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FACTORS ACT 1889

FACTORS ACT 1889 - LONG TITLE

An Act to amend and consolidate the Factors Acts.{1}
[26th August 1889]
Preliminary

FACTORS ACT 1889 - SECT 1

1. For the purposes of this Act

(1)The expression "mercantile agent" shall mean a mercantile agent
having in the customary course of his business as such agent
authority either to sell goods, or to consign goods for the purpose
of sale, or to buy goods, or to raise money on the security of
goods:

(2)A person shall be deemed to be in possession of goods or of
the documents of title to goods, where the goods or documents are
in his actual custody or are held by any other person subject to
his control or for him or on his behalf:

(3)The expression "goods" shall include wares and merchandise:

(4)The expression "document of title" shall include any bill of
lading, dock warrant, warehouse-keeper's certificate, and warrant or
order for the delivery of goods, and any other document used in
the ordinary course of business as proof of the possession or
control of goods, or authorising or purporting to authorise, either
by endorsement or by delivery, the possessor of the document to
transfer or receive goods thereby represented:

(5)The expression "pledge" shall include any contract pledging, or
giving a lien or security on, goods, whether in consideration of an
original advance or of any further or continuing advance or of any
pecuniary liability:

(6)The expression "person" shall include any body of persons
corporate or unincorporate.

Powers of mercantile agent with respect to disposition of goods.

FACTORS ACT 1889 - SECT 2

2.(1) Where a mercantile agent is, with the consent of the owner,
in possession of goods or of the documents of title to goods, any
sale, pledge, or other disposition of the goods, made by him when
acting in the ordinary course of business of a mercantile agent,
shall, subject to the provisions of this Act, be as valid as if
he were expressly authorised by the owner of the goods to make the
same; provided that the person taking under the disposition acts in
good faith, and has not at the time of the disposition notice that
the person making the disposition has not authority to make the
same.

(2) Where a mercantile agent has, with the consent of the owner,
been in possession of goods or of the documents of title to goods,
any sale, pledge, or other disposition, which would have been valid
if the consent had continued, shall be valid notwithstanding the
determination of the consent: provided that the person taking under
the disposition has not at the time thereof notice that the consent
has been determined.

(3) Where a mercantile agent has obtained possession of any
documents of title to goods by reason of his being or having been,
with the consent of the owner, in possession of the goods
represented thereby, or of any other documents of title to the
goods, his possession of the first-mentioned documents shall, for the
purposes of this Act, be deemed to be with the consent of the
owner.

(4) For the purposes of this Act the consent of the owner shall
be presumed in the absence of evidence to the contrary.

FACTORS ACT 1889 - SECT 3
Effect of pledges of documents of title.

3. A pledge of the documents of title to goods shall be deemed to
be a pledge of the goods.

FACTORS ACT 1889 - SECT 4
Pledge for antecedent debt.

4. Where a mercantile agent pledges goods as security for a debt
or liability due from the pledgor to the pledgee before the time
of the pledge, the pledgee shall acquire no further right to the
goods than could have been enforced by the pledgor at the time of
the pledge.

FACTORS ACT 1889 - SECT 5
Rights acquired by exchange of goods or documents.

5. The consideration necessary for the validity of a sale, pledge,
or other disposition, of goods, in pursuance of this Act, may be
either a payment in cash, or the delivery or transfer of other
goods, or of a document of title to goods, or of a negotiable
security, or any other valuable consideration; but where goods are
pledged by a mercantile agent in consideration of the delivery or
transfer of other goods, or of a document of title to goods, or
of a negotiable security, the pledgee shall acquire no right or
interest in the goods so pledged in excess of the value of the
goods, documents, or security when so delivered or transferred in
exchange.

FACTORS ACT 1889 - SECT 6
Agreements through clerks, &c.

6. For the purposes of this Act an agreement made with a
mercantile agent through a clerk or other person authorised in the
ordinary course of business to make contracts of sale or pledge on
his behalf shall be deemed to be an agreement with the agent.

FACTORS ACT 1889 - SECT 7
Provisions as to consignors and consignees.

7€(1) Where the owner of goods has given possession of the goods
to another person for the purpose of consignment or sale, or has
shipped the goods in the name of another person, and the consignee
of the goods has not had notice that such person is not the owner
of the goods, the consignee shall, in respect of advances made to
or for the use of such person, have the same lien on the goods
as if such person were the owner of the goods, and may transfer
any such lien to another person.

(2) Nothing in this section shall limit or affect the validity of
any sale, pledge, or disposition, by a mercantile agent.

Disposition by seller remaining in possession.

FACTORS ACT 1889 - SECT 8

8. Where a person, having sold goods, continues, or is, in
possession of the goods or of the documents of title to the goods,
the delivery or transfer by that person, or by a mercantile agent
acting for him, of the goods or documents of title under any sale,
pledge, or other disposition thereof, or under any agreement for
sale, pledge, or other disposition thereof, to any person receiving
the same in good faith and without notice of the previous sale,
shall have the same effect as if the person making the delivery or
transfer were expressly authorised by the owner of the goods to
make the same.

FACTORS ACT 1889 - SECT 9
Disposition by buyer obtaining possession.

9. Where a person, having bought or agreed to buy goods, obtains
with the consent of the seller possession of the goods or the
documents of title to the goods, the delivery or transfer, by that
person or by a mercantile agent acting for him, of the goods or
documents of title, under any sale, pledge, or other disposition
thereof, or under any agreement for sale, pledge, or other
disposition thereof, to any person receiving the same in good faith
and without notice of any lien or other right of the original
seller in respect of the goods, shall have the same effect as if
the person making the delivery or transfer were a mercantile agent
in possession of the goods or documents of title with the consent
of the owner.

(i)the buyer under a conditional sale agreement shall be deemed not
to be a person who has bought or agreed to buy goods, and

(ii)"conditional sale agreement" means an agreement for the sale of
goods which is a consumer credit agreement within the meaning of
the Consumer Credit Act 1974 under which the purchase price or part
of it is payable by instalments, and the property in the goods is
to remain in the seller (notwithstanding that the buyer is to be
in possession of the goods) until such conditions as to the payment
of instalments or otherwise as may be specified in the agreement
are fulfilled.]

FACTORS ACT 1889 - SECT 10
Effect of transfer of documents on vendor's lien or right of
stoppage in transitu.

10. Where a document of title to goods has been lawfully
transferred to a person as a buyer or owner of the goods, and
that person transfers the document to a person who takes the
document in good faith and for valuable consideration, the
last-mentioned transfer shall have the same effect for defeating any
vendor's lien or right of stoppage in transitu as the transfer of
a bill of lading has for defeating the right of stoppage in
transitu.

Mode of transferring documents.

FACTORS ACT 1889 - SECT 11

11. For the purposes of this Act, the transfer of a document may
be by endorsement, or, where the document is by custom or by its
express terms transferable by delivery, or makes the goods
deliverable to the bearer, then by delivery.

FACTORS ACT 1889 - SECT 12
Saving for rights of true owner.

12.(1) Nothing in this Act shall authorise an agent to exceed or
depart from his authority as between himself and his principal, or
exempt him from any liability, civil or criminal, for so doing.

(2) Nothing in this Act shall prevent the owner of goods from
recovering the goods from an agent or his trustee in bankruptcy at
any time before the sale or pledge thereof, or shall prevent the
owner of goods pledged by an agent from having the right to redeem
the goods at any time before the sale thereof, on satisfying the
claim for which the goods were pledged, and paying to the agent,
if by him required, any money in respect of which the agent would
by law be entitled to retain the goods or the documents of title
thereto, or any of them, by way of lien as against the owner, or
from recovering from any person with whom the goods have been
pledged any balance of money remaining in his hands as the produce
of the sale of the goods after deducting the amount of his lien.

(3) Nothing in this Act shall prevent the owner of goods sold by
an agent from recovering from the buyer the price agreed to be
paid for the same, or any part of that price, subject to any
right of set off on the part of the buyer against the agent.

FACTORS ACT 1889 - SECT 13
Saving for common law powers of agent.

13. The provisions of this Act shall be construed in amplification
and not in derogation of the powers exerciseable by an agent
independently of this Act.

Ss. 14, 15 rep. by SLR 1908

FACTORS ACT 1889 - SECT 17
Short title.

17. This Act may be cited as the Factors Act, 1889.

Schedule rep. by SLR 1908