Pawnbroking
Pawnbroking contracts are considered consumer credit contracts under the Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act (CCCF Act) and pawnbrokers must comply with the obligations of a lender under a consumer credit contract unless exempt.
Recent case-stated proceedings brought by the Commerce Commission have confirmed that the CCCF Act applies to pawnbroking contracts (Commerce Commission v National Pawnbrokers Association of New Zealand [2024]).
Subject to meeting certain conditions pawnbrokers are exempt from the obligations in Part 2 of the CCCF Act. All other obligations in the CCCF Act of a lender under a consumer credit contract will apply to a pawnbroker in relation to a pawnbroking contract.
The obligations applying to pawnbrokers under the CCCF Act are in addition to obligations pawnbrokers have under the Secondhand Dealers and Pawnbrokers Act 2004.
We have produced guidelines explaining what a pawnbroking contract is and the obligations of pawnbrokers under the CCCF Act.