1. With respect to a transaction that is, gives rise to, or leads the debtor to believe it will give rise to a consumer credit transaction, in an action other than a class action, if the court as a matter of law finds the agreement or transaction to have been unconscionable at the time it was made, or to have been induced by unconscionable conduct, the court may refuse to enforce the agreement, or if the court finds any term or part of the agreement or transaction to have been unconscionable at the time it was made, the court may refuse to enforce the agreement, or may enforce the remainder of the agreement without the unconscionable term or part, or may so limit the application of any unconscionable term or part as to avoid any unconscionable result.

Terms Used In Iowa Code 537.5108

  • Administrator: means the administrator designated in section 537. See Iowa Code 537.1301
  • Agreement: means the oral or written bargain of the parties in fact as found in their language or by implication from other circumstances including course of dealing or usage of trade or course of performance. See Iowa Code 537.1301
  • Consumer: means the buyer, lessee, or debtor to whom credit is granted in a consumer credit transaction. See Iowa Code 537.1301
  • Consumer credit transaction: means a consumer credit sale or consumer loan, or a refinancing or consolidation thereof, or a consumer lease, or a consumer rental purchase agreement. See Iowa Code 537.1301
  • consumer loan: is a loan in which all of the following are applicable:
     (1) The person is regularly engaged in the business of making loans. See Iowa Code 537.1301
  • Credit: means the right granted by a person extending credit to a person to defer payment of debt, to incur debt and defer its payment, or to purchase property or services and defer payment therefor. See Iowa Code 537.1301
  • Creditor: means the person who grants credit in a consumer credit transaction or, except as otherwise provided, an assignee of a creditor's right to payment, but use of the term does not in itself impose on an assignee any obligation of the assignee's assignor. See Iowa Code 537.1301
  • Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
  • Debt: means an actual or alleged obligation arising out of a consumer credit transaction, consumer rental purchase agreement, or a transaction which would have been a consumer credit transaction either if a finance charge was made, if the obligation was not payable in installments, if a lease was for a term of four months or less, or if a lease was of an interest in land. See Iowa Code 537.7102
  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • following: when used by way of reference to a chapter or other part of a statute mean the next preceding or next following chapter or other part. See Iowa Code 4.1
  • Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
  • Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). Source: OCC
  • Lender: means a person who makes a loan or, except as otherwise provided in this chapter, a person who takes an assignment of a lender's right to payment, but use of the term does not in itself impose on an assignee any obligation of the lender. See Iowa Code 537.1301
  • Loan: means any of the following, except as provided in paragraph "b":
     (1) The creation of debt by the lender's payment of or agreement to pay money to the debtor or to a third person for the account of the debtor. See Iowa Code 537.1301
  • Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
  • Payable in installments: means that payment is required or permitted by agreement to be made in more than four periodic payments, excluding a down payment. See Iowa Code 537.1301
  • Person: means :
     a. See Iowa Code 537.1301
  • property: includes personal and real property. See Iowa Code 4.1
  • Remainder: An interest in property that takes effect in the future at a specified time or after the occurrence of some event, such as the death of a life tenant.
  • Sale: means any sale, offer for sale, or attempt to sell or lease any land, to the public in this state, for cash or on credit. See Iowa Code 543C.1
  • Seller: means a person who makes a sale or, except as otherwise provided in this chapter, a person who takes an assignment of the seller's right to payment, but use of the term does not in itself impose on an assignee any obligation of the seller. See Iowa Code 537.1301
  • Services: includes , but is not limited to:
     a. See Iowa Code 537.1301
  • Transaction: means a sale, trade, exchange, transfer, payment, or conversion of a digital asset or any other property or any other action or set of actions occurring between two or more persons relating to the conduct of business, commercial, or governmental affairs. See Iowa Code 554E.1
 2. With respect to a consumer credit transaction, or a transaction which would have been a consumer credit transaction if a finance charge was made or the obligation was payable in installments, if the court as a matter of law finds in an action other than a class action, that a person has engaged in, is engaging in, or is likely to engage in unconscionable conduct in collecting a debt arising from that transaction, the court may grant an injunction and award the consumer any actual damages the consumer sustained.
 3. If it is claimed or appears to the court that the agreement or transaction or any term or part of it may be unconscionable, or that a person has engaged in, is engaging in, or is likely to engage in unconscionable conduct in collecting a debt, the parties shall be afforded a reasonable opportunity to present evidence as to the setting, purpose, and effect of the agreement or transaction or term or part thereof, or of the conduct, to aid the court in making the determination.
 4. In applying subsection 1, consideration shall be given to each of the following factors, among others, as applicable:

 a. Belief by the seller, lessor, or lender at the time a transaction is entered into that there is no reasonable probability of payment in full of the obligation by the consumer or debtor. However, the rental renewals necessary to acquire ownership in a consumer rental purchase agreement shall not be construed to be the obligation contemplated in this subsection if the consumer may terminate the agreement without penalty at any time. As used in this paragraph, “obligation” means the initial periodic lease payments and any other additional advance payments required at the consummation of the transaction.
 b. In the case of a consumer credit sale, consumer lease, or consumer rental purchase agreement, knowledge by the seller or lessor at the time of the sale or lease of the inability of the consumer to receive substantial benefits from the property or services sold or leased.
 c. In the case of a consumer credit sale, consumer lease, or consumer rental purchase agreement, gross disparity between the price of the property or services sold or leased and the value of the property or services measured by the price at which similar property or services are readily obtainable in consumer credit transactions by like consumers.
 d. The fact that the creditor contracted for or received separate charges for insurance with respect to a consumer credit sale or consumer loan with the effect of making the sale or loan, considered as a whole, unconscionable.
 e. The fact that the seller, lessor or lender has knowingly taken advantage of the inability of the consumer or debtor reasonably to protect the consumer’s or debtor’s interests by reason of physical or mental infirmities, ignorance, illiteracy or inability to understand the language of the agreement, or similar factors.
 f. The fact that the seller, lessor or lender has engaged in conduct with knowledge or reason to know that like conduct has been restrained or enjoined by a court in a civil action by the administrator against any person pursuant to the provisions on injunctions against fraudulent or unconscionable agreements or conduct in section 537.6111.
 5. In applying subsection 2, violations of section 537.7103 shall be considered, among other factors, as applicable.
 6. If in an action in which unconscionability is claimed the court finds unconscionability pursuant to subsection 1 or 2, the court shall award reasonable fees to the attorney for the consumer or debtor. If the court does not find unconscionability and the consumer or debtor claiming unconscionability has brought or maintained an action the consumer or debtor knew to be groundless, the court shall award reasonable fees to the attorney for the party against whom the claim is made. Reasonable attorney’s fees shall be determined by the value of the time reasonably expended by the attorney on the unconscionability issue and not by the amount of the recovery on behalf of the prevailing party.
 7. The remedies of this section are in addition to remedies otherwise available for the same conduct under law other than this chapter, but no double recovery of actual damages may be had.
 8. For the purpose of this section, a charge or practice expressly permitted by this chapter is not in itself unconscionable.
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