H-3316

AN ACT Relating to lease-purchase agreements; amending RCW 62A.1‑201, 63.10.020, and 63.14.010; reenacting and amending RCW 19.52.010; and adding a new chapter to Title 63 RCW.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. This act may be known and cited as the Washington lease-purchase agreement act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires:

(1) "Advertisement" means a commercial message in any medium that aids, promotes, or assists, directly or indirectly, a lease-purchase agreement.

(2) "Cash price" means the price at which the lessor would have sold the property to the consumer for cash on the date of the lease-purchase agreement.

(3) "Consumer" means a natural person who rents personal property under a lease-purchase agreement to be used primarily for personal, family, or household purposes.

(4) "Consummation" means the time a consumer becomes contractually obligated on a lease-purchase agreement.

(5) "Lease-purchase agreement" means an agreement for the use of personal property by a natural person primarily for personal, family, or household purposes, for an initial period of four months or less that is automatically renewable with each payment after the initial period, but does not obligate or require the consumer to continue leasing or using the property beyond the initial period, and that permits the consumer to become the owner of the property.

(6) "Lessor" means a person who regularly provides the use of property through lease-purchase agreements and to whom lease payments are initially payable on the face of the lease-purchase agreement.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. (1) Lease-purchase agreements that comply with this chapter are not governed by the laws relating to:

(a) A consumer lease as defined in chapter 63.10 RCW;

(b) A retail installment sale of goods or services as regulated under chapter 63.14 RCW;

(d) Loans, forbearances of money, goods, or things in action as governed by chapter 19.52 RCW.

(2) This chapter does not apply to the following:

(a) Lease-purchase agreements primarily for business, commercial, or agricultural purposes, or those made with governmental agencies or instrumentalities or with organizations;

(b) A lease of a safe deposit box;

(c) A lease or bailment of personal property that is incidental to the lease of real property, and that provides that the consumer has no option to purchase the leased property; or

(d) A lease of an automobile.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. (1) The lessor shall disclose to the consumer the information required under this chapter. In a transaction involving more than one lessor, only one lessor need make the disclosures, but all lessors shall be bound by such disclosures.

(2) The disclosure shall be made at or before consummation of the lease-purchase agreement.

(3) The disclosure shall be made clearly and conspicuously in writing and a copy of the lease-purchase agreement provided to the consumer. The disclosures required under section 5(1) of this act shall be made on the face of the contract above the line for the consumer's signature.

(4) If a disclosure becomes inaccurate as the result of any act, occurrence, or agreement by the consumer after delivery of the required disclosures, the resulting inaccuracy is not a violation of this chapter.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. (1) For each lease-purchase agreement, the lessor shall disclose in the agreement the following items, as applicable:

(a) The total number, total amount, and timing of all payments necessary to acquire ownership of the property;

(b) A statement that the consumer will not own the property until the consumer has made the total payment necessary to acquire ownership;

(c) A statement that the consumer is responsible for the fair market value of the property if, and as of the time, it is lost, stolen, damage, or destroyed;

(d) A brief description of the leased property, sufficient to identify the property to the consumer and the lessor, including an identification number, if applicable, and a statement indicating whether the property is new or used, but a statement that indicates new property is used is not a violation of this chapter;

(e) A brief description of any damage to the leased property;

(f) A statement of the cash price of the property. Where the agreement involves a lease of five or more items as a set, in one agreement, a statement of the aggregate cash price of all items shall satisfy this requirement;

(g) The total of initial payments paid or required at or before consummation of the agreement or delivery of the property, whichever is later;

(h) A statement that the total of payments does not include other charges, such as late payment, default, pickup, and reinstatement fees, which fees shall be separately disclosed in the contract;

(i) A statement clearly summarizing the terms of the consumer's option to purchase, including a statement that the consumer has the right to exercise an early purchase option and the price, formula, or method for determining the price at which the property may be so purchased;

(j) A statement identifying the party responsible for maintaining or servicing the property while it is being leased, together with a description of that responsibility, and a statement that if any part of a manufacturer's express warranty covers the lease property at the time the consumer acquires ownership of the property, it shall be transferred to the consumer, if allowed by the terms of the warranty;

(k) The date of the transaction and the identities of the lessor and consumer;

(l) A statement that the consumer may terminate the agreement without penalty by voluntarily surrendering or returning the property in good repair upon expiration of any lease term along with any past due rental payments; and

(m) Notice of the right to reinstate an agreement as herein provided.

(2) With respect to matters specifically governed by the federal consumer credit protection act, compliance with the act satisfies the requirements of this section.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. A lease-purchase agreement may not contain:

(1) A confession of judgment;

(2) A negotiable instrument;

(3) A security interest or any other claim of a property interest in any goods except those goods delivered by the lessor pursuant to the lease-purchase agreement;

(4) A wage assignment;

(5) A waiver by the consumer of claims or defenses; or

(6) A provision authorizing the lessor or a person acting on the lessor's behalf to enter upon the consumer's premises or to commit any breach of the peace in the repossession of goods.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. (1) A consumer who fails to make a timely rental payment may reinstate the agreement, without losing any rights or options that exist under the agreement, by the payment of:

(a) All past due rental charges;

(b) If the property has been picked up, the reasonable costs of pickup and redelivery; and

(c) Any applicable late fee, within ten days of the renewal date if the consumer pays monthly, or within five days of the renewal date if the consumer pays more frequently than monthly.

(2) In the case of a consumer who has paid less than two-thirds of the total of payments necessary to acquire ownership and where the consumer has returned or voluntarily surrendered the property, other than through judicial process, during the applicable reinstatement period set forth in subsection (1) of this section, the consumer may reinstate the agreement during a period of not less than twenty-one days after the date of the return of the property.

(3) In the case of a consumer who has paid two-thirds or more of the total of payments necessary to acquire ownership, and where the consumer has returned or voluntarily surrendered the property, other than through judicial process, during the applicable period set forth in subsection (1) of this section, the consumer may reinstate the agreement during a period of not less than forty-five days after the date of the return of the property.

(4) Nothing in this section shall prevent a lessor from attempting to repossess property during the reinstatement period, but such a repossession shall not affect the consumer's right to reinstate. Upon reinstatement, the lessor shall provide the consumer with the same property or substitute property of comparable quality and condition.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. A lessor shall provide the consumer a written receipt for each payment made by cash or money order.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. (1) A renegotiation shall occur when an existing lease-purchase agreement is satisfied and replaced by a new agreement undertaken by the same lessor and consumer. A renegotiation shall be considered a new agreement requiring new disclosures. However, events such as the following shall not be treated as renegotiations:

(a) The addition or return of property in a multiple-item agreement or the substitution of the lease property, if in either case the average payment allocable to a payment period is not changed by more than twenty-five percent;

(b) A deferral or extension of one or more periodic payments, or portions of a periodic payment;

(d) A lease or agreement involved in a court proceeding.

(2) No disclosures are required for any extension of a lease-purchase agreement.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 10. (1) If an advertisement for a lease-purchase agreement refers to or states the dollar amount of any payment and the right to acquire ownership for any one specific item, the advertisement shall also clearly and conspicuously state the following items, as applicable:

(a) That the transaction advertised is a lease-purchase agreement;

(b) The total of payments necessary to acquire ownership; and

(2) Any owner or personnel of any medium in which an advertisement appears or through which it is disseminated shall not be liable under this section.

(3) The provisions of subsection (1) of this section shall not apply to an advertisement that does not refer to or state the amount of any payment, or which is published in the yellow pages of a telephone directory or in any similar directory of business.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 11. The Washington lease-purchase agreement act is a matter affecting the public interest for the purpose of applying chapter 19.86 RCW. The violation of this chapter is not reasonable in relation to the development and preservation of business. A violation of this chapter constitutes an unfair or deceptive act or practice in trade or commerce for the purpose of applying chapter 19.86 RCW.

Sec. 12. RCW 19.52.010 and 1983 c 309 s 1 and 1983 c 158 s 6 are each reenacted and amended to read as follows:

(1) Every loan or forbearance of money, goods, or thing in action shall bear interest at the rate of twelve percent per annum where no different rate is agreed to in writing between the parties: PROVIDED, That with regard to any transaction heretofore or hereafter entered into subject to this section, if an agreement in writing between the parties evidencing such transaction provides for the payment of money at the end of an agreed period of time or in installments over an agreed period of time, then such agreement shall constitute a writing for purposes of this section and satisfy the requirements thereof. The discounting of commercial paper, where the borrower makes himself liable as maker, guarantor, or indorser, shall be considered as a loan for the purposes of this chapter.

(2) A lease shall not be considered a loan or forbearance for the purposes of this chapter if:

(a) It constitutes a "consumer lease" as defined in RCW 63.10.020; ((or))

(b) It constitutes a lease-purchase agreement under chapter 63.‑-RCW (sections 1 through 11 of this act); or

(i) The lessee was not a natural person;

(ii) The lease was not primarily for personal, family, or household purposes; or

(iii) The total contractual obligation exceeded twenty-five thousand dollars.

Sec. 13. RCW 62A.1-201 and 1990 c 228 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:

Subject to additional definitions contained in the subsequent Articles of this Title which are applicable to specific Articles or Parts thereof, and unless the context otherwise requires, in this Title:

(1) "Action" in the sense of a judicial proceeding includes recoupment, counterclaim, set-off, suit in equity and any other proceedings in which rights are determined.

(2) "Aggrieved party" means a party entitled to resort to a remedy.

(3) "Agreement" means the bargain of the parties in fact as found in their language or by implication from other circumstances including course of dealing or usage of trade or course of performance as provided in this Title (RCW 62A.1-205 and RCW 62A.2-208). Whether an agreement has legal consequences is determined by the provisions of this Title, if applicable; otherwise by the law of contracts (RCW 62A.1-103). (Compare "Contract".)

(4) "Bank" means any person engaged in the business of banking.

(5) "Bearer" means the person in possession of an instrument, document of title, or certificated security payable to bearer or indorsed in blank.

(6) "Bill of lading" means a document evidencing the receipt of goods for shipment issued by a person engaged in the business of transporting or forwarding goods, and includes an airbill. "Airbill" means a document serving for air transportation as a bill of lading does for marine or rail transportation, and includes an air consignment note or air waybill.

(7) "Branch" includes a separately incorporated foreign branch of a bank.

(8) "Burden of establishing" a fact means the burden of persuading the triers of fact that the existence of the fact is more probable than its non-existence.

(9) "Buyer in ordinary course of business" means a person who in good faith and without knowledge that the sale to him is in violation of the ownership rights or security interest of a third party in the goods buys in ordinary course from a person in the business of selling goods of that kind but does not include a pawnbroker. All persons who sell minerals or the like (including oil and gas) at wellhead or minehead shall be deemed to be persons in the business of selling goods of that kind. "Buying" may be for cash or by exchange of other property or on secured or unsecured credit and includes receiving goods or documents of title under a pre-existing contract for sale but does not include a transfer in bulk or as security for or in total or partial satisfaction of a money debt.

(10) "Conspicuous": A term or clause is conspicuous when it is so written that a reasonable person against whom it is to operate ought to have noticed it. A printed heading in capitals (as: NON-NEGOTIABLE BILL OF LADING) is conspicuous. Language in the body of a form is "conspicuous" if it is in larger or other contrasting type or color. But in a telegram any stated term is "conspicuous". Whether a term or clause is "conspicuous" or not is for decision by the court.

(11) "Contract" means the total legal obligation which results from the parties' agreement as affected by this Title and any other applicable rules of law. (Compare "Agreement".)

(12) "Creditor" includes a general creditor, a secured creditor, a lien creditor and any representative of creditors, including an assignee for the benefit of creditors, a trustee in bankruptcy, a receiver in equity and an executor or administrator of an insolvent debtor's or assignor's estate.

(13) "Defendant" includes a person in the position of defendant in a cross-action or counterclaim.

(14) "Delivery" with respect to instruments, documents of title, chattel paper, or certificated securities means voluntary transfer of possession.

(15) "Document of title" includes bill of lading, dock warrant, dock receipt, warehouse receipt or order for the delivery of goods, and also any other document which in the regular course of business or financing is treated as adequately evidencing that the person in possession of it is entitled to receive, hold and dispose of the document and the goods it covers. To be a document of title a document must purport to be issued by or addressed to a bailee and purport to cover goods in the bailee's possession which are either identified or are fungible portions of an identified mass.

(16) "Fault" means wrongful act, omission or breach.

(17) "Fungible" with respect to goods or securities means goods or securities of which any unit is, by nature or usage of trade, the equivalent of any other like unit. Goods which are not fungible shall be deemed fungible for the purposes of this Title to the extent that under a particular agreement or document unlike units are treated as equivalents.

(18) "Genuine" means free of forgery or counterfeiting.

(19) "Good faith" means honesty in fact in the conduct or transaction concerned.

(20) "Holder" with respect to an instrument, certificated security, or document of title means the person in possession if (a) in the case of an instrument, it is payable to bearer or to the order of the person in possession, (b) in the case of a security, the person in possession is the registered owner, or the security has been indorsed to the person in possession by the registered owner, or the security is in bearer form, or (c) in the case of a document of title, the goods are deliverable to bearer or to the order of the person in possession.

(21) To "honor" is to pay or to accept and pay, or where a credit so engages to purchase or discount a draft complying with the terms of the credit.

(22) "Insolvency proceedings" includes any assignment for the benefit of creditors or other proceedings intended to liquidate or rehabilitate the estate of the person involved.

(23) A person is "insolvent" who either has ceased to pay his debts in the ordinary course of business or cannot pay his debts as they become due or is insolvent within the meaning of the federal bankruptcy law.

(24) "Money" means a medium of exchange authorized or adopted by a domestic or foreign government or intergovernmental organization.

(25) A person has "notice" of a fact when (a) he has actual knowledge of it; or

(b) he has received a notice or notification of it; or

A person "knows" or has "knowledge" of a fact when he has actual knowledge of it. "Discover" or "learn" or a word or phrase of similar import refers to knowledge rather than to reason to know. The time and circumstances under which a notice or notification may cease to be effective are not determined by this Title.

(26) A person "notifies" or "gives" a notice or notification to another by taking such steps as may be reasonably required to inform the other in ordinary course whether or not such other actually comes to know of it. A person "receives" a notice or notification when

(a) it comes to his attention; or

(b) it is duly delivered at the place of business through which the contract was made or at any other place held out by him as the place for receipt of such communications.

(27) Notice, knowledge or a notice or notification received by an organization is effective for a particular transaction from the time when it is brought to the attention of the individual conducting that transaction, and in any event from the time when it would have been brought to his attention if the organization had exercised due diligence. An organization exercises due diligence if it maintains reasonable routines for communicating significant information to the person conducting the transaction and there is reasonable compliance with the routines. Due diligence does not require an individual acting for the organization to communicate information unless such communication is part of his regular duties or unless he has reason to know of the transaction and that the transaction would be materially affected by the information.

(28) "Organization" includes a corporation, government or governmental subdivision or agency, business trust, estate, trust, partnership or association, two or more persons having a joint or common interest, or any other legal or commercial entity.

(29) "Party", as distinct from "third party", means a person who has engaged in a transaction or made an agreement within this Title.

(30) "Person" includes an individual or an organization (See RCW 62A.1-102).

(31) "Presumption" or "presumed" means that the trier of fact must find the existence of the fact presumed unless and until evidence is introduced which would support a finding of its nonexistence.

(32) "Purchase" includes taking by sale, discount, negotiation, mortgage, pledge, lien, issue or re-issue, gift or any other voluntary transaction creating an interest in property.

(33) "Purchaser" means a person who takes by purchase.

(34) "Remedy" means any remedial right to which an aggrieved party is entitled with or without resort to a tribunal.

(35) "Representative" includes an agent, an officer of a corporation or association, and a trustee, executor or administrator of an estate, or any other person empowered to act for another.

(36) "Rights" includes remedies.

(37) "Security interest" means an interest in personal property or fixtures which secures payment or performance of an obligation, except for lease-purchase agreements under chapter 63.-- RCW (sections 1 through 11 of this act). The retention or reservation of title by a seller of goods notwithstanding shipment or delivery to the buyer (RCW 62A.2‑401) is limited in effect to a reservation of a "security interest". The term also includes any interest of a buyer of accounts or chattel paper which is subject to Article 9. The special property interest of a buyer of goods on identification of such goods to a contract for sale under RCW 62A.2-401 is not a "security interest", but a buyer may also acquire a "security interest" by complying with Article 9. Unless a lease or consignment is intended as security, reservation of title thereunder is not a "security interest" but a consignment is in any event subject to the provisions on consignment sales (RCW 62A.2-326). Whether a lease is intended as security is to be determined by the facts of each case; however, (a) the inclusion of an option to purchase does not of itself make the lease one intended for security, and (b) an agreement that upon compliance with the terms of the lease the lessee shall become or has the option to become the owner of the property for no additional consideration or for a nominal consideration does make the lease one intended for security.

(38) "Send" in connection with any writing or notice means to deposit in the mail or deliver for transmission by any other usual means of communication with postage or cost of transmission provided for and properly addressed and in the case of an instrument to an address specified thereon or otherwise agreed, or if there be none to any address reasonable under the circumstances. The receipt of any writing or notice within the time at which it would have arrived if properly sent has the effect of a proper sending.

(39) "Signed" includes any symbol executed or adopted by a party with present intention to authenticate a writing.

(40) "Surety" includes guarantor.

(41) "Telegram" includes a message transmitted by radio, teletype, cable, any mechanical method of transmission, or the like.

(42) "Term" means that portion of an agreement which relates to a particular matter.

(43) "Unauthorized" signature means one made without actual, implied or apparent authority and includes a forgery.

(44) "Value". Except as otherwise provided with respect to negotiable instruments and bank collections (RCW 62A.3-303, RCW 62A.4-208 and RCW 62A.4-209) a person gives "value" for rights if he acquires them

(a) in return for a binding commitment to extend credit or for the extension of immediately available credit whether or not drawn upon and whether or not a charge-back is provided for in the event of difficulties in collection; or

(b) as security for or in total or partial satisfaction of a preexisting claim; or

(d) generally, in return for any consideration sufficient to support a simple contract.

(45) "Warehouse receipt" means a receipt issued by a person engaged in the business of storing goods for hire.

(46) "Written" or "writing" includes printing, typewriting or any other intentional reduction to tangible form.

Sec. 14. RCW 63.10.020 and 1983 c 158 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:

As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires:

(1) The term "consumer lease" means a contract of lease or bailment for the use of personal property by a natural person for a period of time exceeding four months, and for a total contractual obligation not exceeding twenty-five thousand dollars, primarily for personal, family, or household purposes, whether or not the lessee has the option to purchase or otherwise become the owner of the property at the expiration of the lease, except that such term shall not include any lease which meets the definition of a retail installment contract under RCW 63.14.010 or the definition of a lease-purchase agreement under chapter 63.-- RCW (sections 1 through 11 of this act). The inclusion in a lease of a provision whereby the lessee's or lessor's liability, at the end of the lease period or upon an earlier termination, is based on the value of the leased property at that time, shall not be deemed to make the transaction other than a consumer lease. The term "consumer lease" does not include a lease for agricultural, business, or commercial purposes, or to a government or governmental agency or instrumentality, or to an organization.

(2) The term "lessee" means a natural person who leases or is offered a consumer lease.

(3) The term "lessor" means a person who is regularly engaged in leasing, offering to lease, or arranging to lease under a consumer lease.

Sec. 15. RCW 63.14.010 and 1984 c 280 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:

In this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires:

(1) "Goods" means all chattels personal when purchased primarily for personal, family, or household use and not for commercial or business use, but not including money or, except as provided in the next sentence, things in action. The term includes but is not limited to merchandise certificates or coupons, issued by a retail seller, to be used in their face amount in lieu of cash in exchange for goods or services sold by such a seller and goods which, at the time of sale or subsequently, are to be so affixed to real property as to become a part thereof, whether or not severable therefrom;

(2) "Lender credit card" means a card or device under a lender credit card agreement pursuant to which the issuer gives to a cardholder residing in this state the privilege of obtaining credit from the issuer or other persons in purchasing or leasing property or services, obtaining loans, or otherwise, and the issuer of which is not: (a) Principally engaged in the business of selling goods; or (b) a financial institution;

(3) "Lender credit card agreement" means an agreement entered into or performed in this state prescribing the terms of retail installment transactions pursuant to which the issuer may, with the buyer's consent, purchase or acquire one or more retail sellers' indebtedness of the buyer under a sales slip or memorandum evidencing the purchase, lease, loan, or otherwise to be paid in accordance with the agreement. The issuer of a lender credit card agreement shall not be principally engaged in the business of selling goods or be a financial institution;

(4) "Financial institution" means any bank or trust company, mutual savings bank, credit union, or savings and loan association organized pursuant to the laws of any one of the United States of America or the United States of America, or the laws of a foreign country if also qualified to conduct business in any one of the United States of America or pursuant to the laws of the United States of America;

(5) "Services" means work, labor, or services of any kind when purchased primarily for personal, family, or household use and not for commercial or business use whether or not furnished in connection with the delivery, installation, servicing, repair, or improvement of goods and includes repairs, alterations, or improvements upon or in connection with real property, but does not include services for which the price charged is required by law to be determined or approved by or to be filed, subject to approval or disapproval, with the United States or any state, or any department, division, agency, officer, or official of either as in the case of transportation services;

(6) "Retail buyer" or "buyer" means a person who buys or agrees to buy goods or obtain services or agrees to have services rendered or furnished, from a retail seller;

(7) "Retail seller" or "seller" means a person engaged in the business of selling goods or services to retail buyers;

(8) "Retail installment transaction" means any transaction in which a retail buyer purchases goods or services from a retail seller pursuant to a retail installment contract, a retail charge agreement, or a lender credit card agreement, as defined in this section, which provides for a service charge, as defined in this section, and under which the buyer agrees to pay the unpaid balance in one or more installments or which provides for no service charge and under which the buyer agrees to pay the unpaid balance in more than four installments;

(9) "Retail installment contract" or "contract" means a contract, other than a retail charge agreement, a lender credit card agreement, or an instrument reflecting a sale made pursuant thereto, entered into or performed in this state for a retail installment transaction. The term "retail installment contract" may include a chattel mortgage, a conditional sale contract, and a contract in the form of a bailment or a lease if the bailee or lessee contracts to pay as compensation for their use a sum substantially equivalent to or in excess of the value of the goods sold and if it is agreed that the bailee or lessee is bound to become, or for no other or a merely nominal consideration, has the option of becoming the owner of the goods upon full compliance with the provisions of the bailment or lease. The term "retail installment contract" does not include: (a) A "consumer lease," heretofore or hereafter entered into, as defined in RCW 63.10.020; ((or)) (b) a lease which would constitute such "consumer lease" but for the fact that: (i) It was entered into before April 29, 1983; (ii) the lessee was not a natural person; (iii) the lease was not primarily for personal, family, or household purposes; or (iv) the total contractual obligations exceeded twenty-five thousand dollars; or (c) a lease-purchase agreement under chapter 63.-- RCW (sections 1 through 11 of this act);

(10) "Retail charge agreement," "revolving charge agreement," or "charge agreement" means an agreement entered into or performed in this state prescribing the terms of retail installment transactions which may be made thereunder from time to time and under the terms of which a service charge, as defined in this section, is to be computed in relation to the buyer's unpaid balance from time to time;

(11) "Service charge" however denominated or expressed, means the amount which is paid or payable for the privilege of purchasing goods or services to be paid for by the buyer in installments over a period of time. It does not include the amount, if any, charged for insurance premiums, delinquency charges, attorneys' fees, court costs, or official fees;

(12) "Sale price" means the price for which the seller would have sold or furnished to the buyer, and the buyer would have bought or obtained from the seller, the goods or services which are the subject matter of a retail installment transaction. The sale price may include any taxes, registration and license fees, and charges for transferring vehicle titles, delivery, installation, servicing, repairs, alterations, or improvements;

(13) "Official fees" means the amount of the fees prescribed by law for filing, recording, or otherwise perfecting, and releasing or satisfying, a retained title, lien, or other security interest created by a retail installment transaction;

(14) "Time balance" means the principal balance plus the service charge;

(15) "Principal balance" means the sale price of the goods or services which are the subject matter of a retail installment contract less the amount of the buyer's down payment in money or goods or both, plus the amounts, if any, included therein, if a separate identified charge is made therefor and stated in the contract, for insurance and official fees;

(16) "Person" means an individual, partnership, joint venture, corporation, association, or any other group, however organized;

(17) "Rate" means the percentage which, when multiplied times the outstanding balance for each month or other installment period, yields the amount of the service charge for such month or period.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 16. Sections 1 through 11 of this act shall constitute a new chapter in Title 63 RCW.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 17. If any provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected.