(a) A title pledge lender shall contract for and receive an effective rate of interest not to exceed two percent (2%) per month; additionally, the title pledge lender may charge, contract for, and receive a customary fee to defray the ordinary costs of operating a title pledge office, including, but not limited to, investigating the title, appraising the titled personal property, insuring the personal property when in the physical possession of the title pledge lender, documenting and closing the title or property pledge transaction, making required reports to local law enforcement officials, for all other services provided by the title pledge lender, advertising, for losses on title pledge or property pledge transactions, salaries, and for all other expenses incurred by the title pledge lender except those in subsection (b). The fee shall not be deemed interest for any purpose of law, and the fee may equal no more than one-fifth (1/5) of the original principal amount of the title pledge agreement or property pledge agreement, or of the total unpaid balance due at the inception of any renewal of the agreement. The interest and fees shall be deemed to be earned, due and owing as of the date of the title pledge agreement or property pledge agreement and a like sum shall be deemed earned, due and owing on the same day of each subsequent thirty-day period.
Terms Used In Tennessee Code 45-15-111
Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
operating: means that:(A) A charter has been issued to a bank by the United States comptroller of the currency or a certificate of authority has been issued by the commissioner. See Tennessee Code 45-1-103
Personal property: includes money, goods, chattels, things in action, and evidences of debt. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
Personal property: All property that is not real property.
Pledgor: means the individual or individuals obligated to repay the loan. See Tennessee Code 45-15-103
Property pledge agreement: means any written bailment or similar agreement whereby a title pledge lender agrees to make a loan of money to a pledgor, and the pledgor agrees to the title pledge lender's taking physical possession of unencumbered titled personal property owned by the pledgor, and taking possession of the personal property certificate of title. See Tennessee Code 45-15-103
State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
Title pledge agreement: means a thirty-day written agreement whereby a title pledge lender agrees to make a loan of money to a pledgor, and the pledgor agrees to give the title pledge lender a security interest in unencumbered titled personal property owned by the pledgor. See Tennessee Code 45-15-103
Title pledge lender: means any person engaged in the business of making title pledge agreements or property pledge agreements with pledgors. See Tennessee Code 45-15-103
Title pledge office: means the location at which, or premises in which, a title pledge lender regularly conducts business. See Tennessee Code 45-15-103
Titled personal property: means any personal property, the ownership of which is evidenced and delineated by a state-issued certificate of title. See Tennessee Code 45-15-103
(b) Title pledge lenders may assess and collect, as reimbursement, a repossession charge not to exceed the actual amount charged by any company or companies, attorney or attorneys and/or contractor or contractors to repossess the titled personal property and deliver the titled personal property to the storage facility of the title pledge lender.(c) Notwithstanding § 45-1-104, or any other law to the contrary, in accordance with the Uniform Administrative Procedures Act, compiled in title 4, chapter 5, the department of financial institutions shall promulgate rules requiring each title pledge lender to issue a standardized consumer notification and disclosure form in compliance with federal truth-in-lending laws prior to entering into any property pledge agreement or title pledge agreement wherein the pledged goods will consist of, or include, one (1) or more motor vehicles titled by this or any other state. The required style, content and method of executing the form shall be specifically prescribed by the rules and shall be designed to ensure that the pledgor, prior to entering into the agreement, receives and acknowledges an accurate and complete notification and disclosure of the itemized and total amounts of all interest, fees, charges and other costs that will or potentially could be imposed as a result of the agreement.
