Repossession is finding, demanding or seizing goods that someone holds, on behalf of another person or company. It is licensed work in New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia and the Northern Territory; in Victoria it is part of debt collection, which needs no licence. An agent may not enter a home without consent in New South Wales, or without lawful authority in Victoria, and the national guideline says a collector must leave the moment they are asked.
General informationAbout the rules on repossession, not legal advice about any loan, contract or goods. The rules are on the pages of the NSW Government, Consumer Affairs Victoria and Consumer Protection WA, and in the ACCC and ASIC guideline.
Which goods, and which licence
| Place | The goods | The licence |
|---|---|---|
| New South Wales | Goods held by an individual, demanded or seized for another person or company | Commercial agent licence, for field agents and their employers |
| Victoria | Goods or property, other than real estate, taken as payment of debts | None; a prohibited person needs permission |
| Queensland | Goods, as part of a field agent’s work | Field agent licence |
| South Australia | Goods subject to a security interest: any interest in or power over goods that secures a debt or another obligation | Investigation agent licence |
| Northern Territory | Goods or chattels under a hire purchase agreement or bill of sale | Commercial agent licence |
Western Australia’s licence page speaks of debt collecting rather than repossession, and Consumer Protection WA keeps a separate page on repossessions, whose rules on entering a home follow.
At the door
On entering a home, the rules in each place point the same way.
- NSW
A commercial agent must not enter a private dwelling without consent, or use or threaten physical force or violence. The agent must make in-person contact only when it is needed, and must hold a current licence for any face-to-face contact and show it when asked.
- VIC
Banned practices include entering a private residence without lawful authority, or threatening to; using threats, deception or misrepresentation to get consent to enter; and refusing to leave a home or workplace when asked.
- WA
Consumer Protection WA says the National Credit Code stops collectors and creditors from entering residential premises to take mortgaged goods unless a court approves or the occupier consents in writing. It adds that, under the Criminal Code, entering a property without the consent of the person in charge of it, or staying after being asked to go, is an offence unless there is a lawful excuse.
- National
The ACCC and ASIC guideline says a collector must leave a debtor’s premises immediately if asked to at any time, and that refusing is also likely to breach trespass laws. If a debtor refuses a visit, the collector must not visit. It adds that its guidance on face-to-face contact is not meant to limit visits the law otherwise allows: to sight, inspect or recover goods held as security, to serve legal process, or by officers a court has authorised to enforce its orders.
Safety comes before any of this. NSW advises reporting concerns about safety or wellbeing to the local police straight away, the ACCC says assault or threats of violence go to the police, and Consumer Affairs Victoria points conduct that may be criminal, such as threats of violence, to Victoria Police.
Before a home visit
The guideline says a personal visit may be justified when other contact has gone unanswered, or to confirm who or where a debtor is when that is reasonably in doubt. For a visit to a home, it recommends that the collector:
- asks permission first where that is possible, rather than arriving uninvited
- says clearly, before the visit, what it is for
- agrees a time that suits both sides
- allows the debtor time to get advice, support or someone to represent them
- stays away if serious illness or incapacity would make a visit inappropriate, and leaves at once on learning of it during a visit.
Words that claim more than the law allows
A threat to take goods is only as good as the right behind it. Victoria bans trying or threatening to take property a collector is not entitled to; its page gives the example of saying a home or other property will be seized when it cannot legally be taken. The national guideline says a collector must not state or imply that unsecured goods may be seized and sold without further legal action. A licence does not widen those limits: in South Australia a licensed agent must not claim any power or authority the licence does not give.
After a car is taken: South Australia and the Northern Territory
Both places make an agent who takes a motor vehicle report it to the police, in two steps. In South Australia the duty covers a vehicle subject to a security interest; in the Northern Territory, a vehicle subject to a hire purchase agreement, chattel mortgage or bill of sale.
As soon as practicable. The agent tells a police officer on duty at the police station closest to the place the vehicle was taken.
Within 24 hours. The agent delivers or posts written details of the vehicle, in duplicate and including its registration number, to the officer in charge of the police station closest to the agent’s own address: the address for service in South Australia, the registered address in the Northern Territory.
The pages read for this guide set no matching duty for New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland or Western Australia.
Where the rest of the rules sit
The conduct rules guide covers what a collector may say in writing and the rules each state adds; the checking guide covers how to confirm that the person at the door holds the licence they claim.