It’s no secret that sometimes pawnshops are used by criminals to sell their loot. These institutions do not guarantee their collateral buyers that this or that thing has not been stolen. Lawyers say that consumer protection mechanisms are effective in this area. However, they agree that the legislation needs to be improved.
Dmitry Lazebny, lawyer of the law firm Ilyashev and Partners, says that in general, the mechanism of protecting consumers in case of illegal actions of pawnbrokers works and is quite effective. And most cases end in favor of the consumer. writes about it Focus In a new article titled “Gold, iPhones, appliances: why experts predict a bright future for pawnshops”.
According to Dmitry Lazebny, court cases involving pawnshops most often relate to:
- recognition of invalid agreements regarding the provision of credit and security agreements;
- compensation for losses in connection with non-return of items delivered to the pawnshop.
According to Dmitry Lazebny, The law protects Ukrainians against the resale of stolen goods by the pawnshop. He recorded it according to art. 388 of the Civil Code of Ukraine, if the property under a compensation agreement was bought from a person (a real buyer) who does not know and cannot know the acquirer, who does not have the right to alienate it, the owner has the right to demand this property from the acquirer only if:
- if the property has been lost by the owner or the person to whom the property has been transferred;
- if the property was stolen from the owner or the person to whom it belongs;
- he has left the possession of the owner or the person to whom he has transferred, in another way against his will.
Anyone who finds things stolen from him in a pawnshop has the right to get them back.
In addition, pursuant to article 661 of the Civil Code of Ukraine, if the goods are seized by the buyer by a court decision in favor of a third party for reasons that arose before the sale of the goods, the seller is obliged to compensate the buyer for the loss, if the buyer was not aware of or was not able to know about the existence of these grounds.
So if you find your items at a pawnshop, you have the right to claim them in your favor. Moreover If you have purchased a stolen item from a pawnshop and it has been confiscated from you, you are entitled to compensation for losses, including the cost of the goods..
According to lawyer Valery Kostryukov, if the Law of Ukraine “On financial services and financial companies” is rewritten in terms of pawnshop operations, that is, to eliminate the risks of crime and corruption, it is possible to improve the protection of Ukrainians against the use of pawnshops to legalize stolen goods. The lawyer added that the amendments should be prepared with the participation of financiers, prosecutors, lawyers and anti-corruption departments.
Focus Lawyer Vasily Garashchak previously wrote that during the full-scale war, the conditions of consumer loans did not change much, and interest rates, as a rule, fell even more. According to his observations, some companies have resumed “promotional” interest rates, which further stimulated demand.
Recall that a bill was filed in Parliament proposing to limit loan interest rates for financial companies, to inform at least one credit bureau about the borrower, and to take into account credit history. Experts say its adoption would equalize the terms of lending to banks and MFIs.
Source: Focus
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