reglab/housing_qa huggingface dataset:
AL Code § 5-19-8 (2021)
2021 Code of Alabama|Title 5 - Banks and Financial Institutions.|Chapter 19 - Consumer Finance.|Section 5-19-8 - Assignee of Seller Subject to Claims and Defenses of Buyer.

Section 5-19-8Assignee of seller subject to claims and defenses of buyer. With respect to a consumer credit sale, an assignee of the rights of the seller is subject to all claims and defenses of the buyer against the seller arising out of the sale, notwithstanding an agreement to the contrary, but the assignee's liability under this section may not exceed the amount owing to the assignee at the time the claim or defense is asserted against the assignee. Rights of the buyer under this section can only be asserted as a matter of defense to or setoff against a claim by the assignee. (Acts 1971, No. 2052, p. 3290, §5; Acts 1996, No. 96-576, p. 887, §2.)
AL Code § 5-19-9 (2021)
2021 Code of Alabama|Title 5 - Banks and Financial Institutions.|Chapter 19 - Consumer Finance.|Section 5-19-9 - Application of Payments When Buyer Indebted to Same Seller for Two or More Consumer Credit Sales.

Section 5-19-9Application of payments when buyer indebted to same seller for two or more consumer credit sales. When the buyer is indebted to a particular seller for two or more consumer credit sales of goods and the goods which were the subject of two or more sales secure the buyer's total debt to the seller, the security shall be discharged by applying the buyer's payments as they are received by the seller or the seller's assignee to the portions of the debt in the order in which they were incurred. To the extent that debts are paid according to the preceding sentence, security interests in items of property terminate as the debt originally incurred with respect to each item is paid. Payments received by the seller upon a revolving charge account are deemed, for the purpose of determining the amount of the debt secured by the various security interests, to have been applied first to the payment of finance charges in the order of their entry to the account and then to the payment of debts in the order in which the entries to the account showing the debts were made. If the debts consolidated arose from two or more consumer sales made on the same day, payments received by the seller are deemed, for the purpose of determining the amount of the debt secured by the various security interests, to have been applied first to the payment of the smallest debt. This section shall not apply to two or more consumer credit sales made by the same seller to the same buyer when the debts have been assigned to different and unrelated persons for value and the assignment was bona fide and not for the purpose of violating this section. (Acts 1971, No. 2052, p. 3290, §5; Acts 1996, No. 96-576, p. 887, §2.)
AL Code § 5-19-10 (2021)
2021 Code of Alabama|Title 5 - Banks and Financial Institutions.|Chapter 19 - Consumer Finance.|Section 5-19-10 - Contract Provisions for Attorney's Fees.

Section 5-19-10Contract provisions for attorney's fees. A contract for a consumer credit transaction with an original amount financed not exceeding three hundred dollars ($300) may not provide for payment by the debtor of attorney's fees after default by the debtor. A contract for a consumer credit transaction with an original amount financed exceeding three hundred dollars ($300) may provide for the payment by the debtor of reasonable attorney's fees not exceeding 15 percent of the unpaid debt after default and referral of the contract to an attorney who is not a salaried employee of the creditor. An open-end credit plan may not provide for attorney's fees when the unpaid balance does not exceed three hundred dollars ($300), but may provide for reasonable attorney's fees after default by the debtor when the unpaid balance exceeds three hundred dollars ($300). In a consumer credit transaction contract where the original amount financed exceeds ten thousand dollars ($10,000) or the credit transaction is secured by real property, the creditor may require the payment by the debtor of attorney's fees prior to default by the debtor in connection with the closing of, amendment to, or modification of the credit transaction, provided that the attorney is not a salaried employee of the creditor. (Acts 1971, No. 2052, p. 3290, §6; Acts 1996, No. 96-576, p. 887, §2.)
AL Code § 5-19-12 (2021)
2021 Code of Alabama|Title 5 - Banks and Financial Institutions.|Chapter 19 - Consumer Finance.|Section 5-19-12 - Buyer's Right to Cancel Home Solicitation Sale.

Section 5-19-12Buyer's right to cancel home solicitation sale. (a) A buyer has the right to cancel a home solicitation sale until midnight of the third business day following execution by the buyer of an agreement or offer to purchase, which notice is effective when delivered or when deposited in the mail properly addressed to the seller, postage prepaid. The seller must deliver to the buyer and obtain the buyer's written signature to a written agreement or offer to purchase designating as the date of the transaction the date on which the buyer actually signs and containing the following under the conspicuous caption: "BUYER'S RIGHT TO CANCEL" "If this agreement was solicited at your residence and you do not want the goods or services, you may cancel this agreement by delivering or mailing a notice to the seller. The notice must say that you are cancelling the agreement and must be delivered or mailed before midnight of the third business day after you sign this agreement. The notice must be delivered or mailed to: _______________________________________________." (insert name and mailing address of seller)  Alternately, the seller may deliver to the buyer the notice required by the Federal Trade Commission Trade Regulation Rule concerning Cooling-Off Period for Sales Made at Homes or at Certain Other Locations, Title 16, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 429, as amended from time to time, which shall satisfy the notice requirement of this section. Until the seller has complied with this section the buyer may cancel the home solicitation sale within one year after the date of the sale by notifying the seller in any manner and by any means of the buyer's intention to cancel. (b) The buyer has a duty to take reasonable care of the goods in the buyer's possession before cancellation and for a reasonable time thereafter, during which time the goods are otherwise at seller's risk. Within 10 days after a home solicitation sale has been cancelled or an offer to purchase revoked, the seller must tender to the buyer any payments made or goods traded in by the buyer, or the amount equal to the trade-in allowance stated in the agreement, and any note or other evidence of debt. Within a reasonable time thereafter the buyer, upon demand, must tender at the buyer's residence to the seller any goods delivered by the seller. If the seller fails to demand such possession within 20 days after receipt of the notice, the goods become the property of the buyer without obligation to pay for them. (c) The provisions of this section shall not apply if the buyer furnishes the seller with a separate dated and signed personal statement describing an emergency requiring immediate remedy and modifying or waiving his right to cancel. The use of printed forms for this purpose is prohibited. (Acts 1971, No. 2052, p. 3290, §8; Acts 1996, No. 96-576, p. 887, §2.)
AL Code § 5-19-13 (2021)
2021 Code of Alabama|Title 5 - Banks and Financial Institutions.|Chapter 19 - Consumer Finance.|Section 5-19-13 - Repossession or Acceptance of Surrender of Goods Priced at One Thousand Dollars or Less.

Section 5-19-13Repossession or acceptance of surrender of goods priced at one thousand dollars or less. If any seller or assignee of the seller repossesses or voluntarily accepts surrender of goods sold in which the seller or assignee has a security interest and the original cash price of the goods repossessed or surrendered was one thousand dollars ($$1,000) or less, the buyer is not personally liable to the seller or assignee for the unpaid balance of the debt arising from the sale and the seller or assignee is not obligated to sell the collateral. (Acts 1971, No. 2052, p. 3290, §9; Acts 1996, No. 96-576, p. 887, §2.)
AL Code § 5-19-14 (2021)
2021 Code of Alabama|Title 5 - Banks and Financial Institutions.|Chapter 19 - Consumer Finance.|Section 5-19-14 - Rebates or Discounts, etc., as Inducement for Aiding Sale to Another Prohibited.

Section 5-19-14Rebates or discounts, etc., as inducement for aiding sale to another prohibited. With respect to a consumer credit sale, the seller may not give or offer to give a rebate or discount, or otherwise pay or offer to pay value to the buyer, as an inducement for a sale in consideration of the buyer giving to the seller the names of prospective purchasers, or otherwise aiding the seller in making a sale to another person, if the earning of the rebate, discount, or other value is contingent upon the occurrence of an event subsequent to the time the buyer agrees to buy. If a buyer is induced by a violation of this section to enter into a consumer credit sale, the agreement is unenforceable by the seller and the buyer, at the buyer's option, may rescind the agreement or retain the goods delivered and the benefit of any services performed without any obligation to pay for them. (Acts 1971, No. 2052, p. 3290, §10; Acts 1996, No. 96-576, p. 887, §2.)
AL Code § 5-19-15 (2021)
2021 Code of Alabama|Title 5 - Banks and Financial Institutions.|Chapter 19 - Consumer Finance.|Section 5-19-15 - Garnishment.

Section 5-19-15Garnishment. Prior to entry of judgment on a consumer credit transaction, the creditor may not attach unpaid earnings of the debtor by garnishment. Notwithstanding the garnishment procedure otherwise applicable after judgment, with respect to a consumer credit transaction, the amount of unpaid earnings of the debtor subject to garnishment shall not exceed the lesser of: (1) Twenty-five percent of the debtor's disposable earnings for that week; or (2) The amount by which the debtor's disposable earnings for that week exceed 30 times the federal minimum hourly wage in effect when payable. "Disposable earnings" means that part of the earnings of a debtor remaining after deduction of amounts required by law to be withheld, and disposable earnings shall not include periodic payments pursuant to a pension, retirement, or disability program. (Acts 1971, No. 2052, p. 3290, §11; Acts 1988, No. 88-294, p. 454, §1; Acts 1996, No. 96-576, p. 887, §2.)
AL Code § 5-19-16 (2021)
2021 Code of Alabama|Title 5 - Banks and Financial Institutions.|Chapter 19 - Consumer Finance.|Section 5-19-16 - Refusal by Court to Enforce Unconscionable Agreement.

Section 5-19-16Refusal by court to enforce unconscionable agreement. With respect to a consumer credit transaction, if the court as a matter of law finds the contract or any provision of the contract to have been unconscionable at the time it was made, the court may refuse to enforce the contract, or it may enforce the remainder of the contract without the unconscionable provision, or it may so limit the application of any unconscionable provision as to avoid any unconscionable result. (Acts 1971, No. 2052, p. 3290, §12; Acts 1996, No. 96-576, p. 887, §2.)
AL Code § 5-19-17 (2021)
2021 Code of Alabama|Title 5 - Banks and Financial Institutions.|Chapter 19 - Consumer Finance.|Section 5-19-17 - Inducing Obligation on More Than One Contract in Order to Obtain Higher Finance Charge Prohibited; Consolidation of Existing Precomputed Consumer Credit Transaction Contract and Subsequent Precomputed Consumer Credit Transaction.

Section 5-19-17Inducing obligation on more than one contract in order to obtain higher finance charge prohibited; consolidation of existing precomputed consumer credit transaction contract and subsequent precomputed consumer credit transaction. (a) No creditor shall induce or permit any person or any husband and wife, jointly or severally, to become obligated directly or contingently, or both, on more than one consumer credit transaction at the same time for the purpose of obtaining a higher finance charge than would otherwise be permitted by Section 5-19-3. This subsection shall not apply to the maintenance of two or more separate consumer credit transactions where the consumer credit transactions were created on different dates. (b) It shall be unlawful for any seller to evade or attempt to evade this section by inducing a buyer to become obligated to another creditor in which the initial creditor has a pecuniary interest or with whom the initial creditor has an arrangement for exchange of customers. (c) Subsection (a) does not obligate a creditor to allow any person to maintain two or more contracts or accounts. Effective June 19, 1996, an existing precomputed consumer credit transaction contract and a subsequent precomputed consumer credit transaction document may be consolidated provided that the consumer cannot be required to consolidate the contracts as a condition for the extension of credit nor can the creditor be required to extend credit; and provided further, that if such contracts are consolidated, the annual percentage rate resulting from the consolidation can be no greater than the annual percentage rate on the prior existing consumer credit transaction contract nor can the consumer be charged any duplicate fees or expenses that originated in the existing consumer credit transaction contract, provided, however, that finance charges and other charges and fees rebated in accordance with applicable law and those charges as permitted by Section 5-19-4(f) and UCC filing fees or nonfiling insurance premiums in lieu thereof are excluded from this provision. Nothing herein restricts a creditor from renewing or refinancing an existing consumer credit transaction contract. (Acts 1971, No. 2052, p. 3290, §13; Acts 1996, No. 96-576, p. 887, §2.)
AL Code § 5-19-18 (2021)
2021 Code of Alabama|Title 5 - Banks and Financial Institutions.|Chapter 19 - Consumer Finance.|Section 5-19-18 - Installment Payment of Debt of One Thousand Dollars or Less.

Section 5-19-18Installment payment of debt of one thousand dollars or less. With respect to consumer credit transactions, where the debt is payable in installments, not made pursuant to an open-end credit plan and in which the original amount financed is one thousand dollars ($1,000) or less, the debt shall be scheduled to be payable in substantially equal installments at equal periodic intervals, except to the extent that the schedule of payments is adjusted to the seasonal or irregular income of the debtor or when the transaction is a single principal payment obligation irrespective of the scheduled interest payments, and: (1) Over a period of not more than 36 months and 15 days if the original amount financed is more than three hundred dollars ($300); or (2) Over a period of not more than 24 months and 15 days if the original amount financed is three hundred dollars ($300) or less. (Acts 1971, No. 2052, p. 3290, §14; Acts 1989, No. 89-879, p. 1771, §1; Acts 1996, No. 96-576, p. 887, §2.)
AL Code § 5-19-23 (2021)
2021 Code of Alabama|Title 5 - Banks and Financial Institutions.|Chapter 19 - Consumer Finance.|Section 5-19-23 - License to Engage in Business of Making Consumer Loans or Taking Assignments of Consumer Credit Contracts - Revocation or Suspension.

Section 5-19-23License to engage in business of making consumer loans or taking assignments of consumer credit contracts - Revocation or suspension. (a) The administrator may issue to a person licensed under this chapter an order to show cause why his license should not be revoked or suspended for a period not in excess of six months. The order shall state the place for a hearing and set a time for the hearing that is not less than 10 days from the date of the order. At such hearing, the licensee shall be entitled to counsel. (b) After the hearing, the administrator: (1) Shall revoke the license if he finds that: a. The licensee has repeatedly and willfully violated this chapter or any rule or order lawfully made pursuant to this chapter; or b. Facts or conditions exist which would clearly have justified the administrator in refusing to grant a license had such facts or conditions been known to exist at the time the application of the license was made. (2) May suspend the license if he finds that the licensee has violated this chapter or any rule or order lawfully made pursuant to this chapter. (Acts 1971, No. 2052, p. 3290, §23.)
AL Code § 5-19-24 (2021)
2021 Code of Alabama|Title 5 - Banks and Financial Institutions.|Chapter 19 - Consumer Finance.|Section 5-19-24 - Examinations and Investigations of Licensees by Administrator.

Section 5-19-24Examinations and investigations of licensees by administrator. (a) For the purpose of determining compliance with this chapter, the administrator may, at any reasonable time, cause an examination to be made at the licensee's place of business of the records and transactions of such licensee. As cost of examination, the licensee shall pay the administrator an examination fee as provided by Section 5-2A-24 which shall be collected and paid into the special fund provided by Section 5-2A-20 and used in the supervision and examination of licensees. Each licensee shall preserve all relevant records for a period of at least two years after making the last entry on any transaction, and the administrator shall have free access thereto at the licensee's place of business at all reasonable times. If the administrator has probable cause to believe that a person has engaged in an activity which violates the provisions of this chapter, the administrator may compel the production of such books and records of the person as he or she has probable cause to believe are relevant to the alleged violation. (b) If the person's records are located outside this state, the person may either make them available to the administrator at a convenient location within this state, or pay the reasonable and necessary expenses for the administrator or a representative of the administrator to examine them at the place where they are maintained. The administrator may designate representatives, including comparable officials of the state in which the records are located, to inspect them on his or her behalf. (c) Reports of examinations and investigations, all working papers related thereto and the books and records of licensees, are to be held strictly confidential, and may not be produced, reproduced, or otherwise made available by the State Banking Department to any persons other than those within the State Banking Department and the licensee, and their respective counsel. This subsection does not apply to disclosures in proceedings brought by the administrator pursuant to this chapter. (d) A licensee's books and records may be maintained, produced, and reproduced for examination by photostatic, photographic, microphotographic, optical imaging, or by any other generally recognized process for data storage and reproduction. (e) Nothing contained herein shall prohibit discovery of these materials by and through a lawfully issued subpoena from a court of competent jurisdiction. (Acts 1971, No. 2052, p. 3290, §19; Acts 1996, No. 96-576, p. 887, §2.)
AL Code § 5-19-25 (2021)
2021 Code of Alabama|Title 5 - Banks and Financial Institutions.|Chapter 19 - Consumer Finance.|Section 5-19-25 - Cease and Desist Orders by Administrator; Penalties for Violation of This Chapter; Right to Counsel at Hearing; Judicial Review.

Section 5-19-25Cease and desist orders by administrator; penalties for violation of this chapter; right to counsel at hearing; judicial review. After notice and hearing, the administrator may order a licensee under this chapter or a person acting on behalf of the licensee to cease and desist from engaging in violations of this chapter. A creditor who is found by the administrator, after notice and hearing, to have violated this chapter may be ordered by the administrator to pay a civil penalty in an amount determined by the administrator of not more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000) in the aggregate for all violations of a similar nature or, where violations are knowing violations, of not more than fifty thousand dollars ($50,000), in addition to any other penalties provided by law, including, but not limited to, license revocation. Violations shall be of a similar nature if the violations consist of the same or substantially the same course of action or practice irrespective of the number of times the course of action or practice occurred. All civil penalties collected shall be paid into the special fund provided by Section 5-2A-20 and used in the supervision and examination of licensees. At the hearing, the licensee shall be entitled to be represented by counsel. A licensee aggrieved by an order of the administrator under this section may obtain judicial review of the order and the administrator may obtain an order of the court for enforcement of its order in the circuit court. The proceedings shall be governed by the provisions of Section 5-19-26. (Acts 1971, No. 2052, p. 3290, §20; Acts 1996, No. 96-576, p. 887, §2.)
AL Code § 5-19-26 (2021)
2021 Code of Alabama|Title 5 - Banks and Financial Institutions.|Chapter 19 - Consumer Finance.|Section 5-19-26 - Appeals to Circuit Court From Order of Administrator; Appeals From Decision of Circuit Court.

Section 5-19-26Appeals to circuit court from order of administrator; appeals from decision of circuit court. (a) Any interested party or intervener may appeal an order of the administrator to the Circuit Court of Montgomery County or to the circuit court of the county in which such party has its principal place of business in Alabama by filing notice of appeal with the administrator and with the register or clerk of the circuit court within 30 days from the date of said final order. The administrator's findings shall be prima facie correct, but the circuit court may hear such appeal according to its own rules and procedure, including the taking of additional testimony and staying the order. In the circuit court, the trial shall be de novo. The court may, if it decides that the Administrator has erred to the prejudice of appellant's substantial rights in its application of the law or that the order was based upon findings of fact contrary to the substantial weight of the evidence, remand the proceeding to the administrator for further action in conformity with the direction of the court or may enter such order as the court deems appropriate. (b) Either party may appeal from the circuit court to the Supreme Court within 42 days from the date of entry of the order of the circuit court. (Acts 1971, No. 2052, p. 3290, §21.)
AL Code § 5-19-29 (2021)
2021 Code of Alabama|Title 5 - Banks and Financial Institutions.|Chapter 19 - Consumer Finance.|Section 5-19-29 - Injunctions.

Section 5-19-29Injunctions. (a) The administrator may bring an action to restrain a creditor or a person acting in his behalf from engaging in any business subject to licensing under subsection (a) of Section 5-19-22 without first obtaining a license therefor as provided in Section 5-19-22 and a licensee or any person acting in his behalf from engaging in violations of this chapter or engaging in a course of fraudulent or unconscionable conduct in inducing debtors to enter credit transactions or in the collection of debts. (b) With respect to an action brought to enjoin violations of the chapter or fraudulent or unconscionable conduct, the administrator may apply to the court for appropriate temporary relief against a defendant, pending final determination of the proceedings. If the court finds, after a hearing held upon notice to the defendant, that there is reasonable cause to believe that the defendant is engaging in or is likely to engage in conduct which violates this chapter or which is fraudulent or unconscionable, it may grant any temporary relief or restraining order it deems appropriate. (Acts 1971, No. 2052, p. 3290, §22.)