In section 4, insert in their appropriate alphabetical order:
“consumer goods has the same meaning as in section 5 of the Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act 2003
“creditor has the same meaning as in section 5 of the Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act 2003, and includes a creditor referred to in section 83AB(2)(b) of that Act
“repossession agent has the meaning given to it in section 8A
“repossession employee has the meaning given to it in section 16A”.
In section 5(4)(b), after “destruction agent,”
, insert “repossession agent,”
.
New section 8A: insert after section 8:
“8A Meaning of repossession agent
In this Act, repossession agent means a person who for valuable consideration, either by himself or herself or in partnership with any other person, carries on a business of repossessing consumer goods on behalf of a creditor.”
New section 16A: insert after section 16:
“16A Meaning of repossession employee
In this Act, repossession employee—
“(a) means an individual who in the course of his or her employment, or engagement as a contractor, by a repossession agent or a creditor repossesses, or holds himself or herself out as being authorised to repossess, consumer goods; and
“(b) includes a creditor who carries out a repossession himself or herself, regardless of whether the creditor is, in fact, an employee.”
In the heading to section 20, after “definition of”
, insert “repossession employee,”
.
In section 20(1), before “17”
, insert “16A,”
in each place.
After section 23(1)(d), insert:
After section 44(1)(d), insert:
After section 45(1), insert:
“(1A) No person, not being the holder of a licence, may employ, engage as a contractor, or permit to act as a repossession employee any individual who does not hold a certificate of approval as a repossession employee.”
In section 53(1)(a), after “14,”
, insert “16A,”
.
Replace section 55(b) with:
In section 60(2)(a), after “14,”
, insert “16A,”
.
In section 55, insert as subsection (2):
“(2) Subject to this Act, to the Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act 2003, and to any conditions imposed by the Authority, a certificate of approval that is held by a creditor referred to in section 16A(b) authorises the creditor to carry out a repossession of consumer goods himself or herself.”
After section 62(f)(iii), insert:
After section 63(1)(a)(i), insert:
In section 69, after “engages any”
, insert “repossession employee or”
.
In section 70, after “engages any”
, insert “repossession employee or”
in each place.
In section 110(1)(a), replace “a property guard,”
with “a repossession agent, property guard,”
.
In section 110(1)(b), replace “a property guard employee,”
with “a repossession employee, property guard employee,”
.
In section 114(1)(k), after “or engage”
, insert “repossession employees or”
.
After section 126, insert:
“126A Transition period for business or work of repossession agent Transitional provisions relating to repossession agents and repossession employees
“(1) A person who is a repossession agent within the meaning of section 8A is not required to hold a licence under this Act in respect of that class of business until the specified date.
“(2) A person who performs the work of a repossession employee described in section 16A is not required to hold a certificate of approval under this Act in respect of that class of work until the specified date.
“(3) In this section, specified date means the date that is specified for the purpose of this section by the Governor-General by Order in Council.
“(4) In the case of an applicant for a licence as a repossession agent, section 62(j) must be applied as if the ground for disqualification is that the individual has not, within the preceding 5 years, had 12 months' relevant experience—
“(5) Subsection (4) also applies for the purposes of section 63(1)(f) (as well as section 62(j)).
“(6) Subsections (4) and (5) do not apply to applications for licences made after the date that is 5 years after the date on which this section comes into force.”