AB715: Bill Text

AB715,14,2 430.401 Prohibited practices. A lease-purchase agreement may not contain any of the following:

AB715,14,3 (1) A confession of judgment.

AB715,14,4 (2) A negotiable instrument.

AB715,14,7 (3) A security interest or any other claim of a property interest in any property except the property delivered by the lease-purchase company under the lease-purchase agreement.

AB715,14,8 (4) A wage assignment.

AB715,14,9 (5) A waiver by the consumer of any claim or defense.

AB715,14,12 (6) A provision authorizing the lease-purchase company to enter the consumer's premises or to commit a breach of the peace in the repossession of property subject to the lease-purchase agreement.

AB715,14,14 430.402 Receipts. A lease-purchase company shall provide the consumer a written receipt for each payment made by cash or money order.

AB715,14,17 430.403 Consumer education pamphlet. (1) Distribution requirement. A lease-purchase company shall disseminate to consumers copies of the consumer education pamphlet provided by the division under sub. (2).

AB715,14,20 (2) Pamphlet requirements. The division shall prepare a pamphlet for dissemination by lease-purchase companies to consumers under sub. (1). The consumer education pamphlet shall include at least the following:

AB715,14,21 (a) Information on the consumer's rights of reinstatement under s. 430.501.

AB715,14,23 (b) Information assisting the consumer in interpreting the disclosures required under s. 430.302.

AB715,14,25 (c) Information on filing with the division complaints regarding possible violations of this chapter.

AB715,15,2 (d) Information on the civil liability of a lease-purchase company under s. 430.701 for violations of this chapter.

AB715,15,8 430.501 Reinstatement. (1) A consumer who fails to make a timely rental payment may reinstate the lease-purchase agreement, without losing any right or option under the lease-purchase agreement, by the payment of all of the following within 5 days after the renewal date if the consumer pays monthly under the lease-purchase agreement, or within 2 days after the renewal date if the consumer pays more frequently than monthly:

AB715,15,9 (a) Past-due rental charges.

AB715,15,11 (b) If the property has been repossessed, the reasonable costs of pickup and redelivery.

AB715,15,12 (c) Any applicable late fee.

AB715,15,19 (2) A consumer who has paid less than two-thirds of the total dollar amount of payments necessary to acquire ownership and who has returned or voluntarily surrendered the property, other than through judicial process, within a time equal to the applicable reinstatement period under sub. (1), may reinstate the lease-purchase agreement under this subsection within 21 days after the date on which the property is returned or a time specified in the lease-purchase agreement, whichever is longer.

AB715,16,2 (3) A consumer who has paid two-thirds or more of the total dollar amount of payments necessary to acquire ownership, and who has returned or voluntarily surrendered the property, other than through judicial process, within a time equal to the applicable reinstatement period under sub. (1), may reinstate the lease-purchase agreement under this subsection within 45 days after the date on which the property is returned or a time specified in the lease-purchase agreement, whichever is longer.

AB715,16,7 (4) Nothing in this section prevents a lease-purchase company from attempting to repossess property during a reinstatement period, but a repossession may not affect the consumer's right to reinstate. Upon reinstatement, a lease-purchase company who repossessed property shall provide the consumer with the same property or substitute property of comparable quality and condition.

AB715,16,11 430.502 Renegotiations and extensions. (1) A renegotiation occurs if an existing lease-purchase agreement is satisfied and replaced by a new lease-purchase agreement undertaken by the same lease-purchase company and consumer. A renegotiation does not include any of the following:

AB715,16,15 (a) An addition to property or a return of property in a multiple-item lease-purchase agreement, or the substitution of property in a single-item lease-purchase agreement, if the average payment allocable to a payment period is not changed by more than 25%.

AB715,16,17 (b) A deferral or extension of a periodic payment, or a portion of a periodic payment.

AB715,16,18 (c) A reduction in charges in a lease-purchase agreement.

AB715,16,19 (d) A lease-purchase agreement involved in a court proceeding.

AB715,16,22 (2) A renegotiation shall be considered a new lease-purchase agreement requiring new disclosures. Disclosures are not required for a renewal of a lease-purchase agreement.

AB715,16,25 430.601 Advertising. (1) In this section, "advertisement" means a commercial message in any medium that aids, promotes or assists, directly or indirectly, a lease-purchase agreement.

AB715,17,4 (2) Except as provided in sub. (4), if an advertisement for a lease-purchase agreement refers to or states the dollar amount of a payment for an item and the right to acquire ownership of that item, the advertisement shall also clearly and conspicuously state all of the following, to the extent applicable:

AB715,17,5 (a) That the transaction advertised is a lease-purchase agreement.

AB715,17,6 (b) The total amount of payments necessary to acquire ownership.

AB715,17,8 (c) That the consumer acquires no ownership rights if the total amount necessary to acquire ownership is not paid.

AB715,17,11 (3) An owner, director, officer or employe of a medium in which an advertisement appears or through which an advertisement is disseminated may not be held liable for a violation of sub. (2).

AB715,17,13 (4) Subsection (2) does not apply to an advertisement that is published in the yellow pages of a telephone directory or in a similar directory of business.

AB715,17,16 430.701 Consumer civil actions. (1) Damages. A lease-purchase company that violates this chapter is liable to a consumer damaged as a result of that violation in an amount equal to the following:

AB715,18,2 (a) In the case of a class action, the amount that the court determines to be appropriate with no minimum recovery as to each member of the class, plus the costs of the action and reasonable attorney fees. The total recovery in any class action or series of class actions arising out of the same violation may not exceed $500,000 or 1% of the net worth of the lease-purchase company, whichever is less, plus the costs of the action and reasonable attorney fees. In determining the amount of any award in a class action, the court shall consider, among other relevant factors, the amount of actual damages suffered by the members of the class, the frequency and persistence of violations of this chapter by the lease-purchase company, the lease-purchase company's resources and the extent to which the violation was intentional.

AB715,18,4 (b) In the case of an action not covered under par. (a), the costs of the action and reasonable attorney fees, plus the greater of the following:

AB715,18,5 1. The actual damages sustained by the consumer as a result of the violation.

AB715,18,8 2. Twenty-five percent of the total payments necessary to acquire ownership of the personal property leased under the lease-purchase agreement, but not less than $100 nor more than $1,000.

AB715,18,16 (2) Multiple violations. (a) If more than one lease-purchase company is a party to a lease-agreement and one lease-purchase company assumes responsibility under the agreement for making the disclosures required under ss. 430.301 and 430.302, only the lease-purchase company assuming responsibility for making the disclosures may be held liable for violations of those disclosure requirements. If no company has assumed responsibility for making the disclosures required under ss. 430.301 and 430.302, all lease-purchase companies who are a party to the lease-agreement shall be liable for violations of those disclosure requirements.

AB715,18,19 (b) If more than one consumer is a party to a lease-purchase agreement, all of the consumers shall be joined as plaintiffs in an action under sub. (1) and the consumers are entitled only to a single recovery under sub. (1).

AB715,18,21 (c) Multiple violations in connection with a single lease-purchase agreement shall be treated as a single violation under this section.

AB715, s. 9 Section 9. 814.04 (intro.) of the statutes, as affected by 1995 Wisconsin Act 24 and 1995 Wisconsin Act 27, section 7148c, is amended to read:

AB715,19,2 814.04 Items of costs. (intro.) Except as provided in ss. 93.20, 106.04 (6) (i) and (6m) (a), 430.701 (1), 769.313, 814.025, 814.245, 895.035 (4) and (4m), 895.75 (3), 895.77 (2), 895.80 (3), 943.212 (2) (b), 943.245 (2) (d) and 943.51 (2) (b), when allowed costs shall be as follows:

AB715, s. 10 Section 10. Initial applicability.

AB715,19,5 (1)  This act first applies to a lease-purchase agreement entered into on the effective date of this subsection.

AB715, s. 11 Section 11. Effective date.

AB715,19,8 (1)  This act takes effect on July 1, 1996, or on the first day of the 6th month beginning after publication, whichever is later.

AB715,19,9 (End)