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Contract and Commercial Law Act 2017

Sale of goods - Rights of unpaid seller against goods

174: Unpaid seller's rights

You could also call this:

“What you can do if someone doesn't pay you for goods you sold them”

If you sell goods but haven’t been paid yet, you have some special rights. Even if the buyer now owns the goods, you still have these rights.

You can keep the goods if they’re still with you until you get paid. This is called a lien.

If the buyer can’t pay their debts (they’re insolvent), you can stop the goods from being delivered to them, even if the goods are already on their way.

You also have the right to sell the goods to someone else, but there are some rules about how you can do this.

These rights might be changed by other laws, so it’s important to check.

If you haven’t given the buyer ownership of the goods yet, you have even more rights. You can refuse to hand over the goods, just like you can keep them or stop them being delivered when you do own them.

Remember, these rights are there to protect you if you haven’t been paid, but you should always follow the rules when using them.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM6844383.

Topics:
Business > Fair trading Money and consumer rights > Consumer protection
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173: Unpaid seller defined, or

"What it means to be an unpaid seller of goods"

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175: Unpaid seller's lien, or

"Seller can keep goods until paid"

Part 3 Sale of goods
Rights of unpaid seller against goods

174Unpaid seller's rights

  1. An unpaid seller of goods has, by implication of law,—

  2. a lien on the goods, or right to retain the goods for the price, while the seller is in possession of the goods:
    1. if the buyer is insolvent, a right to stop the goods in transit after the seller has parted with the possession of the goods:
      1. a right of resale, as limited by this Part.

        1. Subsection (1) applies even though the property in the goods may have passed to the buyer.

        2. Subsection (1) is subject to the rest of this Part and to the provisions of any Act.

        3. If the property in goods has not passed to the buyer, the unpaid seller has, in addition to the seller’s other remedies, a right of withholding delivery similar to, and co-extensive with, the seller’s rights of lien and to stop the goods in transit where the property has passed to the buyer.

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