where—

(a) goods are let under a hire-purchase agreement, whether made before or after the commencement of this Act, and

(b) the owner recovers possession thereof or an order is made by the court under paragraph (a) of subsection (4) of section 13 of the Principal Act for the specific delivery thereof to the owner,

then, subject to subsection (3) of this section, the liability of a guarantor under a contract of guarantee in relation to the agreement shall not exceed the amount, if any, which the hirer would have been liable to pay under section 5 of the Principal Act if he had determined the agreement under that section at the time of the recovery or the making of the order, as the case may be.

(2) Subject to subsection (3) of this section, any provision in a contract of guarantee in relation to a hire-purchase agreement whereby the guarantor, after the recovery of possession of the goods let under the agreement or the making of an order by the court under the said paragraph (a) for the specific delivery of the goods to the owner, is subject to a liability which exceeds the liability specified in subsection (1) of this section shall be void.

(3) Subsections (1) and (2) of this section are without prejudice to any liability of the guarantor which has accrued in respect of instalments of the hire-purchase price which are due under the hire-purchase agreement and are unpaid at the time of the recovery or the making of the order, as the case may be.

(4) This section shall not have effect in respect of a claim or order in relation to a guarantor made before the commencement of this Act.

Appropriation of payments by owner in respect of hire-purchase agreements.

18. —Where—

(a) a hirer is entitled under section 10 of the Principal Act to appropriate a payment made after the commencement of this Act, and

(b) the hirer fails to make an appropriation under that section, and

(c) one-third of the hire-purchase price has been paid under each of the hire-purchase agreements in respect of which are due sums in or towards the satisfaction of which the entitlement exists,

the owner may, notwithstanding the provisions of the said section 10, appropriate the payment 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 two or more of the agreements in such proportions as he thinks fit and, if he fails to make any such appropriation as aforesaid, the payment shall, by virtue of that section, be appropriated towards the satisfaction of the sums due under the respective hire-purchase agreements in the proportions which those sums bear to one another.

Jurisdiction of the courts.

19. —(1) In an action commenced after the commencement of this Act by the owner of goods let under a hire-purchase agreement to enforce a right to recover possession of the goods from the hirer—

(a) the Circuit Court shall have jurisdiction where the hire-purchase price does not exceed one thousand pounds, and

(b) the District Court shall have jurisdiction where the hire-purchase price does not exceed one hundred pounds.

(2) In an action commenced after the commencement of this Act by the owner of goods let under a hire-purchase agreement to enforce payment of a sum due under the hire-purchase agreement or under any contract of guarantee relating thereto—

(a) the Circuit Court shall have jurisdiction where the amount claimed does not exceed one thousand pounds, and

(b) the District Court shall have jurisdiction where the amount claimed does not exceed one hundred pounds.

(3) Neither paragraph (v) of section 52 of the Courts of Justice Act, 1924 , nor paragraph (a) of section 53 of the Courts of Justice Act, 1936 , shall apply to an action—

(a) in which the defendant or one, at least, of the defendants ordinarily resides or carries on any profession, business or occupation in the State, and

(b) to which subsection (1) or subsection (2) of this section relates.

Amendment of definition of hire-purchase price.

20. —(1) For the purposes of the Principal Act, any sum payable by the hirer under a hire-purchase agreement by way of a deposit or other initial payment, or credited or to be credited to him under such an agreement on account of any such deposit or payment, whether that sum is to be or has been paid to the owner or to any other person or is to be or has been discharged by a payment of money or by the transfer or delivery of goods or by any other means, shall form part of the hire-purchase price.

(2) This section shall apply for the purposes of the Principal Act in its application to agreements made before the commencement of this Act, except in relation to any note or memorandum of such an agreement made for the purposes of section 3 of the Principal Act.

Amendment of section 3 of the Principal Act.

21. —Paragraph (d) of subsection (2) of section 3 of the Principal Act is, as respects hire-purchase agreements made after the commencement of this Act, hereby amended by the substitution of “fourteen” for “seven”.

Amendment of section 4 of the Principal Act.

22. —Paragraph (c) of subsection (2) of section 4 of the Principal Act is, as respects credit-sale agreements made after the commencement of this Act, hereby amended by the substitution of “fourteen” for “seven”.

Restriction of section 5 of the Principal Act.

23. —(1) Section 5 of the Principal Act shall not apply in relation to hire-purchase agreements made after the commencement of this Act in respect of plant or machinery (other than mechanically propelled vehicles) which is intended for use in an industrial process and the cash price (within the meaning of section 3 of the Principal Act) of which exceeds two hundred pounds.

(2) The Schedule to the Principal Act shall, as respects hire-purchase agreements to which subsection (1) of this section relates, have effect as if “Right of Hirer to terminate Agreement” and the first four paragraphs in the notice therein prescribed were deleted.

Amendment of section 7 of the Principal Act.

24. —Subsection (1) of section 7 of the Principal Act is, as respects requests of the kind referred to in that subsection received after the commencement of this Act, hereby amended by the substitution of “seven” for “four”.

Amendment of section 16 of the Principal Act.

25. —Section 16 of the Principal Act is, as respects the enforcement after the commencement of this Act of a right to recover possession of goods let under a hire-purchase agreement, hereby amended by—

(a) the insertion after “those goods” of “or any of them”, and

(b) the insertion after “the commencement thereof” of “as if one-third of the hire-purchase price had been paid or tendered”.