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  • (a) To insure that a consumer contract shall be clear, simple, understandable and easily readable, the following are guidelines that a court or primary regulator may consider in determining whether a consumer contract as a whole fails to comply with this chapter:

    • (1) Cross-references that are confusing.

    • (2) Sentences that are of greater length than reasonably necessary.

    • (3) Sentences that contain double negatives and exceptions to exceptions.

    • (4) Sentences and sections that are in a confusing or illogical order.

    • (5) The use of words with obsolete meanings or words that differ in their legal meanings from their common ordinary meaning.

    • (6) Frequent use of Old English and Middle English words and Latin and French phrases.

  • (b) The following are guidelines that a court or regulator shall consider in determining whether the consumer contract as a whole complies with this chapter:

    • (1) Sections shall be logically divided and captioned.

    • (2) A table of contents or alphabetical index shall be used for all contracts with more than 3,000 words.

    • (3) Conditions and exceptions to the main promise of the agreement shall be given equal prominence with the main promise and be in at least 10-point type.

  • (c) The following are guidelines regarding consumer restrictions that must be highlighted:

    • (1) A statement on the front page of the contract that highlights the following:

      • (i) Any provision or condition of the consumer contract that restricts or reduces a consumer’s rights.

      • (ii) Any provision or condition of the consumer contract designed for the protection of the seller, insurer, creditor or lessor.

    • (2) The statement required by subsection (c)(1) of this section shall be in 10-point boldface type and not in all capitals, with the following caption in all capitals: “PLEASE READ THIS” in 12-point boldface type. If the contract is typewritten, the text of the statement must be underlined and the caption “PLEASE READ THIS” in all capitals.