§ 552.83 Standards of fairness. ( a ) No finance charge contracted for, made, or received under any contract shall be in excess of the charge which could be made for such contract under the law of the place in which the contract is signed in the United States by the serviceman. In the event a contract is signed with a United States company in a foreign country, the lowest interest rate of the state or states in which the company is chartered or does business shall apply.
( b ) No contract or loan agreement shall provide for an attorney's fee in the event of default unless suit is filed in which event the fee provided in the contract shall not exceed 20 percent of the obligation found due. No attorney's fees shall be authorized if he is a salaried employee of the holder.
( c ) In loan transactions, defenses which the debtor may have against the original lender or its agent shall be good against any subsequent holder of the obligation. In credit transactions, defenses against the seller or its agent shall be good against any subsequent holder of the obligation provided that the holder had actual knowledge of the defense or under condition where reasonable inquiry would have apprised him of this fact.
( d ) The debtor shall have the right to remove any security for the obligation beyond State or national boundaries if he or his family moves beyond such boundaries under military orders and notifies the creditor, in advance of the removal, of the new address where the security will be located. Removal of the security shall not accelerate payment of the obligation.
( e ) No late charge shall be made in excess of 5 percent of the late payment, or $5 whichever is the lesser amount. Only one late charge may be made for any tardy installment. Late charges will not be levied where an allotment has been timely filed, but payment of the allotment has been delayed.
( f ) The obligation may be paid in full at any time or through accelerated payments of any amount. There shall be no penalty for prepayment and in the event of prepayment, that portion of the finance charges which have insured to the benefit of the seller or creditor shall be prorated on the basis of the charges which would have been ratably payable had finance charges been calculated and payable as equal periodic payments over the term of the contract, and only the prorated amount to the date of prepayment shall be due. As an alternative, the “Rule of 78” may be applied, in which case its operation shall be explained in the contract.
( g ) No charge shall be made for an insurance premium or for finance charges for such premium unless satisfactory evidence of a policy, or insurance certificate where State insurance laws or regulations permit such certificates to be issued in lieu of a policy, reflecting such coverage has been delivered to the debtor within 30 days after the specified date of delivery of the item purchased or the signing of a cash loan agreement.
( h ) If the loan or contract agreement provides for payments in installments, each payment, other than the down payment, shall be in equal or substantially equal amounts, and installments shall be successive and of equal or substantially equal duration.
( i ) If the security for the debt is repossessed and sold in order to satisfy or reduce the debt, the repossession and resale will meet the following conditions: ( 1 ) The defaulting purchaser will be given advance written notice of the intention to repossess;
( 2 ) Following repossession, the defaulting purchaser will be served a complete statement of his obligations and adequate advance notice of the sale;
( 3 ) He will be permitted to redeem the item by payment of the amount due before the sale, or in lieu thereof submit a bid at the sale;
( 4 ) There will be a solicitation for a minimum of three sealed bids unless sold at auction;
( 5 ) The party holding the security, and all agents thereof are ineligible to bid;
( 6 ) The defaulting purchaser will be charged only those charges which are reasonably necessary for storage, reconditioning, and resale; and
( 7 ) He shall be provided a written detailed statement of his obligations, if any, following the resale and promptly refunded any credit balance due him, if any.
( j ) A contract for personal goods and services may be terminated at any time before delivery of the goods or services without charge to the purchaser. However, if goods made to the special order of the purchaser result in preproduction costs, or require preparation for delivery, such additional costs will be listed in the order form or contract. No termination charge will be made in excess of this amount. Contracts for delivery at future intervals may be terminated as to the undelivered portion, and the purchaser shall be chargeable only for that proportion of the total cost which the goods or services delivered bear to the total goods called for by the contract. (This is in addition to the right to rescind certain credit transactions involving a security interest in real estate provided by section 125 of the Truth-in-Lending Act, Pub. L. 90-321 (15 U.S.C. 1601) and § 226.9 of Regulation Z (12 CFR part 226).