Indiana Modifies Provisions Regarding Fees/Charges under UCCC
The state of Indiana modified its provisions relating to fees and charges under its Uniform Consumer Credit Code (UCCC) under House Bill 1136. These provisions are effective on July 1, 2019.
The amendment makes changes to the delinquency charges provision by replacing the $5 delinquency charge for consumer credit sales and consumer loans with a delinquency charge of: (i) $5, if installments are due every 14 days or less; (ii) $25, on any installment or minimum payment due that is not paid in full within 10 days, if installments are due every 15 days or more; or (iii) $25, on any installment or minimum payment due that is not paid in full within 10 days, in the case of a single installment due at least 30 days after the sale or loan is made.
The amendment also specifies that “a creditor may not charge or collect a delinquency charge on a payment that: (i) is paid within 10 days after its scheduled due date; and (ii) is otherwise a full payment of the payment due for the applicable installment period; if the only delinquency with respect to a consumer credit sale or a consumer loan is attributable to a delinquency charge for an earlier installment”
The amendment changes the provisions authorizing specified additional charges for consumer loans by permitting a lender to contract for and receive a transaction fee for a revolving loan account that may not exceed the greater of: (i) 2% of the amount of the transaction; or (ii) $10. Existing law authorizes the lender to charge a transaction fee in the lesser of these two amounts.
The amendment adds a new provision titled “Debt Buyers” which goes in effect after December 31, 2019. “Debt buyer” is defined to mean “a person that regularly engages in the business of purchasing debt for collection purposes regardless of whether the person: (i) collects the debt; (ii) hires another person to collect the debt; or (iii) hires an attorney for litigation connected to the collection of the debt”. The amendment lays down certain information required for an action on a debt or an arbitration proceeding requesting a judgment on a debt by a debt buyer. The amendment urges the legislative council to assign to an interim study committee that would study revisions to the UCCC and lays down the issues for consideration by an interim study committee assigned.
Rhona Kyeyune, LLM, is a regulatory compliance consultant with CLA. She is a graduate of Makerere University and earned her master of laws at Boston University School of Law.
Comments are closed.