Powers of court in certain actions by owners to recover possession of the goods

(2) Where an owner recovers possession of goods in contravention of subsection (1) of this section 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 of this Act 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. goods. (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 such orders as the court thinks just for the purpose of protecting the goods from damage or 16 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; (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 subsection (4) (b) of this section, 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 17 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) of this section 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 subsection (4) (b) and (c) of this section, 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 of this Act, this section shall not apply in relation to any action by the owner to recover the remainder of the goods.