Hire-Purchase 1 LAWS OF MALAYSIA REPRINT Act 212 HIRE-PURCHASE ACT 1967 Incorporating all amendments up to 1 January 2006 PUBLISHED BY THE COMMISSIONER OF LAW REVISION, MALAYSIA UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF THE REVISION OF LAWS ACT 1968 IN COLLABORATION WITH PERCETAKAN NASIONAL MALAYSIA BHD 2006 2 HIRE-PURCHASE ACT 1967 First enacted ... ... ... ... ... 1967 (Act No. 24 of 1967) Revised ... ... ... ... ... 1978 (Act 212 w.e.f. 15 November 1978) PREVIOUS REPRINT First Reprint ... ... ... ... ... 2001 3 LAWS OF MALAYSIA Act 212 HIRE-PURCHASE ACT 1967 ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS PART I PRELIMINARY Section 1. Short title and application 2. Interpretation 3. Appointment of officers PART II FORMATION AND CONTENTS OF HIRE-PURCHASE AGREEMENTS 4. Requirements relating to hire-purchase agreements 4A. Hire-purchase agreement to be in writing 4B. Hire-purchase agreement to be signed, etc. 4C. Contents of hire-purchase agreement 4D. Separate agreement for every item of goods 5. Copy of documents to be served on hirer 6. (Deleted) PART IIA OPTION TO HIRER 6A. Option to hirer 6B. Right of owner to revise the base lending rate 6C. Right of hirer where the base lending rate is revised 4 ACT 212 Laws of Malaysia PART III PROTECTION OF HIRERS AND GUARANTORS Warranties and Conditions Section 7. Conditions and warranties to be implied in every hire-purchase agreement 8. L i a b i l i t y of the owner and person acting on his behalf for misrepresentation PART IV HIRERS Statutory rights of hirers 9. Duty of owners and sellers to supply documents and information 10. Appropriation of payments made in hire-purchase agreements 11. Power of court to allow goods to be removed 12. Assignments of rights under hire-purchase agreement 13. Operation of law 14. Early completion of agreement 15. Power of hirer to determine hiring 16. Notices to be given to hirer when goods repossessed 16A. Hirer who returns goods not liable to pay cost of repossession, etc. 17. Owner to retain possession of goods repossessed for twenty-one days 18. Hirer's rights and immunities when goods repossessed 19. Power of hirer to regain possession of goods in certain circumstances 20. Power of court to vary existing judgments or orders when goods are repossessed PART V GUARANTORS 20A. Owner may require guarantors 21. Provisions as to guarantors 22. Guarantor not to be bound in certain cases 23. Rights of guarantor against owner 24. Rights of guarantor against hirer 25. Guarantor not to seize Hire-Purchase 5 PART VI INSURANCE Section 26. Insurance of goods comprised in hire-purchase agreements 27. Powers of court in relation to insurance contracts associated with hire- purchase agreements 28. Contents of contracts of insurance 29. Application of Part VI PART VII GENERAL 30. Limitation on terms charges 31. Minimum deposits 32. Certain payments, etc., not to be treated as deposits for the purposes of this Part 33. Power of court to reopen certain hire-purchase transactions 34. Avoidance of certain provisions 35. Provisions relating to securities collateral to hire-purchase agreements 36. False statement by dealers, etc., in proposals 36A. Prohibition against collection of payment other than those in the Second Schedule 36B. Prohibition against collection of payment by person other than owners, dealers, agents, etc. 36C. Issue of receipt in respect of payments 36D. Owner to inform hirer where dealer, etc., has ceased to be authorized to collect payment 37.  Hirer may be required to state where goods are 38.  Fraudulent sale or disposal of goods by hirer 39.  Certain alterations, etc., of hire-purchase agreements to be of no effect 40.  Second-hand goods 41.  Power of court to extend time 42.  Power of court to order delivery of goods unlawfully detained 43.  Service of notices 43A. Substituted service 44. Proof of service 45. Size, type, etc., required in certain documents 46. Penalty 47. Liability of responsible officers of company 48. Principal criminally liable for acts of servant or agent 6 ACT 212 Laws of Malaysia PART VIII POWERS OF ENFORCEMENT Section 49. Declaration of office 50. Power to enter premises and inspect and seize goods and documents 51. Obstruction of officers 51A. Warrant admissible notwithstanding defects, etc. 51B. Powers of investigation 52. Supply of information 53. Information given by accused person admissible in evidence 54. Disclosure of information 55. Prosecution 55A. Court may order disposal of goods 56. Compounding 56A. Protection of Controller, Deputy Controllers, Assistant Controllers, etc. PART IX REGULATIONS, ETC. 57. Regulations 57A. Power to amend Schedules 58. Operation of certain laws FIRST SCHEDULE SECOND SCHEDULE THIRD SCHEDULE FOURTH SCHEDULE FIFTH SCHEDULE SIXTH SCHEDULE SEVENTH SCHEDULE Hire-Purchase 7 LAWS OF MALAYSIA Act 212 HIRE-PURCHASE ACT 1967 An Act to regulate the form and contents of hire-purchase agreements and the rights and duties of parties to such agreements. [11 April 1968, P.U. (B) 150/1968] PART I PRELIMINARY Short title and application 1. (1) This Act may be cited as the Hire-Purchase Act 1967. (2) This Act shall apply throughout Malaysia and in respect only of hire-purchase agreements relating to the goods specified in the First Schedule. (3) (Deleted by Act A1234.) (4) This Act shall apply only to hire-purchase agreements entered into after the coming into operation of the Act. Interpretation 2. (1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires-- "action" includes counter-claim and set off; "base lending rate" means the minimum interest rate based on owner's cost of funds and other administrative costs; "consumer goods" means goods purchased for personal, family or household purposes; 8 ACT 212 Laws of Malaysia "contract of guarantee" means, in relation to any hire-purchase agreement, a contract made at the request, expressed or implied, of the hirer to guarantee the performance of the hirer's obligations under the hire-purchase agreement, but does not include the dealer or a person engaged at the time of 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, and the expression "guarantor" shall be construed accordingly; "Controller", "Deputy Controller" and "Assistant Controller" mean respectively, the Controller of Hire-Purchase, a Deputy Controller of Hire-Purchase and an Assistant Controller of Hire- Purchase appointed under subsection 3(1); "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; "goods" includes any replacements or renewals by the hirer of any part or parts thereof and any accessories added or additions made thereto by the hirer during the period of the hiring; "hire-purchase agreement" includes a letting of goods with an option to purchase and an agreement for the purchase of goods by instalments (whether the agreement describes the instalments as rent or hire or otherwise), but does not include any agreement-- (a) 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; or (b) 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; "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; Hire-Purchase 9 "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 hirer's rights or liabilities under the agreement have passed by assignment or by operation of law; "Minister" means, unless otherwise stated, the Minister for the time being charged with the responsibility for consumer affairs; "owner" means a person who lets or has let goods to a hirer under a hire-purchase agreement and includes a person to whom the owner's rights or liabilities under the agreement have passed by assignment or by operation of law; "prescribed" means prescribed by the Minister under 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 still to go under the agreement; (b) in relation to insurance, means the sum of-- (i) the amount of premium paid in respect of any annual period not yet commenced; and (ii) the amount of premium paid in respect of the current annual period less the amount of premium which would have been paid at the insurers short period rates for the period which the policy has been in force provided no claim has arisen during this period; 10 ACT 212 Laws of Malaysia "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 law; "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 this Act in connection with the registration and use of a motor vehicle, including any amount payable for third-party insurance. (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 this Act, be deemed to be a payment of that part of the hire-purchase price. Appointment of officers 3. (1) The Minister may appoint a Controller of Hire-Purchase and such number of Deputy Controllers of Hire-Purchase, Assistant Controllers of Hire-Purchase a