West Virginia Code 46B-3-9 – Limitations on charges and fees
(a) Any consumer seeking to fulfill obligations pursuant to section five of this article may be charged a fee no greater than the retail value divided by the total of payments multiplied by the amount of the periodic payments which have not yet become due.
Terms Used In West Virginia Code 46B-3-9
- Consumer: means a natural person who acquires, or seeks to acquire, the right to possession and use of consumer goods from a dealer. See West Virginia Code 46B-1-5
- goods: means goods intended to be used primarily for personal, family or household purposes. See West Virginia Code 46B-1-5
- Periodic payment: means a payment required to be made by a consumer to have the right to possession and use of consumer goods during a specified time period. See West Virginia Code 46B-1-5
- Premises: means a particular physical place of business opened to the public by a dealer. See West Virginia Code 46B-1-5
- Rental agreement: means the bargain, with respect to the rental of consumer goods under a rent-to-own agreement, of the dealer and the consumer 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 chapter. See West Virginia Code 46B-1-5
- Total of payments: means the total of all periodic payments specified in the written agreement which the consumer must pay in order to acquire ownership of the consumer goods without the payment of additional consideration to the dealer. See West Virginia Code 46B-1-5
- Written agreement: means a written document containing or evidencing the terms of a rent-to-own transaction, reduced to a tangible and legible form by printing, typewriting, computer print-out or any other intentional reduction. See West Virginia Code 46B-1-5
(b) A dealer may not charge a fee for delivery or pickup unless the charge is provided for in the written agreement, the parties agree that the dealer shall deliver or pick up the goods; and the charge is reasonably related to the costs of delivery: Provided, That no delivery or pick up charge may be assessed in any transaction when the transaction took place in any place other than the premises of the dealer.
(c) Any late fee imposed by a dealer may not exceed five percent of the periodic payment or $15, whichever is less. Only one late charge may be imposed for any payment for which a late charge may be charged. Under a rental agreement in which periodic payments are due weekly, a late charge may not be imposed until the payment is three days late. Otherwise, a late charge may not be imposed until the payment is five days late.
(d) The total of payments in a rent-to-own transaction shall not be greater than two hundred forty percent of the retail value.