As used in this Chapter:

(1)  “Administrator” means any person, except an employee of an administrator, who directly or indirectly solicits or effects coverage of, underwrites, collects charges or premiums from, or adjusts or settles claims on residents of this state in connection with debt waiver or debt forgiveness agreements.

(2)  “Amount deferred” means the cash price subtracting any down payment under a consumer credit sale, plus any other amounts for goods or services including without limitation, any negative equity trade-in allowance, insurance, extended warranty, service contract, and other fees and charges that are financed by the extender of credit under the transaction, and included in the principal balance of the consumer’s indebtedness subject to credit service charges.

(3)  “Amount financed” means the amount borrowed under a consumer loan, plus any other amounts for goods or services including without limitation, any negative equity trade-in allowance, insurance, extended warranty, service contract, notary fees, license, title, filing and lien release fees, and other fees and charges that are financed by the extender of credit under the transaction, and included in the principal balance of the consumer’s indebtedness subject to loan finance charges.

(4)  “Cash price” means the price for which the seller would have sold the motor vehicle to the consumer and the consumer would have bought from the seller if such sale had been a sale for cash instead of on credit.  The cash price may include any sales taxes, documentary fees, notary fees, license, title, filing and lien release fees, negative equity trade-in allowances, insurance premiums, extended warranty, service contract, and similar fees, and charges for delivery, installation, repair, alteration, or improvement to the vehicle.

(5)  “Commission” means the Louisiana Motor Vehicle Commission.

(6)  “Consumer” means a natural person who enters into a consumer loan or consumer credit sale of a motor vehicle to be used primarily for personal, family, or household purposes.

(7)  “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 insurance indemnifying the extender of credit against loss due to the debtor’s default and non-filing insurance.

(8)  “Consumer credit sale” means the sale of a motor vehicle on credit under which the seller acquires a purchase money security interest in the purchased vehicle, and incident to which a credit service charge is charged and the consumer is permitted to defer all or part of the purchase price or other consideration in two or more installments excluding the down payment.  A “consumer credit sale” does not include a lease of a motor vehicle under any circumstance, whether or not the lease constitutes a true lease or a financed lease within the context of the Louisiana Lease of Movables Act, La. Rev. Stat. 9:3301 et seq.  A consumer credit sale may be secured by other collateral in addition to the purchased vehicle.

(9)  “Consumer loan” means a loan of money or its equivalent made by a lender, the proceeds of which are used by the consumer to purchase or refinance the purchase of a motor vehicle, or which proceeds are used for personal, family, or household purposes, including debts created by the use of a lender credit card, revolving loan account, or similar arrangement, as well as insurance premium financing, with the lender acquiring a purchase money security interest in the purchased motor vehicle.  A consumer loan may be secured by other collateral in addition to the purchased vehicle.  The provisions of this Paragraph shall not apply to a consumer loan made pursuant to the Louisiana Deferred Presentment and Small Loan Act, La. Rev. Stat. 9:3578.1 et seq.

(10)  “Contract” means the consumer’s retail installment contract, note, agreement, or other evidence of indebtedness executed in connection with a motor vehicle credit transaction.

(11)  “Contract rate” means the interest rate factor applied to compute precomputed interest or simple interest under the transaction.

(12)  “Credit health and accident insurance” means disability insurance purchased in conjunction with a motor vehicle credit transaction which provides for a monthly benefit sufficient to pay all or part of the required monthly payment, during the continued disability of the insured, over the term of coverage.

(13)  “Credit life insurance” means term life insurance purchased in conjunction with a motor vehicle credit transaction which provides a death benefit payable to the lender, or to the insured consumer’s beneficiary to the extent the death benefit exceeds the amount necessary to fully pay and satisfy the transaction, in the event of the insured consumer’s death during the term of coverage.

(14)(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 a requirement of the extension of credit, including any of the following types of charges that are applicable: interest; time price differential; service; carrying or other charge, however denominated; points and discount fees; and premium or other charge for any guarantee or insurance protecting the extender of credit against the consumer’s default or other credit loss.

(ii)  Charges paid by the consumer for investigating the consumer’s credit worthiness.

(b)  The term does not include default charges; delinquency charges; charges for checks returned for having nonsufficient funds; documentation fees; manufactured housing appraisal and title search fees; other fees and charges permitted under this Chapter; and any additional fees and charges that the seller agrees to finance under the transaction that are not considered to be a finance charge under 12 C.F.R. § 226.4.

(15)  “Debt waiver” or “debt forgiveness” is an agreement whereby an extender of credit agrees with the consumer to waive any unpaid balance on a consumer loan, consumer credit sale or lease due to physical damage, total loss or constructive loss or unrecovered theft to the covered collateral secured by an eligible security device.

(16)  “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 a motor vehicle purchased under a consumer credit sale.

(17)  “Extender of credit” or “creditor” means a seller in a consumer credit sale, or a lender in a consumer loan. An “extender of credit” or “creditor” also includes an assignee or transferee of the consumer’s contract, but does not include a bona fide pledgee of the creditor.

(18)  “Federally related mortgage loan” means a loan secured by a first lien or mortgage on one-to-four family residential immovable property subject to 12 U.S.C. § 1735F(7).

(18.1)  “Free-look period” means the period of time from the effective date of the debt waiver or debt forgiveness agreement until the date the consumer may cancel the contract with a full refund.  This period of time shall not be less than thirty days.

(19)  “GAP coverage” means a contract or insurance policy that covers a consumer’s deficiency balance between the net payoff of the consumer’s loan retail installment sales contract at the time of a loss and the amount paid by the consumer’s primary insurance after a vehicle is deemed a total loss due to any direct or accidental physical damages or unrecovered theft which may be in the form of the following:

(a)  Guaranteed auto protection offered by a property and casualty company licensed and regulated by the Department of Insurance.

(b)  Guaranteed auto protection offered by a property residual value insurer licensed and regulated by the Department of Insurance.

(c)  Debt waiver or debt forgiveness agreements issued by a lender licensed or regulated by the commission.

(19.1)  “Insurer” means an insurance company licensed, registered, or otherwise authorized to do business under the insurance laws of this state.

(20)  “Lender” means the originator of credit under a consumer loan, as well as any assignee or transferee of the consumer’s contract.

(21)(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, and any amount payable under a point, discount, or other system of charges, however denominated.

(ii)  Charges paid by the consumer for investigating the consumer’s credit worthiness.

(b)  The term does not include fees paid to a non-affiliated loan broker, default charges, deferral charges, delinquency charges, charges for checks returned for having nonsufficient funds, manufactured housing appraisal, title search fees and closing costs, other fees and charges permitted under this Chapter, and any additional fees and charges that the lender agrees to finance under the transaction that are not considered to be a finance charge under 12 C.F.R. § 226.4.

(22)  “Manufactured home” means a structure, transportable in one or more sections, which, in the traveling mode, is eight body feet or more in width or forty body feet or more in length, or, when erected on site, is three hundred twenty or more square feet, and which is built on a permanent chassis and designed to be used as a dwelling with or without a permanent foundation when connected to the required utilities, and includes the plumbing, heating, air-conditioning, and electrical systems contained therein.  The term includes any structure meeting all of the requirements of this Subsection except the size requirements and with respect to which the manufacturer voluntarily files a certificate required by the United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and complies with the standards established under Title 42 of the United States Code.

(23)(a)  “Motor vehicle” means any new or used transportation device, including automobiles, motorcycles, trucks, and other vehicles that are operated over the public highways and the streets of this state, but does not include traction engines, boat trailers, road rollers, implements of husbandry, and other agricultural vehicles.  A manufactured home is deemed to be a “motor vehicle” for purposes of this Chapter only if it is anticipated at the time of the transaction that the manufactured home will not be immobilized pursuant to La. Rev. Stat. 9:1149.4.

(b)  “Motor vehicle” for purposes of GAP coverage means self-propelled or towed vehicles designed for personal use, including but not limited to automobiles, trucks, motorcycles, recreational vehicles, all-terrain vehicles, snowmobiles, campers, boats, personal watercraft, and motorcycle, boat, camper, and personal watercraft trailers.

(24)  “Motor vehicle credit transaction” means a consumer loan or a consumer credit sale involving a Louisiana consumer, or that is otherwise made subject to this Chapter.

(25)  “Person” means an individual or corporation, partnership, limited liability company, trust, association, joint venture pool, syndicate, sole proprietorship, unincorporated organization, or any other form of entity not specifically listed herein.

(26)  “Precomputed transaction” means a motor vehicle 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 contract.

(27)  “Prepaid finance charge” in connection with a simple interest transaction means any loan finance charge or credit service charge that is 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 at the consumer’s request by increasing the original principal balance of the consumer’s contract, with such increased principal amount, including prepaid finance charges, being subject to simple interest over the contract term.  Prepaid finance charges shall not be included in the contract rate of interest.

(28)  “Pro rata” 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 term and multiplying the sum by the number of days that are deferred.

(29)  “Salesman” or “agent” means any person licensed by the commission whose duties include the sale of a debt waiver or debt forgiveness agreement on behalf of the administrator.

(30)  “Seller” means the seller of a motor vehicle, including the seller of a motor vehicle under a consumer credit sale, as well as any assignee or transferee of the consumer’s contract.

(31)  “Simple interest transaction” means a motor vehicle 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 principal balance of the contract.

(32)  “Supervised financial organization” means a banking, thrift, or similar organization organized, certified, and supervised by an agency of the United States of America, the state of Louisiana, or any other state pursuant to the banking, currency, and related laws of the United States of America, the state of Louisiana, or any other state.

(33)  “Total sum payable under such contract including all loan finance charges and credit service charges” means the total sum of all scheduled payments under the contract assuming that each payment is made on its due date.

Acts 1999, No. 794, §1, eff. July 2, 1999; Acts 2004, No. 70, §1; Acts 2005, No. 255, §1; Acts 2010, No. 374, §1.