New South Wales Consolidated Acts

PAWNBROKERS AND SECOND-HAND DEALERS ACT 1996 - SECT 28

28 Pawnbroker’s record of pledges

(1) At the time possession of goods is taken under an agreement by which the goods are pawned, a record of the agreement must be made that complies with this section.

(2) The record must include:

(a) a fair and reasonable description of the goods (including a fair and reasonable description of any detached or detachable components of the goods), which must include:

(i) each serial number, each other identifying number and each hallmark, inscription and engraving appearing on the goods (including any such components), and

(ii) any other matters prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of this paragraph, and

(b) the total amount lent on the goods, together with the rate of interest charged by week, month, or other period, as the case may be, and any other charges, and

(c) an equivalent annual interest rate, calculated in accordance with the regulations, and

(d) the name and residential address of the owner of the goods and of any agent through whom they are pawned, and

(e) the date of the pledge, and

(f) any other particulars required by the regulations to be included.

(3) No pledge is validly made unless the person pawning the goods signs the original record or, if the original record is kept in electronic form, signs a hard copy of the record and unless the document at the time of being signed contained all the particulars required by or under this Act to be included in it.

(4) The original record, or hard copy, signed under subsection (3) must be retained for a period of 3 years after it was made.

(5) An accurate and legible copy (a "pawn ticket") of any such record must be given to the person who pawned the goods at the time the record is made.

(5A) A pawn ticket must incorporate or be accompanied by:

(a) a notice in the form prescribed by the regulations setting out rights and obligations of the person who pawned the goods, and

(b) a statement, in itemised form, of:

(i) the types of fees and charges that are or may become payable, including those that are or may become deductible from the proceeds of the sale of the goods concerned, and

(ii) so far as they are known or ascertainable-the amounts of the fees and charges, and

(iii) so far as they are not known or ascertainable-the manner of calculating the amounts of the fees and charges, and

(c) a statement of the method or methods by which the goods may be sold if the goods are not redeemed, and

(d) a notice disclosing such other particulars or information as may be prescribed by the regulations.

(5B) A pawn ticket must not contain any statement or claim, or be accompanied by any material that contains any statement or claim, that purports to exclude or modify or misrepresents any rights that a person has under this Act or the regulations, or under any other legislation, or under the common law.

(5C) Without affecting the generality of subsection (1), the regulations may make provision for or with respect to requiring the use by pawnbrokers of electronic methods of creation and storage of records that pawnbrokers are required to keep under this section.

(6) In this section:
"component" of goods includes an attachment to the goods (including, for example, a battery).

(7) If this section is contravened in relation to any transaction, the pawnbroker by or on whose behalf the transaction was undertaken is guilty of an offence.

Maximum penalty: 50 penalty units.