Retail Installment Sales Act

The act governs consumer credit sales — transactions in which a retail seller provides goods or services for personal, family, or household use and the buyer pays the price over time under an installment contract or charge agreement. It defines the parties and terms involved, including the deferred payment price and the finance companies that purchase such contracts, and it imposes contract-formation duties on sellers: written agreements containing disclosed terms and charges, delivery of a signed copy to the buyer, and receipts for cash payments. It also limits what sellers and subsequent holders may do, capping or regulating delinquency and other fees, barring arbitrary acceleration of the balance absent default, preserving the buyer's defenses against a holder despite any contrary agreement, and channeling default and repossession into the secured-transactions remedies of the Uniform Commercial Code.

Editorial summary generated from the text of this act. It is not part of the statute — read the sections below for the operative language.