Hire-Purchase Act, 1946

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

9.—(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 3 of this Act 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) of this section shall be implied nothwithstanding 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) of this section unless he proves that before the agreement was made the provision was brought to the notice of 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.