CHAPTER 1. Retail Installment Sales [1801. - 1812.20.]
Chapter 1 added by Stats. 1959, Ch. 201.
§§ 1801–1812.20 · 89 sections
ARTICLE 1. General Provisions §§ 1801–1801.7 · 7 sections
- § 1801 This chapter may be cited as the “Unruh Act.”
- § 1801.1 Any waiver by the buyer of the provisions of this chapter shall be deemed contrary to public policy and shall be unenforceable and void.
- § 1801.2 If any provisions of this chapter or the application thereof to any person or circumstances is held unconstitutional, the remainder of the chapter and the…
- § 1801.4 The provisions of this chapter shall not apply to any contract or series of contracts providing for: (a) the construction, sale, or construction and sale of an…
- § 1801.5 Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter to the contrary, any information required to be disclosed in a retail installment contract or other…
- § 1801.6 (a) The Legislature finds that the decisional law of this state regarding the characterization of credit transactions as either loans or credit sales has been…
- § 1801.7 The provisions of this chapter shall not apply to any premium finance agreement entered into by an industrial loan company pursuant to Chapter 8 (commencing…
ARTICLE 2. Definitions §§ 1802–1802.21 · 22 sections
- § 1802 Unless the context or subject matter otherwise requires, the definitions given in this article govern the construction of this chapter.
- § 1802.1 “Goods” means tangible chattels bought for use primarily for personal, family or household purposes, including certificates or coupons exchangeable for such…
- § 1802.2 “Services” means work, labor and services, for other than a commercial or business use, including services furnished in connection with the sale or repair of…
- § 1802.3 “Retail seller” or “seller” means a person engaged in the business of selling goods or furnishing services to retail buyers.
- § 1802.4 “Retail buyer” or “buyer” means a person who buys goods or obtains services from a retail seller in a retail installment sale and not principally for the…
- § 1802.5 “Retail installment sale” or “sale” means the sale of goods or the furnishing of services by a retail seller to a retail buyer for a deferred payment price…
- § 1802.6 “Retail installment contract” or “contract” means any contract for a retail installment sale between a buyer and seller, entered into or performed in this…
- § 1802.7 “Retail installment account” or “installment account” or “revolving account” means an account established by an agreement entered into in this state, pursuant…
- § 1802.8 “Cash price” means the cash price stated in a retail installment contract for which the seller would sell or furnish to the buyer and the buyer would buy or…
- § 1802.9 “Total sale price” means the total of the cash price of the goods or services, the amounts, if any, included for insurance, official fees, and the finance…
- § 1802.10 “Finance charge” means the amount however denominated or expressed which the retail buyer contracts to pay or pays for the privilege of purchasing goods or…
- § 1802.11 (a) “Amount financed” means the amount required to be disclosed pursuant to paragraph (7) of subdivision (c) of Section 1803.3. (b) “Unpaid balance” means the…
- § 1802.12 “Total of payments” means the amount required to be disclosed pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 226.18 of Regulation Z. The term includes any portion of…
- § 1802.13 “Holder” means the retail seller who acquires a retail installment contract or installment account executed, incurred or entered into by a retail buyer, or if…
- § 1802.14 “Official fees” means the fees required by law and actually to be paid to the appropriate public officer to perfect a lien or other security interest, on or in…
- § 1802.15 “Person” means an individual, partnership, corporation, limited liability company, association or other group, however organized.
- § 1802.16 “Financing agency” means a person engaged in this State in whole or in part in the business of purchasing retail installment contracts, or installment accounts…
- § 1802.17 “Billing cycle” means the time interval between regular monthly billing statement dates.
- § 1802.18 “Regulation Z” means any rule, regulation, or interpretation promulgated by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (“Board”) under the Federal…
- § 1802.19 (a) For the purposes of this chapter, a retail installment contract, contract, retail installment account, installment account, or revolving account shall be…
- § 1802.20 “Simple-interest basis” means the determination of a finance charge, other than an administrative finance charge, by applying a constant rate to the unpaid…
- § 1802.21 “Precomputed basis” means the determination of a finance charge by multiplying the original unpaid balance of the contract by a rate and multiplying that…
ARTICLE 3. Provisions of Retail Installment Contracts §§ 1803.1–1803.11 · 11 sections
- § 1803.1 A retail installment contract shall be dated and in writing; the printed portion thereof shall be in at least eight-point type.
- § 1803.2 Except as provided in Section 1808.3, every retail installment contract shall be contained in a single document that shall contain: (a) The entire agreement of…
- § 1803.3 Except as provided in Article 8 (commencing with Section 1808.1) of this chapter, a contract shall contain the following: (a) The names of the seller and the…
- § 1803.4 The seller shall not obtain the signature of the buyer to a contract when it contains blank spaces to be filled in after it has been signed.
- § 1803.5 If the cost of any insurance is included in the contract and a separate charge is made to the buyer for such insurance: (a) The contract shall state whether…
- § 1803.6 (a) A contract may provide that for each installment in default the buyer shall pay a delinquency charge not in excess of one of the following amounts: (1) For…
- § 1803.7 The seller shall deliver to the buyer at the time of the buyer’s signature a legible copy of the contract or of any other document which the seller has…
- § 1803.8 Retail installment sales negotiated and entered into by mail or telephone without personal solicitation by a salesman or other representative of the seller,…
- § 1803.9 If it is explicitly understood between the seller and the buyer that all or any part of the cash price will be paid from the proceeds of a loan to be obtained…
- § 1803.10 It shall be unlawful for any seller to induce or attempt to induce any person to enter into a contract subject to this act by offering a rebate, discount,…
- § 1803.11 It shall be unlawful for any seller to solicit buyers, in any advertisement, to enter into a retail installment contract with it if the seller does not intend…
ARTICLE 4. Restrictions on Retail Installment Contracts §§ 1804.1–1804.4 · 4 sections
- § 1804.1 No contract or obligation shall contain any provision by which: (a) The buyer agrees not to assert against a seller a claim or defense arising out of the sale…
- § 1804.2 (a) An assignee of the seller’s rights is subject to all equities and defenses of the buyer against the seller arising out of the sale, notwithstanding an…
- § 1804.3 (a) No contract other than one for services shall provide for a security interest in any goods theretofore fully paid for or which have not been sold by the…
- § 1804.4 Any provision in a contract which is prohibited by this chapter shall be void but shall not otherwise affect the validity of the contract.
ARTICLE 5. Finance Charge Limitation §§ 1805.1–1805.9 · 7 sections
- § 1805.1 The holder of the contract shall not charge, collect, or receive a finance charge which exceeds the dollar amount shown pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section…
- § 1805.2 Contracts may be payable in successive monthly, semimonthly or weekly installments.
- § 1805.4 The finance charge shall be inclusive of all charges incident to investigating and making the contract and for the extension of the credit provided for in the…
- § 1805.6 (a) Notwithstanding the provisions of any contract to the contrary, except as provided in subdivision (b) or (c), no retail seller shall assess any finance…
- § 1805.7 All contracts entered into between a buyer and a seller on or after January 1, 1983, shall provide for the calculation of the finance charge contemplated by…
- § 1805.8 The maximum rate of finance charge which may be imposed on amounts advanced by the holder subsequent to the execution of the contract for insurance, repairs to…
- § 1805.9 No contract shall provide for a finance charge which is determined in part by the precomputed basis and in part by the simple-interest basis, except for any…
ARTICLE 6. Payments §§ 1806.1–1806.4 · 4 sections
- § 1806.1 Unless the buyer has notice of actual or intended assignment of a contract or installment account, payment thereunder made by the buyer to the last known…
- § 1806.2 At any time after its execution, but not later than one year after the last payment thereunder, the holder of a contract shall, upon written request of the…
- § 1806.3 (a) Notwithstanding any provision of a contract to the contrary, the buyer may pay at any time before maturity the entire indebtedness evidenced by the…
- § 1806.4 After the payment of all sums for which the buyer is obligated under a contract and upon demand made by the buyer, the holder shall deliver, or mail to the…
ARTICLE 7. Refinancing and Consolidation §§ 1807.1–1807.3 · 3 sections
- § 1807.1 (a) The holder of a retail installment contract may, upon agreement with the buyer, extend the scheduled due date or defer the scheduled payment of all or of…
- § 1807.2 The holder of a retail installment contract or contracts may, upon agreement in writing with the buyer, refinance the remaining amount owing on the contract or…
- § 1807.3 (a) If any payment, other than a deferred downpayment, under a contract or refinancing agreement is more than twice the amount of an otherwise regularly…
ARTICLE 8. Add-on Sales §§ 1808.1–1808.5 · 5 sections
- § 1808.1 A retail installment contract, which otherwise conforms to the requirements of this chapter, may contain the provision that the seller may at his option add…
- § 1808.2 When a subsequent purchase is made, the entire amount of all payments made previous thereto shall be deemed to have been applied toward the payment of the…
- § 1808.3 If a credit sale is one of a series of transactions made pursuant to an agreement providing for the addition of the amount financed plus the finance charge for…
- § 1808.4 Until the seller delivers to the buyer the memorandum as provided in Sections 1808.2 and 1808.3, the buyer shall be obligated to pay only the cash price of the…
- § 1808.5 Subject to the other provisions of Article 5 (commencing with Section 1805.1), the finance charge to be included in a consolidated total of payments under…
ARTICLE 9. Terms of Purchase by Financing Agency § 1809.1 · 1 section
- § 1809.1 Notwithstanding any contrary provision of this title a financing agency may purchase a retail installment contract or installment account from a seller on such…
ARTICLE 10. Retail Installment Accounts §§ 1810–1810.12 · 12 sections
- § 1810 For the purposes of this article, a retail installment account agreement shall be deemed to be accepted by the buyer if (1) the buyer signs the agreement,…
- § 1810.1 Notwithstanding any other provisions of this article to the contrary, before the first transaction is made on any retail installment account, the seller shall…
- § 1810.2 Subject to the other provisions of this article, the seller or holder of a retail installment account may charge, receive and collect a finance charge as…
- § 1810.3 (a) Except in the case of an account which the seller deems to be uncollectible or with respect to which delinquency collection procedures have been…
- § 1810.4 The finance charge shall include all charges incident to investigating and making the retail installment account. No fee, expense, delinquency, collection, or…
- § 1810.5 If the cost of any insurance is to be separately charged to the buyer, there shall be an agreement to this effect, signed by both the buyer and the seller, a…
- § 1810.6 Nothing in this article prohibits the execution of an agreement between a buyer and seller whereby the seller retains a security interest in goods sold to the…
- § 1810.7 No retail installment account shall require or entail the execution of any note or series of notes by the buyer which when separately negotiated will cut off…
- § 1810.8 The provisions of Sections 1806.1 and 1806.4 shall be applicable to retail installment accounts.
- § 1810.10 (a) Notwithstanding the provision of any contract to the contrary, except as provided in subdivision (b) or (c), no retail seller shall assess any finance…
- § 1810.11 The buyer may request, not more frequently than once a year, that the seller inform the buyer of the total amount of finance charges assessed on the account…
- § 1810.12 (a) Notwithstanding Section 1810.4, a seller or holder of a retail installment account may, subject to subdivision (d) of Section 1810.3, provide that for each…
ARTICLE 10.5. Retail Installment Account Credit Card Periodic Rate Disclosures §§ 1810.20–1810.21 · 2 sections
ARTICLE 11. Attorney’s Fees and Court Costs § 1811.1 · 1 section
- § 1811.1 Reasonable attorney’s fees and costs shall be awarded to the prevailing party in any action on a contract or installment account subject to the provisions of…
ARTICLE 12.1. Repossession and Resale §§ 1812.2–1812.5 · 4 sections
- § 1812.2 In the event of any default by the buyer in the performance of his obligations under a contract or installment account, the holder, pursuant to any rights…
- § 1812.3 The notice provided for in Section 1812.2 shall be given to the buyer and any other person liable by causing it to be delivered personally or to be deposited…
- § 1812.4 The proceeds of a resale shall be applied (1) to the payment of the expenses thereof, (2) to the payment of any expenses of retaking, including reasonable…
- § 1812.5 If the proceeds of the sale are not sufficient to cover items (1), (2) and (3) of Section 1812.4, the holder may not recover the deficiency from the buyer or…
ARTICLE 12.2. Penalties §§ 1812.6–1812.9 · 4 sections
- § 1812.6 Any person who shall willfully violate any provision of this chapter shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
- § 1812.7 In case of failure by any person to comply with the provisions of this chapter, such person or any person who acquires a contract or installment account with…
- § 1812.8 Notwithstanding the provisions of this article, any failure to comply with any provision of this chapter may be corrected by the holder in accordance with the…
- § 1812.9 In any case in which a person willfully violates any provision of this chapter in connection with the imposition, computation or disclosures of or relating to…
ARTICLE 12.3. Actions § 1812.10 · 1 section
- § 1812.10 (a) An action on a contract or installment account under this chapter shall be tried in the superior court in the county where the contract was in fact signed…
ARTICLE 12.4. Financing Retail Purchases § 1812.20 · 1 section
- § 1812.20 Notwithstanding Section 1801.6, no person shall require a purchaser of goods or services to obtain financing from any particular source. Any person who…