12Notices to be given to purchasers

12 Notices to be given to purchasers

12 Notices to be given to purchasers

(1) No person shall receive an initial payment (whether by way of preliminary or other deposit or otherwise) in connection with an instalment contract unless, before receiving such payment, the person gives or causes to be given to the purchaser a notice in writing duly completed that is in or to the effect of the form in the Fourth Schedule and that complies with the requirements of this section and a notice in writing in the form in the Fifth Schedule and no person shall tender an instalment contract for execution by a purchaser unless at least twenty-four hours before so tendering such contract the person gives or causes to be given to the purchaser such notices.

(2)

(a) The notice in or to the effect of the form in the Fourth Schedule—

(i) shall be signed by the vendor or by the vendor’s duly appointed attorney and the signature shall be attested by a witness, or

(ii) where the vendor is a company, shall be under seal or shall be signed by an attorney of the company duly appointed under seal.

(b) Any such notice purporting to have been signed by an attorney shall be deemed to have been signed by the vendor or to be under the seal of the company as the case may be unless it is proved that such signatory was not authorised in that behalf.

(3) It shall be a failure to comply with the requirements of subsection (1) if any notice given to the purchaser in pursuance thereof—

(a) is in handwriting that is not clear and legible, or

(b) is printed in type of a size smaller than that known as ten point Times, or

(c) contains a material mis-statement or inaccuracy,

unless in the case of a material mis-statement or inaccuracy, the court before which the enforceability of any instalment contract comes in question, or before which proceedings for an offence under this Act are heard, is satisfied that such failure was accidental or due to inadvertence and was not of such a nature as to be liable to mislead or deceive any person to the person’s prejudice or disadvantage, and that the purchaser was not in fact so misled or deceived.

(4) Any failure to comply with the provisions of this section by any agent of a vendor shall be deemed to be also a failure by the vendor to comply with such provisions, unless such vendor proves that having taken all reasonable precautions against such failure the vendor had reasonable grounds to believe and did believe that all the requirements of this section had been complied with.