ture of the disclosures. In devising such forms, the Board 
shall consider the use by merchants of data processing or 
similar automated equipment. Nothing in this title may 
be construed to require a merchant to use any such model 
form or clause prescribed by the Board under this section. 
A merchant shall be deemed to be in compliance with the 
requirement to provide disclosure under section 1003(a) 
if the merchant— 
‘‘(1) uses any appropriate model form or clause 
as published by the Board; or 
‘‘(2) uses any such model form or clause and 
changes it by— 
‘‘(A) deleting any information which is not 
required by this title; or 
‘‘(B) rearranging the format, if in making 
such deletion or rearranging the format, the 
merchant does not affect the substance, clarity, 
or meaningful sequence of the disclosure. 
‘‘(c) EFFECTIVE DATE OF REGULATIONS.—Any reg-
ulation prescribed by the Board, or any amendment or in-
terpretation thereof, shall not be effective before the Octo-
ber 1 that follows the date of publication of the regulation 
in final form by at least 6 months. The Board may at 
its discretion lengthen that period of time to permit mer-
chants to adjust to accommodate new requirements. The 
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Board may also shorten that period of time, notwith-
standing the first sentence, if it makes a specific finding 
that such action is necessary to comply with the findings 
of a court or to prevent unfair or deceptive practices. In 
any case, merchants may comply with any newly pre-
scribed disclosure requirement prior to its effective date. 
‘‘SEC. 1016. ENFORCEMENT. 
‘‘(a) FEDERAL ENFORCEMENT.—Compliance with 
the requirements imposed under this title shall be enforced 
under the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 
et seq.), and a violation of any requirements imposed 
under this title shall be deemed a violation of a require-
ment imposed under that Act. All of the functions and 
powers of the Federal Trade Commission under the Fed-
eral Trade Commission Act are available to the Commis-
sion to enforce compliance by any person with the require-
ments of this title, irrespective of whether that person is 
engaged in commerce or meets any other jurisdictional 
test in the Federal Trade Commission Act. 
‘‘(b) STATE ENFORCEMENT.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An action to enforce the re-
quirements imposed by this title may also be 
brought by the appropriate State attorney general in 
any appropriate United States district court, or any 
other court of competent jurisdiction. 
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‘‘(2) PRIOR WRITTEN NOTICE.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The State attorney 
general shall provide prior written notice of any 
such civil action to the Federal Trade Commis-
sion and shall provide the Commission with a 
copy of the complaint. 
‘‘(B) EMERGENCY ACTION.—If prior notice 
is not feasible, the State attorney general shall 
provide notice to the Commission immediately 
upon instituting the action. 
‘‘(3) FTC INTERVENTION.—The Commission 
may— 
‘‘(A) intervene in the action; 
‘‘(B) upon intervening— 
‘‘(i) remove the action to the appro-
priate United States district court, if it 
was not originally brought there; and 
‘‘(ii) be heard on all matters arising in 
the action; and 
‘‘(C) file a petition for appeal. 
‘‘SEC. 1017. CRIMINAL LIABILITY FOR WILLFUL AND KNOW-
ING VIOLATION. 
‘‘Whoever willfully and knowingly gives false or inac-
curate information or fails to provide information which 
he is required to disclose under the provisions of this title 
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or any regulation issued thereunder shall be subject to the 
penalty provisions as provided in section 112. 
‘‘SEC. 1018. RELATION TO OTHER LAWS. 
‘‘(a) RELATION TO STATE LAW.— 
‘‘(1) NO
EFFECT
ON
CONSISTENT
STATE 
LAWS.—Except as otherwise provided in subsection 
(b), this title does not annul, alter, or affect in any 
manner the meaning, scope or applicability of the 
laws of any State relating to rental-purchase agree-
ments, except to the extent those laws are incon-
sistent with any provision of this title, and then only 
to the extent of the inconsistency. 
‘‘(2) DETERMINATION
OF
INCONSISTENCY.— 
Upon its own motion or upon the request of an in-
terested party, which is submitted in accordance 
with procedures prescribed in regulations of the 
Board, the Board shall determine whether any such 
inconsistency exists. If the Board determines that a 
term or provision of a State law is inconsistent, mer-
chants located in that State need not follow such 
term or provision and shall incur no liability under 
the law of that State for failure to follow such term 
or provision, notwithstanding that such determina-
tion is subsequently amended, rescinded, or deter-
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mined by judicial or other authority to be invalid for 
any reason. 
‘‘(3) GREATER
PROTECTION
UNDER
STATE 
LAW.—Except as provided in subsection (b), for pur-
poses of this section, a term or provision of a State 
law is not inconsistent with the provisions of this 
title if the term or provision affords greater protec-
tion and benefit to the consumer than the protection 
and benefit provided under this title as determined 
by the Board, on its own motion or upon the peti-
tion of any interested party. 
‘‘(b) STATE LAWS RELATING TO CHARACTERIZATION 
OF TRANSACTION.—Notwithstanding the provisions of 
subsection (a), this title shall supersede any State law to 
the extent that such law— 
‘‘(1) regulates a rental-purchase agreement as a 
security interest, credit sale, retail installment sale, 
conditional sale or any other form of consumer cred-
it, or that imputes to a rental-purchase agreement 
the creation of a debt or extension of credit, or 
‘‘(2) requires the disclosure of a percentage rate 
calculation, including a time-price differential, an 
annual percentage rate, or an effective annual per-
centage rate. 
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