On 14 April 2023. The Parliament passed the Law on Consumer Pawn Loans. The aim of this law is to comprehensively regulate the rapidly growing sector of loans granted to private individuals ‘against pledge’ of movable assets and to protect the interests of the consumer as a borrower.
As indicated in the explanatory memorandum to the Act, based on ongoing research and daily observations, it can be concluded that pawn shops are easily accessible and widely present on the streets of Polish cities. Factors such as visibility, accessibility and the ease with which transactions can be carried out mean that pawnshops are rapidly gaining the attention of customers. At the same time, there are often situations in which customers do not have the opportunity to read the contract in advance or later withdraw from it, and the lack of clear rules for calculating the cost of the loan is another irregularity identified – it happens that the verbal information provided about the cost of a pawnshop loan is at variance with what is ultimately contained in the contractual documentation.
In order to remove the identified pathological phenomena, the Act regulates, in particular, the content and manner of concluding a pawn loan agreement and the manner of its security, including the subject of the security. It also stipulates that pawnbroking activities may only be carried out in the form of an limited liability company or joint-stock company and is a regulated activity.