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;
(c) A
security interest as defined in Title 62A RCW; or
(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;
(c) A
reduction in charges in the lease or agreement; and
(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
(c)
That the consumer acquires no ownership rights if the total amount necessary to
acquire ownership is not paid.
(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. Upon
the return of leased upholstered furniture or bedding, the lessor shall
sanitize the property. A lessor shall not lease used upholstered furniture or
bedding that has not been sanitized.
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 12. 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.
13. 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 12 of this act); or
(c)
It would constitute such "consumer lease" but for the fact that:
(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.
14. 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
(c)
from all the facts and circumstances known to him at the time in question he
has reason to know that it exists.
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 12 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
(c) by
accepting delivery pursuant to a pre-existing contract for purchase; 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.
15. 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 12 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.
16. 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 12 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. 17. Sections
1 through 12 of this act shall constitute a new chapter in Title 63 RCW.
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 18. 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.
