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(1)  “Affiliate”, as used in this Chapter, means a specific person who is directly or indirectly, through one or more intermediaries, controlled by, or controls, or is under common control with the person specified.

(2)  “Agricultural purpose” means a purpose related to the production, harvest, exhibition, marketing, transportation, processing, or manufacture of agricultural products by a natural person who cultivates, plants, propagates or nurtures the agricultural products.  “Agricultural products” includes products such as horticultural, and dairy products, livestock, wildlife, poultry, bees, forest products, fish and shell fish, and any products thereof, including processed and manufactured products, and any and all products raised or produced on farms and any processed or manufactured products thereof.

(3)  “Amount deferred” means the cash price, subtracting any down payment, under a consumer credit sale, revolving charge or seller credit card account, plus any other charges, fees and closing costs authorized by law, that are financed by the creditor under the transaction or included in or added to the balance of the consumer’s indebtedness subject to credit service charges.

(4)  “Amount financed” means the amount borrowed under a consumer loan, revolving loan or lender credit card account, plus any other charges, fees, and closing costs authorized by law, that are financed by the creditor under the transaction, or included in or added to the balance of the consumer’s indebtedness subject to loan finance charges.  Amount financed also includes premiums payable for insurance procured in lieu of perfecting a security interest otherwise required by the creditor in connection with the sale, lease, or loan if the premiums do not exceed the fees and charges which would otherwise be payable, and premiums payable for any insurance authorized by the Louisiana Insurance Code purchased by the consumer, at rates set forth herein or, when no rate is specified herein, at lawful rates in accordance with the provisions of the Louisiana Insurance Code.

(5)  “Billing period” or “billing cycle” means the time interval between regular periodic billing statement dates.  Such intervals may be considered equal intervals of time unless a billing date varies more than four days from the regular date.

(5.1)  “Cash advance” means an advance of cash or a cash equivalent under a lender credit card account including but not limited to the purchase of a money order, wire transfer services, or the use of a convenience check to purchase goods or services.

(6)  “Cash price” of goods and services means the price for which the seller would have sold to the consumer and the consumer would have bought from the seller, the thing that is the subject matter of the consumer credit transaction, if such sale had been a sale for cash instead of a consumer credit transaction.  The cash price may include any taxes and charges for delivery, installation, servicing, processing, repairs, alterations or improvements.

(7)  “Check” means any check, draft, item, orders or requests for payment of money, negotiable orders, withdrawal or any other instrument used to pay a debt or transfer money from one to another.

(8)  “Closing costs” with respect to a debt secured by a mortgage, lien, or privilege on immovable property includes:

(a)  Fees or premiums for title examination, title curative expenses, title insurance, or similar purposes including surveys, and essential public certificates,

(b)  Fees for preparation of an act, settlement statement, or other documents,

(c)  Escrows for future payments of taxes and insurance,

(d)  Notarial fees,

(e)  Recording fees,

(f)  Appraisal fees, and

(g)  Credit reports.

(9)  “Commissioner” means the commissioner of financial institutions.

(10)  “Consumer” means a natural person who purchases goods, services, or movable or immovable property or rights therein, for a personal, family, or household purpose and includes a purchaser or buyer in a consumer credit sale or transaction made with the use of a seller credit card or otherwise, or a borrower or debtor in a consumer loan, revolving loan account, or a lender credit card.

(11)  “Consumer credit insurance” means insurance, other than insurance on property, by which the satisfaction of debt in whole or in part is a benefit provided, but does not include

(a)  insurance issued as an isolated transaction on the part of the insurer not related to an agreement or plan for insuring debtors of the creditor; or

(b)  insurance indemnifying the creditor against loss due to the debtor’s default.

(12)  A “consumer credit sale” is the sale of a thing, other than the sale of religious periodicals, books, and other religious materials by bona fide religious associations, or immovable property, in which a credit service charge is charged and the purchaser is permitted to defer all or part of the purchase price or other consideration in two or more installments excluding the down payment when the thing is purchased primarily for personal, family, or household purposes, and the purchaser is a person other than an organization.  “Consumer credit sale” shall not include a lease of movable property under which the lessee agrees to pay as compensation for use a sum substantially equivalent to, or in excess of, the initial value of the leased property and under which the lessee will become, or has the option to become, for no additional consideration or for nominal consideration, the owner of the leased property upon compliance with the agreement.

(13)  “Consumer credit transaction” means a consumer loan or a consumer credit sale but does not include a motor vehicle credit transaction made pursuant to La. Rev. Stat. 6:969.1 et seq.

(14)  “Consumer loan” means a loan of money or its equivalent made by a supervised financial organization, a licensed lender, or lender in which the debtor is a consumer, and the loan is entered into primarily for personal, family, or household purposes and includes debts created by the use of a lender credit card, revolving loan account, or similar arrangement, as well as insurance premium  financing.

(15)  “Credit card” means any card, plate, coupon book, or other single credit device that may be used from time to time to obtain credit.

(16)(a)  “Credit service charge” means the sum of the following:

(i)  All charges payable directly or indirectly by the consumer and imposed directly or indirectly by the seller as an incident to the extension of credit, including any of the following types of charges that are applicable: time price differential; service; carrying or other charge, however denominated; premium or other charge for any guarantee or insurance protecting the seller against the consumer’s default or other credit loss; and

(ii)  Charges paid by the consumer for investigating the collateral or credit worthiness of the consumer or for commissions or brokerage for obtaining the credit, irrespective of the person to whom the charges are paid or payable, unless the seller had no notice of the charges when the credit was granted.

(b)  The term does not include default charges, delinquency charges, deferral charges, N.S.F. check charges as set forth in La. Rev. Stat. 9:3529, origination fees as set forth in La. Rev. Stat. 9:3530, or any of the items enumerated in La. Rev. Stat. 9:3516(3).

(17)  “Down payment” means an amount, including the value of any property used as a trade-in, paid to a seller to reduce the cash price of goods or services purchased under a consumer credit sale.

(18)  The term “extender of credit” or “creditor” as used in this Chapter includes a seller in a consumer credit sale, revolving charge account, or transaction made with the use of a seller credit card or otherwise, or a lender in a consumer loan, a revolving loan account, or a lender credit card transaction.  “Creditor” also includes a subsequent assignee or transferee of the consumer’s obligation, but does not include a bona fide pledgee.

(19)  “Federally related mortgage loan”as used in this Chapter shall have the same meaning as  defined in the Residential Mortgage Lending Act, specifically La. Rev. Stat. 6:1083(3.1).

(19.1)  “Home protection plan” means a contract between the homeowner and a warranty or service company wherein the company is obligated to pay or reimburse the cost to repair or replace the covered built-in appliances or major mechanical systems of the consumer’s home in the event of a breakdown.

(20)  A “home solicitation sale” is a consumer credit sale of goods or services or both, other than motor vehicles, farm equipment, or services, in which the seller or a person acting for him engages in a personal solicitation of the sale at any place other than the business establishment of the seller and consumer’s agreement or offer to purchase is there given to the seller or a person acting for him.  This definition shall also include all telephone sales in which the seller has initiated contact regardless of his location, and the consumer’s agreement to purchase is made at the consumer’s home.  It does not include a sale made pursuant to a preexisting revolving charge account, a catalogue credit sale, a preexisting consumer credit sale agreement providing for a series of sales, or a sale made pursuant to prior negotiations between the parties at a business establishment at a fixed location where goods or services are offered or exhibited for sale, or a sale that may have been initiated by the consumer by communication with the seller at his business establishment.

(21)  “Lender credit card” means a revolving loan account that may be accessed by use of a credit card.  For limited purposes of La. Rev. Stat. 9:3516(23)(b), 3517(B), 3524(D), 3527, 3529, and 3530, a “lender credit card” includes a travel and entertainment credit card account that is not subject to loan finance charges or credit service charges.

(22)  “Licensed lender” means a person licensed by the commissioner to make consumer loans pursuant to this Chapter.

(23)(a)  “Loan finance charge” means the sum of the following:

(i)  All charges payable directly or indirectly by the consumer and imposed directly or indirectly by the lender as a requirement of the extension of credit, including any of the following types of charges that are applicable: interest or any amount payable under a point, discount, or other system of charges, however denominated; and

(ii)  Charges paid by the consumer for investigating the collateral or credit worthiness of the consumer.

(b)  The term does not include default charges, deferral charges, delinquency charges, N.S.F. check charges as set forth in La. Rev. Stat. 9:3529, reasonable membership charges in connection with an open-end credit plan, origination and other fees as set forth in La. Rev. Stat. 9:3530, any of the items enumerated in Subparagraph (8)(b) of this Section, or other fees and charges that are not considered to be a finance charge under the Federal Truth in Lending Act and Regulation Z of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.

(24)  “Organization” means corporation, government or governmental subdivision or agency, trust, estate, partnership, cooperative, or association.

(24.1)  “Person” as used in this Chapter means an individual or corporation, partnership, trust, association, joint venture pool, syndicate, sole proprietorship, unincorporated organization, or any other form of entity not specifically listed herein.

(25)  “Precomputed consumer credit transaction” means a consumer credit transaction under which loan finance charges or credit service charges are computed in advance over the entire scheduled term of the transaction and capitalized into the face amount of the debtor’s promissory note or other evidence of indebtedness.

(26)  “Prepaid finance charge” in connection with a simple interest transaction means any loan finance charge or credit service charge paid separately in cash or by check before or at consummation of the transaction, or withheld from the proceeds of the transaction at any time.  Prepaid finance charges may be funded under the loan at the borrower’s request by increasing the original amount financed or amount deferred under the borrower’s note, with such increased amount, including prepaid finance charges, being subject to simple interest over the loan term.

(27)  “Principal” means the amount financed or amount deferred under a consumer credit transaction.

(28)  “Pro rata” as used in this chapter refers to a method of computing deferral charges by dividing the precomputed loan finance charge or precomputed credit service charge by the total number of days in the contract and multiplying the sum by the number of days that are deferred.

(29)  “Revolving charge account” means an arrangement between a seller or issuer of a seller credit card honored by the seller and a consumer pursuant to which:

(a)  The creditor permits the consumer to purchase goods or services on a preauthorized basis;

(b)  The creditor reasonably contemplates repeated transactions;

(c)  The creditor may impose a credit service charge from time to time on the outstanding unpaid balance of the consumer’s account;

(d)  The amount of credit that may be extended to the consumer, up to any limit set by the creditor, is generally made available to the extent that any outstanding balance is repaid; and

(e)  No credit service charges may be imposed upon the consumer for a billing period if the account is paid in full within a period of twenty-five days from the billing date.

(30)(a)  “Revolving loan account” means an arrangement between a lender and a consumer pursuant to which:

(i)  The creditor may permit the consumer to obtain consumer loan advances on a preauthorized basis;

(ii)  The creditor reasonably contemplates repeated transactions;

(iii)  The creditor may impose a loan finance charge from time to time on the outstanding unpaid balance of the consumer’s account; and

(iv)  The amount of credit that may be extended to the consumer under the account, up to any limit set by the creditor, is generally made available to the extent that any unpaid balance is repaid.

(b)  The amount borrowed under a revolving loan account may include, if required by the creditor, an amount not greater than ninety-nine dollars and ninety-nine cents exceeding the draft or similar order if said amount is immediately credited to the consumer’s deposit account with the creditor or with the creditor’s agent.

(31)  “Seller credit card” means a revolving charge account that may be accessed by use of a credit card.

(32)  “Simple interest transaction” means a consumer credit transaction under which loan finance charges or credit service charges are assessed by application of a contractual simple interest rate or rates to the unpaid balance of the debtor’s promissory note, account or other evidence of indebtedness.

(33)  “Supervised financial organization” means either of the following:

(a)  A banking or similar organization organized, certified, and supervised by an agency of either the United States of America or the state of Louisiana or any other state pursuant to the banking, currency, and related laws of the United States of America or of the state of Louisiana or any other state.

(b)  An organization which is an approved lender under the rules and regulations of the Federal Housing Administration, the Veterans Administration, or the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation.

(34)  Repealed by Acts 1995, No. 1184, §4.

(35)  “Thing” as used in the chapter is as defined by law and includes movable and immovable property and rights therein, goods, or services.

(36)  “Unconscionable”.  A contract or clause is unconscionable when at the time the contract is entered into it is so onerous, oppressive or one-sided that a reasonable man would not have freely given his consent to the contract or clause thereof in question; provided, however, for the purposes of this chapter, an agreement, clause, charge or practice expressly permitted by this chapter or any other law or regulation of this state or of the United States or subdivision of either, or an arrangement, clause, charge or practice necessarily implied as being permitted by this chapter or any other law or regulation of this state or the United States or any subdivision of either is not unconscionable.

(37)  “Unpaid debt” as used in this Chapter means the total of the amount financed, loan finance charges, default charges, and delinquency charges including the amount due at the time of default plus all interest which may accrue from the time of default until the entire balance is paid.

Added by Acts 1972, No. 454, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1973.  Amended by Acts 1974, No. 466, §1; Acts 1978, No. 636, §1; Acts 1978, No. 761, §1; Acts 1980, No. 502, §1, eff. July 22, 1980; Acts 1980, No. 694, §1; Acts 1980, 2nd Ex.Sess., No. 16, §1, eff. Sept.  16, 1980; Acts 1981, No. 473, §1; Acts 1982, No. 258, §1; Acts 1982, No. 434, §1; Acts 1983, No. 365, §1.  Acts 1984, No. 384, §1; Acts 1985, No. 592, §§2 and 6, eff. July 13, 1985; Acts 1985, No. 808, §1; Acts 1988, No. 629, §1.  eff. July 22, 1985; Acts 1986, No. 584, §§1, 4, eff. July 2, 1986; Acts 1987, No. 870, §1; Acts 1988, No. 629, §1; Acts 1990, No. 709, §2, eff. July 20, 1990; Acts 1991, No. 480, §1; Acts 1991, No. 697, §1; Acts 1992, No. 100, §1; Acts 1995, No. 1184, §§2, 4; Acts 1997, No. 1033, §1; Acts 2000, 1st Ex. Sess., No. 34, §2, eff. April 14, 2000; Acts 2001, No. 877, §2; Acts 2005, No. 101, §1; Acts 2007, No. 13, §1, eff. June 18, 2007; Acts 2008, No. 50, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2009.