§ 47-11-103 — Retail installment contracts

(a) Form and Contents. (1) Every retail installment contract shall be in writing and shall set forth the following: (A) The cash price and identification of the goods or services; (B) The amount of the buyer's down payment, if any, whether made wholly or in part in money or goods; (C) The difference between subdivisions (a)(1)(A) and (B); (D) The amount, if any, of official fees and the costs, if any, to the buyer of any insurance the buyer has agreed to procure, if the seller has agreed to purchase the insurance and charge the buyer for the cost thereof; (E) The principal balance owed on the retail installment contract, which is the sum of subdivisions (a)(1)(C) and (D); (F) The amount of the time price differential; and (G) The time balance owed by the buyer to the seller, which is the sum of subdivisions (a)(1)(E) and (F), and except as hereinafter provided, the maximum number of installment payments required and the amount and date of each payment necessary to pay such time balance. (2) The foregoing subdivisions need not be stated in the sequence or order set forth in subdivision (a)(1), and additional items may be included to explain the computations made in determining the amount to be paid by the buyer. (b) Payments. (1) The maximum number of payments and the amount and date of each payment need not be separately listed if the payments are stated in terms of a series of scheduled amounts, and in such case the amount of the scheduled final payment may be stated as the remaining unpaid balance. (2) The initial date for the payment of the first installment may be a calendar date or may refer to the time of delivery or installation. (c) Document or Documents Comprising. A retail installment contract need not be contained in a single document. If the contract is contained in more than one (1) document, then one (1) such document may be an original document executed by the retail buyer applicable to purchases of goods or services to be made by the retail buyer from time to time and, in such case, such document, together with the sales slip, account book or other written statement relating to each purchase, a copy of all of which shall be delivered to the buyer, shall set forth all of the information required by subsection (a) and shall constitute the retail installment contract for each such purchase. (d) Time Price Differential. (1) Notwithstanding any other law, the seller or other holder under a retail installment contract may charge, receive, and collect a time price differential which shall not exceed eleven dollars and seventy-five cents ($11.75) per one hundred dollars ($100) per year on the principal balance of each transaction. (2) The time price differential under this subsection (d) shall be computed on the principal balance of each transaction, as determined under this section, on contracts payable in successive monthly payments substantially equal in amount from the date of the contract to the maturity of the final payment, notwithstanding that the total time balance thereof is required to be paid in one (1) or more deferred payments. When a retail installment contract provides for payment other than in substantially equal successive monthly payments, the time price differential shall not exceed the amount which will provide the same return as is permitted on substantially equal monthly payment contracts, having due regard for the schedule of payments. The time price differential may be computed on the basis of a full month for any fractional portion of a month in excess of fifteen (15) days. A minimum time price differential of twelve dollars and fifty cents ($12.50) may be charged, received and collected on each such contract. (e) Copy of Contract, Insurance Policy Given Buyer. (1) The seller shall deliver or mail to the buyer, at the buyer's address as specified by the buyer, a copy of the retail installment contract prior to the date on which the first payment is due under the contract. An acknowledgment of the delivery thereof contained in the body of an instrument signed by the buyer shall be presumptive proof of delivery in any action. (2) The seller under any retail installment contract shall, prior to the date on which the first payment is due thereunder, deliver or mail to the buyer, at the buyer's aforementioned address, any policy of insurance the seller has agreed to purchase in connection therewith, or in lieu of such policy, a certificate of such insurance. (f) Receipt Given for Payment; Schedule of Payments. (1) A buyer shall be given a receipt for any payment when made in cash. (2) At any time after the execution of a contract, but not later than two (2) months after the last payment thereunder, the holder shall, upon written request of the buyer, give or forward to the buyer a written statement of the dates and amounts of payments and the total amount, if any, unpaid under the contract. Such a statement shall be supplied by the holder once without charge; if any additional statement is requested by the buyer, the holder shall supply such statement to the buyer at a charge not exceeding one dollar ($1.00) for each additional statement so supplied. "Holder" in this section means the retail seller unless the seller has assigned the contract, in which case "holder" means the assignee of such contract at the time of the determination. (g) Payment in Full Acknowledged by Instrument. After payment of all sums for which the buyer is obligated under a contract, and upon written demand made by the buyer, the holder shall deliver or mail to the buyer, at the buyer's last known address, one (1) or more good and sufficient instruments to acknowledge payment in full and shall release all security in the goods. (h) Prepayment; Refund Credit. Notwithstanding the provisions of any retail installment contract to the contrary, any buyer may prepay in full at any time before maturity the unpaid balance of any retail installment contract, and in so paying such unpaid balance shall receive a refund credit thereon for such anticipation of payments. The amount of such refund shall represent at least as great a proportion of the time price differential, after first deducting therefrom an acquisition cost not to exceed the sum of fifteen dollars ($15.00), as the sum of the monthly time balances beginning one (1) month after prepayment is made bears to the sum of all the monthly time balances under the schedule of payments in the contract. Where the amount of such refund credit is less than one dollar ($1.00), no refund need be made.

Legislative History

Acts 1961, ch. 110, § 1; T.C.A., § 47-1903; Acts 1982, ch. 723, § 1; 1983, ch. 328, § 1.