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Hire-Purchase Act


Published: 2000

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CAP. 292, HIRE PURCHASE ACT BELIZE

HIRE-PURCHASE ACT

CHAPTER 292

REVISED EDITION 2000

SHOWING THE LAW AS AT 31ST DECEMBER, 2000

This is a revised edition of the law, prepared by the Law Revision Commissioner

under the authority of the Law Revision Act, Chapter 3 of the Laws of Belize,

Revised Edition 1980 - 1990.

This edition contains a consolidation of the following laws- Page

ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS 3

HIRE-PURCHASE ACT 5

Amendments in force as at 31st December, 2000.

BELIZE

HIRE-PURCHASE ACT

CHAPTER 292

REVISED EDITION 2000

SHOWING THE LAW AS AT 31ST DECEMBER, 2000

This is a revised edition of the law, prepared by the Law Revision Commissioner

under the authority of the Law Revision Act, Chapter 3 of the Laws of Belize,

Revised Edition 1980 - 1990.

This edition contains a consolidation of the following laws- Page

ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS 3

HIRE-PURCHASE ACT 5

Amendments in force as at 31st December, 2000.

THE SUBSTANTIVE LAWS OF BELIZE REVISED EDITION 2000

Printed by the Government Printer,

No. 1 Power Lane,

Belmopan, by the authority of

the Government of Belize.

Hire-Purchase [CAP. 292

[ ]

3

CHAPTER 292

HIRE-PURCHASE

ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS

1. Short title.

2. Interpretation.

3. Application of Act.

4. Requirements relating to hire-purchase agreements.

5. Hire-purchase agreement not enforceable unless requirement of

section 4 complied with and the agreement put in writing.

6. Requirements relating to credit-sale agreements.

7. Right of hirer to terminate hire-purchase agreement.

8. Avoidance of certain provisions.

9. Duty of owners and sellers to supply documents and information.

10. Duty of hirer to give information as to whereabouts of goods.

11. Conditions and warranties to be implied in hire-purchase agreements.

12. Appropriation of payments made in respect of hire-purchase

agreements.

13. Evidence of adverse detention in action by owners to recover

possession.

14. Restriction of owner’s right to recover possession of goods

otherwise thatn by action.

15. Powers of court in certain actions by owners to recover possession

of the goods.

16. Effect of postponed order.

17. Powers of the court to deal with payments arising on determination

of hire-purchase agreements.

18. Successive hire-purchase agreements between the same parties.

19. Provisions as to bankruptcy of hirer and distress on hirer’s

premises.

20. Hirer’s refusal to surrender goods not to be conversion in certain

cases.

21. Special provisions as to installation charges.

__________

SCHEDULE

,

No. 1 Power Lane,

Belmopan, by the authority of

the Government of Belize.

Hire-Purchase [CAP. 292

[ ]

5

CHAPTER 292

HIRE-PURCHASE

[13th March, 1954]

1. This Act may be cited as the Hire-Purchase Act.

2.-(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires:-

“action”, “buyer”, “delivery”, “goods”, “property”, “sale”, “seller”,

“warranty” have the meanings respectively assigned to them by the Sale of

Goods Act;

“contract of guarantee” means, in relation to any hire-purchase agreement or

credit-sale agreement, a contract, made at the request express or implied of

the hirer or buyer, to guarantee the performance of the hirer’s or buyer’s

obligations under the hire-purchase agreement or credit-sale agreement, and

the expression “guarantor” shall be construed accordingly;

“court” means any court competent to exercise jurisdiction in respect of the

cause of action involved, or the claim brought or relief sought, in any civil

proceedings before it;

“credit-sale agreement” means an agreement for the sale of goods

under which the purchase price is payable by five or more instalments;

“hirer” means the person who takes or has taken goods from an owner under

a hire-purchase agreement and includes a person to whom the hirers’ rights

or liabilities under the agreement have passed by assignment or by operation

of law;

“hire-purchase agreement” means an agreement for the bailment of goods

under which the bailee may buy the goods or under which the property in the

goods will or may pass to the bailee, and where by virtue of two or more

Ch. 214,

R.L., 1958.

CAP. 220,

R.E. 1980-1990.

4 of 1967.

Short title.

Interpretation.

CAP. 261.

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 therein will or may pass to the bailee, the agreements shall be

treated for the purposes of this Act as a single agreement made at the time

when the last of the agreements was made;

“hire-purchase price” means the total sum payable by the hirer under a hire-

purchase agreement in order to complete the purchase of goods to which

the agreement relates, exclusive of any sum payable as a penalty or as

compensation or damages for a breach of the agreement;

“owner” means the person who lets or has let goods to a hirer 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 has

passed by assignment or by operation of law,

“total purchase price” means the total sum payable by the buyer under a

credit-sale agreement, exclusive of any sum payable as a penalty or as

compensation or damages for a breach of the agreement.

(2) Where an owner has agreed that any part of the hire-purchase

price may be discharged otherwise than by the payment of money, any such

discharge shall, for the purposes of sections 7, 9, 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18, be

deemed to be a payment of that part of the hire-purchase price.

3. This Act shall apply in relation to all hire-purchase agreements and

credit-sale agreements under which the hire-purchase price or total

purchase price, as the case may be, does not exceed three thousand dollars.

4. Before any hire-purchase agreement is entered into in respect of any

goods, the owner shall state in writing to the prospective hirer, otherwise

than in the note or memorandum of the agreement, a price at which the

goods may be purchased by him for cash (in this section referred to as the

“cash price”) :

Application of

Act.

Requirements

relating to hire-

purchase

agreements.

,

No. 1 Power Lane,

Belmopan, by the authority of

the Government of Belize.

Hire-Purchase [CAP. 292

[ ]

7

Provided that this subsection shall be deemed to have been

sufficiently complied with-

(a) if the hirer has inspected the goods or like goods and at

the time of his inspection tickets or labels were attached

to or displayed with the goods clearly stating the cash

price, either of the goods as a whole or of all the

different articles or sets of articles comprised therein; or

(b) if the hirer has selected the goods by reference to a

catalogue, price list, or advertisement, which clearly

stated the cash price either of the goods as a whole or

of all the different articles or sets of articles comprised

therein.

5.-(1) An owner shall not be entitled to enforce a hire-purchase agreement

or any contract of guarantee relating thereto or any right to recover the goods

from the hirer, and no security given by the hirer in respect of money payable

under the hire-purchase agreement or given by a guarantor in respect of

money payable under such a contract of guarantee as aforesaid shall be

enforceable against the hirer or guarantor by any holder thereof, unless the

requirement specified in section 4 has been complied with, and a note or

memorandum containing-

(a) a statement of the hire-purchase price and of the cash

price of the goods to which the agreement relates and of

the amount of each instalment by which the hire-

purchase price is to be paid and of the date, or the

mode of determining the date upon which each

instalment is payable;

(b) a list of the goods to which the agreement relates

sufficiently to identify them; and

Hire-purchase

agreement not

enforceable

unless

requirement of

section 4

complied with

and the

agreement put in

writing.

(c) a notice, which is at least as prominent as the rest of

the contents of the note or memorandum, in the terms

prescribed in the Schedule,

is made and signed by the hirer and by or on behalf of all other parties to the

agreement.

(2) A copy of the note or memorandum shall be delivered or sent to

the hirer within seven days of the making of the agreement.

(3) If the court is satisfied in any action that a failure to comply with

the requirement specified in section 4 or in this section has not prejudiced

the hirer, and that it would be just and equitable to dispense with the

requirement, the court may, subject to any conditions that it thinks fit to

impose, dispense with that requirement for the purposes of that action.

6. Before making any credit-sale agreement under which the total

purchase price exceeds twenty-five dollars, the seller shall comply with the

requirements specified in sections 4 and 5, other than the provisions of

section 5 (1) (c) of this Act, and the provisions of the said sections shall

apply with reference to such a credit-sale agreement in like manner as they

apply to a hire-purchase agreement, references therein to “hire-purchase

agreement”, “owner” and “hirer”, being construed respectively in respect of

such a credit-sale agreement as references to “credit-sale agreement”,

“seller” and “buyer”.

7.-(1) A hirer shall, at any time before the final payment under a hire-

purchase agreement falls due, be entitled to determine agreement by giving

notice of termination in writing to any person entitled or authorised to

receive the sums payable under the agreement, and shall, on determining the

agreement under this section, be liable, without prejudice to any liability

which has accrued before the termination, to pay the amount, if any, by

which one-half of the hire-purchase price exceeds the total of the sums paid

and the sums due in respect of the hire-purchase price immediately before

Schedule.

Requirements

relating to credit-

sale agreements.

4 of 1967.

Right of hirer to

terminate hire-

purchase

agreement.

,

No. 1 Power Lane,

Belmopan, by the authority of

the Government of Belize.

Hire-Purchase [CAP. 292

[ ]

9

the termination, or such less amount as may be specified in the agreement.

(2) Where a hire-purchase agreement has been determined under this

section, the hirer shall, if he has failed to take reasonable care of the goods,

be liable to pay damages for the failure.

(3) Where a hirer, having determined a hire-purchase agreement under

this section, wrongfully retains possession of the goods, then, in any action

brought by the owner to recover possession of the goods from the hirer, the

court shall, unless it is satisfied that having regard to the circumstances it

would not be just and equitable to do so, order the goods to be delivered to

the owner, without giving the hirer an option to pay the value of the goods.

(4) Nothing in this section shall prejudice any right of a hirer to

determine a hire-purchase agreement otherwise than by virtue of this section.

8. Any provision in any agreement-

(a) whereby an owner or any person acting on his behalf is

authorised to enter upon any premises for the purpose of

taking possession of goods which have been let under a

hire-purchase agreement, or is relieved from liability for

any such entry; or

(b) whereby the right conferred on a hirer by this Act to

determine the hire-purchase agreement is excluded or

restricted, or whereby any liability in addition to the

liability imposed by this Act is imposed on a hirer by

reason of the termination of the hire-purchase agreement

by him under this Act; or

(c) whereby a hirer, after the determination of the hire-

purchase agreement or the bailment in any manner

whatsoever, is subject to a liability which exceeds the

Avoidance of

certain

provisions.

liability to which he would have been subject if the

agreement had been determined by him under this Act;

or

(d) whereby any person acting on behalf of an owner or

seller in connection with the formation or conclusion of

a hire-purchase or credit-sale agreement is treated as

or deemed to be the agent of the hirer or the buyer; or

(e) whereby an owner or seller is relieved from liability for

the acts or defaults of any person acting on his behalf in

connection with the formation or conclusion of a hire-

purchase agreement or credit-sale agreement,

shall be void.

9.-(1) At any time before the final payment has been made under a hire-

purchase agreement or credit-sale agreement, any person entitled to enforce

the agreement against the hirer or buyer shall, within four days after he has

received a request in writing from the hirer or buyer and the hirer or buyer

has tendered to him the sum of fifty cents for expenses, supply to the hirer

or buyer a copy of any memorandum or note of the agreement, together

with a statement signed by the said person or his agent showing-

(a) the amount paid by or on behalf of the hirer or buyer;

(b) the amount which has become due under the agreement

but remains unpaid, and the date upon which each

unpaid instalment became due, and the amount of each

such instalment; and

(c) the amount which is to become payable under the

agreement, and the date or the mode of determining the

date upon which each future instalment is to become

Duty of owners

and sellers to

supply

documents and

information.

,

No. 1 Power Lane,

Belmopan, by the authority of

the Government of Belize.

Hire-Purchase [CAP. 292

[ ]

11

payable, and the amount of each such instalment.

(2) In the event of a failure without reasonable cause to comply

with subsection (1) then, while the default continues-

(a) no person shall be entitled to enforce the agreement

against the hirer or buyer or to enforce any contract of

guarantee relating to the agreement, and in the case of a

hire-purchase agreement, the owner shall not be entitled

to enforce any right to recover the goods from the hirer;

and

(b) no security given by the hirer or buyer in respect of

money payable under the agreement or given by a

guarantor in respect of money payable under such a

contract of guarantee relating to the agreement shall be

enforceable against the hirer or buyer or the guarantor

by any holder thereof,

and, if the default continues for a period of one month, the defaulter shall be

liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars.

10.-(1) Where by virtue of a hire-purchase agreement a hirer is under a duty

to keep the goods comprised in the agreement in his possession or control,

the hirer shall, on receipt of a request in writing from the owner, inform the

owner where the goods are at the time when the information is given or, if it is

sent by post, at the time of posting.

(2) If a hirer fails without reasonable cause to give the said information

within fourteen days of the receipt of the notice, he shall be liable on summary

conviction to a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars.

Duty of hirer to

give information

as to

whereabouts of

goods.

11.-(1) In every hire-purchase agreement there shall 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

shall have a right to sell the goods at the time when the

property is to pass;

(c) an implied warranty that the goods shall be free from

any charge or encumbrance in favour of any third party

at the time when the property is to pass;

(d) except where the goods are let as second-hand goods,

and the note or memorandum of the agreement made in

pursuance of section 5 contains a statement to that

effect, an implied condition that the goods shall be of

merchantable quality, so, however, that no such

condition shall be implied by virtue of this paragraph as

regards defects of which the owner could not

reasonably have been aware at the time when the

agreement was made or, if the hirer has examined the

goods or a sample thereof, as regards defects which

the examination ought to have revealed.

(2) Where the hirer expressly or by implication makes known the

particular purpose for which the goods are required, there shall be an

implied condition that the goods shall be reasonably fit for such purpose.

(3) The warranties and conditions set out in subsection (1) shall be

implied notwithstanding any agreement to the contrary, and the owner shall

not be entitled to rely on any provision in the agreement excluding or

modifying the condition set out in subsection (2) unless he proves that

before the agreement was made the provision was brought to the notice of

Conditions and

warranties to be

implied in hire-

purchase

agreements.

,

No. 1 Power Lane,

Belmopan, by the authority of

the Government of Belize.

Hire-Purchase [CAP. 292

[ ]

13

the hirer and its effect made clear to him.

(4) Nothing in this section shall prejudice the operation of any other

enactment or rule of law whereby any condition or warranty is to be implied

in any hire-purchase agreement.

12. A hirer who is liable to make payments in respect of two or

more hire-purchase agreements to the same owner shall, notwithstanding any

agreement to the contrary, be entitled, on making any payment in respect of

the agreements which is not sufficient to discharge the total amount then due

under all the agreements, 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 two 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 appro-

priated towards the satisfaction of the sums due under the respective hire-

purchase agreements in the proportions which those sums bear to one

another.

13.-(1) Where, in an action by an owner of goods which have been let under

a hire-purchase agreement to enforce a right to recover possession of the

goods from the hirer, the owner proves that, before the commencement of

the action and after the right to recover possession of the goods accrued, the

owner made a request in writing to the hirer to surrender the goods, the

hirer’s possession of the goods shall, for the purpose of the owner’s claim to

recover possession thereof, be deemed to be adverse to the owner.

(2) Nothing in this section shall affect a claim for damages for

conversion.

14.-(1) Where goods have been let under a hire-purchase agreement and

one-third of the hire-purchase price has been paid, whether in pursuance of a

judgment or otherwise, or tendered by or on behalf of the hirer or any

guarantor, the owner shall not enforce any right to recover possession of the

Appropriation of

payments made

in respect of

hire-purchase

agreements.

Evidence of

adverse

detention in

actions by

owners to

recover

possession.

Restriction of

owner’s right to

recover

possession of

goods otherwise

than by action.

goods from the hirer otherwise than by action.

(2) Where an owner recovers possession of goods in contravention

of subsection (1) the hire-purchase agreement, if not previously determined,

shall determine, and-

(a) the hirer shall be released from all liability under the

agreement and shall be entitled to recover from the

owner in an action for money had and received all sums

paid by the hirer under the agreement or under any

security given by him in respect thereof; and

(b) any guarantor shall be entitled to recover from the

owner in an action for money had and received all sums

paid by him under the contract of guarantee or under

any security given by him in respect thereof.

(3) The provisions of this section shall not apply in any case in

which the hirer has determined the agreement or the bailment by virtue of

any right vested in him.

15.-(1) Where, in any case to which section 14 applies, an owner

commences an action to enforce a right to recover possession of goods

from a hirer after one-third of the hire-purchase price has been paid or

tendered as aforesaid, the owner shall not take any step to enforce payment

of any sum due under the hire-purchase agreement or under any contract of

guarantee relating thereto, except by claiming the sum in the said action.

(2) Subject to such exceptions as may be provided for by rules of

court, all the parties to the agreement and any guarantor shall be made

parties to the action.

(3) Pending the hearing of the action the court shall, in addition to

any other powers, have power, upon the application of the owner, to make

Powers of court in

certain actions by

owners to recover

possession of the

goods.

,

No. 1 Power Lane,

Belmopan, by the authority of

the Government of Belize.

Hire-Purchase [CAP. 292

[ ]

15

such orders as the court thinks just for the purpose of protecting the goods

from damage or depreciation, including orders restricting or prohibiting the

user of the goods or giving directions as to their custody.

(4) On the hearing of the action the court may, without prejudice to

any other power-

(a) make an order for the specific delivery of all the goods

to the owner; or

(b) make an order for the specific delivery of all the goods

to the owner and postpone the operation of the order on

condition that the hirer or any guarantor pays the unpaid

balance of the hire-purchase price at such times and in

such amounts as the court, having regard to the means of

the hirer and of any guarantor, thinks just, and subject to

the fulfilment of such other conditions by the hirer or a

guarantor as the court thinks just; or

(c) make an order 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 remainder of the goods.

(5) No order shall be made under paragraph (b) of subsection (4)

unless the hirer satisfies the court that the goods are in his possession or

control at the time when the order is made.

(6) The court shall not make an order transferring to the hirer the

owner’s title to a part of the goods unless it is satisfied that the amount which

the hirer has paid in respect of the hire-purchase price exceeds the price of

that part of the goods by at least one-third of the unpaid balance of the hire-

purchase price.

(7) Where damages have been awarded against the owner in the

proceedings, the court may treat the hirer as having paid in respect of the

hire-purchase price, in addition to the actual amount paid, the amount of the

damages, or such part thereof as the court thinks fit, and thereupon the

damages shall accordingly be remitted either in whole or in part.

(8) For the purposes of this section, the expression-

“order for the specific delivery of goods to the owner” means an order for

delivery of the goods to the owner, without giving the hirer the option to pay

their value;

“price” in relation to any goods, means such part of the hire-purchase price

as is assigned to those goods by the note or memorandum of the hire-

purchase agreement or, if no such assignment is made, such part of the hire-

purchase price as the court may determine.

(9) Where at any time before the hearing of an action to which this

section applies the owner has recovered possession of a part of the goods,

the references in subsection (4) to all the goods shall be construed as

references to all the goods which the owner has not recovered and, if the

parties have not agreed upon an adjustment of the hire-purchase price in

respect of the goods so recovered, the court may for the purposes of

paragraphs (b) and (c) of subsection (4), make such reduction of the hire-

purchase price and of the unpaid balance thereof as the court thinks just.

(10) Where an owner has recovered a part of the goods let under a

hire-purchase agreement, and the recovery was effected in contravention of

section 14, this section shall not apply in relation to any action by the owner

to recover the remainder of the goods.

16.-(1) While the operation of an order for the specific delivery of goods to

the owner is postponed under section 15, the hirer shall be deemed to be a

bailee of the goods under and on the terms of the hire-purchase agreement:

Effect of post-

ponement of

operation of an

order for specific

delivery of goods

to the owner.

,

No. 1 Power Lane,

Belmopan, by the authority of

the Government of Belize.

Hire-Purchase [CAP. 292

[ ]

17

Provided that-

(a) no further sum shall be or become payable by the hirer

or a guarantor on account of the unpaid balance of the

hire-purchase price, except in accordance with the

terms of the order; and

(b) the court may make such further modification of the

terms of the hire-purchase agreement and of any

contract of guarantee relating thereto as the court

considers necessary, having regard to the variation of the

terms of payment.

(2) If, while the operation of an order for the specific delivery of

the goods to the owner is so postponed the hirer or a guarantor fails to

comply with any condition of the postponement, or with any term of the

agreement as varied by the court, or wrongfully disposes of the goods, the

owner shall not take any civil proceedings against the hirer or guarantor

otherwise than by making an application to the court by which the order was

made:

Provided that, in the case of a breach of any condition relating to the

payment of the unpaid balance of the hire-purchase price, it shall not be

necessary for the owner to apply to the court for leave to execute the order

unless the court has so directed.

(3) When the unpaid balance of the hire-purchase price has been paid

in accordance with the terms of the order, the owner’s title to the goods shall

vest in the hirer.

(4) The court may at any time during the postponement of the

operation of such an order as aforesaid-

(a) vary the conditions of the postponement; and make such

further modification of the hire-purchase agreement and

of any contract of guarantee relating thereto, as the

court considers necessary having regard to the variation

of the conditions of the postponement; or

(b) revoke the postponement; or

(c) make an order, in accordance with the provisions of

section 15, 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 remainder of the goods.

17.-(1) Where a hire-purchase agreement validly provides for the payment

by the hirer on or after the termination of the agreement or the bailment of

such sum as, when added to the sums paid and the sums due in respect of

the hire-purchase price before the determination, is equal to a fixed amount,

and a claim is made in such sum in an action to which section 15 of this Act

applies, then-

(a) if the court makes an order for the specific delivery of a

part of the goods to the owner and the transfer to the

hirer of the owner’s title to the remainder of the goods,

the claim shall be disallowed;

(b) if the court postpones the operation of an order for the

specific delivery of the goods to the owner, it shall not

entertain the claim unless and until the postponement is

revoked, and shall then deal with the claim as if the

agreement had just been determined.

(2) Where the hirer or a guarantor has paid or has been ordered to

pay any such sum as aforesaid, and the owner subsequently seeks to

recover the goods in an action to which section 15 of this Act applies, the

court may treat the said sum as a sum paid or payable, as the case may be,

Powers of the

court to deal with

payments arising

on determination

of hire-purchase

agreements.

,

No. 1 Power Lane,

Belmopan, by the authority of

the Government of Belize.

Hire-Purchase [CAP. 292

[ ]

19

in respect of the hire-purchase price.

18. Where goods have been let under a hire-purchase agreement and at

any time after one-third of the hire-purchase price has been paid or tendered

the owner makes a further hire-purchase agreement with the hirer comprising

those goods, the provisions of sections 14 and 15 of this Act shall have effect

in relation to that further agreement as from the commencement thereof.

19.-(1) Where, under the powers conferred by this Act, the court has

postponed the operation of an order for the specific delivery of goods to any

person, the goods shall not, during the postponement, be treated as goods

which are by the consent or permission of that person in the possession,

order or disposition of the hirer for the purposes of section 47 of the

Landlord and Tenant Act.

20. If, whilst by virtue of this Act the enforcement by an owner of a right

to recover possession of goods from a hirer is subject to any restriction, the

hirer refuses to give up possession of the goods to the owner, the hirer shall

not, by reason only of the refusal, be liable to the owner for conversion of the

goods.

21.-(1) Where under any hire-purchase agreement made after the com-

mencement of this Act the owner is required to carry out any installation, and

the note or memorandum of the agreement specifies as part of the hire-

purchase price the amount to be paid in respect of the installation, the

references in section 7 of this Act to one-half of the-hire-purchase price and

in sections 14, 15 and 18 of this Act to one-third of the hire-purchase price

shall be construed as references to the aggregate of the said amount and

either one-half of the remainder of the hire-purchase price or one-third of the

remainder of the hire-purchase price, as the case may be.

(2) For the purpose of this section, the expression “installation”

means-

Successive hire-

purchase

agreements

between the

same parties.

Provisions as to

bankruptcy of

hirer and distress

on hirer’s

premises.

CAP. 189.

Hirer’s refusal to

surrender goods

not to be

conversion in

certain cases.

Special

provisions as to

installatioin

charges.

(a) the installing of any electric line or water pipe;

(b) the fixing of goods to which the agreement relates to

the premises where they are to be used, and the

alteration of premises to enable any such goods to be

used thereon; and

(c) where it is reasonably necessary that any such goods

should be constructed or erected on the premises

where they are to be used, any work carried out for the

purpose of such construction or erection.

____________

SCHEDULE

[Section 5 (1) (c)]

Notice to be included in Note or Memorandum of Hire-Purchase

Agreement

NOTICE

Right of Hirer to Terminate Agreement

1. The hirer may put an end to this Agreement by giving notice of

termination in writing to any person who is entitled to collect or receive

the hire-rent.

2. He must then pay any instalments which are in arrear at the time

when he gives notice and if, when he has paid those instalments, the total

amount which he has paid under the agreement is less than (here insert the

minimum amount which the hirer is required to pay in accordance with

the provisions of sections 7 and 21 of this Act) he must also pay enough

to make up that sum.

,

No. 1 Power Lane,

Belmopan, by the authority of

the Government of Belize.

Hire-Purchase [CAP. 292

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3. If the goods have been damaged owing to the hirer having failed to

take reasonable care of them, the owner may sue him for the amount of the

damage unless that amount can be agreed between the hirer and the owner.

4. The hirer should see whether this Agreement contains provisions

allowing him to put an end to the Agreement on terms more favourable to him

than those just mentioned. If it does, he may put an end to the Agreement on

those terms.

Restriction of Owner’s Right to Recover Goods

1. *[After (here insert an amount calculated in accordance with the

provisions of sections 14 and 21 of this Act) has been paid, then] unless

the hirer has himself put an end to the Agreement, the owner of the goods

cannot take them back from the hirer without the hirer’s consent unless the

owner obtains an order of the court.

2. If the owner applies to the court for such an order, the court may, if

the court thinks it just to do so, allow the hirer to keep either-

(a) the whole of the goods, on condition that the hirer pays

the balance of the price in the manner ordered by the

court; or

(b) a fair proportion of the goods, having regard to what the

hirer has already paid.

*If the Agreement is a subsequent Agreement within the meaning of

section 18 of this Act, the words in square brackets should be omitted.

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