§ 500. Definitions. For the purposes of this article: 1. “Advertisement” means a commercial message in any medium that directly or indirectly promotes or assists a rental-purchase agreement. 2. “Cash price” means the price of the merchandise described in the rental-purchase agreement that the consumer may pay in cash to the merchant at the inception […]
§ 501. Form. 1. A rental-purchase agreement must be written in plain English and in any other language used by the merchant in an advertisement related to the rental-purchase agreement. Numerical amounts must be stated in figures. 2. Disclosures required by this section must be printed or typed in each rental-purchase agreement in a size […]
§ 502. Availability. Every rental purchase agreement shall indicate that a consumer at his or her request shall be permitted to review a completed rental-purchase agreement for up to forty-eight hours prior to signing. A copy of the fully completed rental-purchase agreement and all other documents which the merchant requests the consumer to sign shall […]
§ 503. Total cost. 1. A merchant shall maintain records that establish the merchant’s cost for each item of merchandise that is the subject of the rental-purchase agreement. A copy of each rental-purchase agreement and of the records required by this subdivision shall be maintained for at least two years following the termination of the […]
§ 504. Early purchase option. 1. The consumer has the right to acquire ownership of the merchandise at any time by tendering to the merchant all past due payments and fees and an amount equal to the cash price stated in the rental-purchase agreement multiplied by a fraction that has as its numerator the number […]
§ 504-a. Interruption or reduction of income in certain instances. 1. If any consumer who has signed a rental-purchase agreement experiences an interruption or reduction of twenty-five percent or more of income due to involuntary job loss, involuntary reduced employment, illness, pregnancy or disability after one-half or more of the total amount of the rental […]
§ 504-b. Maintenance of merchandise. 1. The merchant shall maintain the property subject to the rental-purchase agreement in good working order while the agreement is in effect without charging any fee to the consumer in addition to the regularly scheduled rental payments set forth in the rental-purchase agreement. 2. By the end of the second […]
§ 505. Advertisement. 1. An advertisement for a rental-purchase agreement that refers to or states the amount of a payment or the right to acquire ownership of any one particular item under the agreement shall clearly and conspicuously state: (a) that the transaction advertised is a rental-purchase agreement; (b) the total number of payments and […]
§ 506. Exempted transactions. This article does not apply to: 1. Agreements for the rental of merchandise in which the person who rents the merchandise has no legal right to become the owner of the property at the end of the rental period; 2. A lease of a safe deposit box; and 3. Retail installment […]
§ 507. Enforcement. 1. A consumer who has suffered a loss due to a violation of this article by a merchant is entitled to recover from the merchant actual damages, reasonable attorney’s fees and court costs. 2. Whenever a court finds that a consumer has been injured because a merchant acted in bad faith in […]
§ 508. Administration by the attorney general. The attorney general may make rules and regulations necessary for the administration of this article; provided, however, that such rules and regulations shall not attempt to regulate or characterize rental-purchase agreements as a security interest, credit sale, retail installment sale, conditional sale or any other form of consumer […]
