Subchapter II. Revolving Credit
TITLE 5
Banking
Other Businesses Under Jurisdiction of State Banking Department
CHAPTER 22. LICENSED LENDERS
Subchapter II. Revolving Credit
§ 2214. Definitions.
As used in this subchapter:
(1) "Revolving credit plan" or "plan" means a plan contemplating the extension of credit under an account governed by an agreement between a licensee and a borrower pursuant to which:
a. The licensee permits the borrower and, if the agreement governing the plan so provides, persons acting on behalf of or with authorization from the borrower, from time to time to make purchases from participating merchants and/or to obtain loans by use of a credit device;
b. The amounts of such purchases from participating merchants and loans are charged to the borrower's account under the revolving credit plan;
c. The borrower is required to pay the licensee the amounts of all purchases and loans charged to such borrower's account under the plan but has the privilege of paying such amounts outstanding from time to time in full or otherwise in accordance with the agreement governing the plan; and
d. Interest may be charged and collected by the licensee from time to time on the outstanding unpaid indebtedness under such plan.
(2) "Purchases" mean payments for property of whatever nature, real or personal, tangible or intangible, and payments for services, licenses, taxes, official fees, fines, private or governmental obligations or any other thing of value.
(3) "Loan" means cash advances or loans to be paid to or for the account of the borrower.
(4) "Credit device" means any card, check, identification code or other means of identification contemplated by the agreement governing the plan.
(5) "Outstanding unpaid indebtedness" means on any day an amount not in excess of the total amount of purchases from participating merchants and loans charged to the borrower's account under the plan which is outstanding and unpaid at the end of the day, after adding the aggregate amount of any new purchases from participating merchants and loans charged to the account as of that day and deducting the aggregate amount of any payments and credits applied to that indebtedness as of any day and, if the agreement providing the plan so provides, may include the amount of any interest and additional charges, including late or delinquency charges, which have accrued to the account and which are unpaid at the end of the day. Purchases and loans may be included in outstanding unpaid indebtedness as of such time as may be specified in the agreement governing the plan.
66 Del. Laws, c. 22, § 1; 71 Del. Laws, c. 19, § 63; 72 Del. Laws, c. 15, § 32.;
§ 2215. Extension of credit.
Any licensee may offer and extend credit under a revolving credit plan to a borrower and in connection therewith may charge and collect the interest and other charges permitted by this subchapter and may take such security as collateral in connection therewith as may be acceptable to the licensee. Without limitation of the foregoing, credit may be extended under a revolving credit plan by a licensee's acquisition of obligations arising out of the honoring by a merchant, a bank or other financial institution (whether chartered or organized under the laws of this or any other state, the District of Columbia, the United States or any district, territory or possession of the United States, or any foreign country) or a government or governmental subdivision or agency of a credit device made available to a borrower under a plan, whether directly or indirectly by means of telephone, point of sale terminal or other electronic or similar device or through the mail.
66 Del. Laws, c. 22, § 1.;
§ 2216. Interest.
A licensee may charge and collect interest under a revolving credit plan on outstanding unpaid indebtedness in the borrower's account under the plan at such daily, weekly, monthly, annual or other periodic percentage rate or rates as the agreement governing the plan provides or as established in the manner provided in the agreement governing the plan. Periodic interest may be calculated using an average daily balance, 2-cycle average daily balance, adjusted balance or previous balance method or using any other balance computation method provided for in the agreement governing the plan. Periodic billing cycles may be established in such manner and shall have such duration as may be specified in the agreement governing the plan.
66 Del. Laws, c. 22, § 1; 71 Del. Laws, c. 19, § 64.;
§ 2217. Variable rates.
If the agreement governing the revolving credit plan so provides, the periodic percentage rate or rates of interest under such plan may vary in accordance with a schedule or formula. Such periodic percentage rate or rates may vary from time to time as the rate determined in accordance with such schedule or formula varies and such periodic percentage rate or rates, as so varied, may be made applicable to all or any part of outstanding unpaid indebtedness under the plan on or after the first day of the billing cycle that contains the effective date of such variation including any such indebtedness arising out of purchases made from a participating merchant or loans obtained prior to such variation in the periodic percentage rate or rates. Without limitation, a permissible schedule or formula hereunder may include provision in the agreement governing the plan for a change in the periodic percentage rate or rates of interest applicable to all or any part of outstanding unpaid indebtedness, whether by variation of the then applicable periodic percentage rate or rates of interest, variation of an index or margin or otherwise, contingent upon the happening of any event or circumstance specified in the plan, which event or circumstance may include the failure of the borrower to perform in accordance with the terms of the plan. Nothing herein precludes a licensee from charging or reserving a right to charge, by discretion or otherwise, a rate lower than any maximum rate provided for in any schedule or formula.
66 Del. Laws, c. 22, § 1; 68 Del. Laws, c. 303, § 39; 71 Del. Laws, c. 19, § 65; 77 Del. Laws, c. 279, § 2.;
§ 2218. Additional charges.
(a) In addition to or in lieu of interest at a periodic percentage rate or rates as provided in §§ 2216 and 2217 of this title, a licensee may, if the agreement governing the revolving credit plan so provides, charge and collect 1 or more of the following:
(1) A daily, weekly, monthly, annual or other periodic charge in such amount or amounts as the agreement may provide for the privileges made available to the borrower under the plan;
(2) A transaction charge or charges in such amount or amounts as the agreement may provide for each separate purchase or loan under the plan;
(3) A minimum charge for each daily, weekly, monthly, annual or other scheduled billing period under the plan during any portion of which there is an outstanding unpaid indebtedness under the plan;
(4) Reasonable fees for services rendered or for reimbursement of expenses incurred in good faith by the licensee or its agents in connection with such loan, including, without limitation, commitment fees, official fees and taxes, premiums or other charges for any guarantee or insurance protecting the licensee against the borrower's default or other credit loss, or costs incurred by reason of examination of title, inspection, recording and other formal acts necessary or appropriate to the security of the loan, filing fees, attorney's fees and travel expenses;
(5) Prepayment charges authorized by subsection (b) of this section; and
(6) Such other charges as the Commissioner shall include in an itemized schedule of the maximum amounts which may be charged to an applicant for an extension of credit for costs, fees, services, points, premiums and all other reasonable expenses which may be incurred by such applicant in connection with the extension of credit. The maximum amounts permitted by said schedule may vary with the amount of the extension of credit and shall bear a reasonable relationship to such extensions of credit, the services required and the complexity of the transaction. No licensee or any other person shall demand, collect or receive from any borrower, directly or indirectly, any other charges, or any greater amounts for any authorized charges than those permitted by said schedule or otherwise under this chapter.
(b) A borrower may pay the outstanding unpaid indebtedness charged to the borrower's account under a plan in full at any time. Except for a charge imposed to terminate a plan if the agreement governing the plan so provides, a licensee may not impose any prepayment charges in connection with the payment of outstanding unpaid indebtedness in full by a borrower. A licensee may charge and collect any prepayment penalty or other charge specified in the agreement governing the plan in connection with the payoff and termination of a plan that is secured by a real estate mortgage.
(c) No charges assessed by a licensee in accordance with this section shall be deemed void as a penalty or otherwise unenforceable under any statute or the common law.
66 Del. Laws, c. 22, § 1; 70 Del. Laws, c. 327, § 44; 71 Del. Laws, c. 19, §§ 66, 67.;
§ 2219. Terms for indebtedness.
A licensee may, if the agreement governing a revolving credit plan so provides, impose different terms (including, without limitation, the terms governing the periodic percentage rate or rates used to calculate interest, the method of computing the outstanding unpaid indebtedness to which such rate or rates are applied, the amounts of other charges and the applicable installment repayment schedule) in respect to indebtedness arising out of purchases and indebtedness arising out of loans made under the plan.
66 Del. Laws, c. 22, § 1.;
§ 2220. Omitted installments.
A licensee may at any time and from time to time unilaterally extend to a borrower under a revolving credit plan the option of omitting monthly installments.
66 Del. Laws, c. 22, § 1.;
§ 2221. Insurance.
(a) A licensee may request but not require an individual borrower to be insured in respect of a revolving credit plan under a life, health, accident, health and accident or other credit or other permissible insurance policy, whether group or individual, and in the event that an individual borrower's outstanding unpaid indebtedness under the plan is secured by an interest in real or personal property, a licensee may require the borrower to obtain insurance, from an insurer acceptable to the licensee, against loss of or damage to such property or against the liability arising out of the ownership or use of the property and may finance the premiums for such insurance.
(b) The offer and placement of insurance under this section shall be subject in all respects to the applicable provisions of Title 18.
66 Del. Laws, c. 22, § 1.;
§ 2222. Delinquent installments.
(a) If the agreement governing a revolving credit plan so provides, a licensee may impose, as interest, a late or delinquency charge upon any outstanding unpaid installment payments or portions thereof under the plan which are in default; provided, however, that no more than 1 such late or delinquency charge may be imposed in respect of any single such installment payment or portion thereof regardless of the period during which it remains in default; and provided further, however, that for the purpose only of the preceding provision all payments by the borrower shall be deemed to be applied to satisfaction of installment payments in the order in which they become due. Nothing contained in this section shall limit, restrict or otherwise affect the right of a licensee under and pursuant to §§ 2216 and 2217 of this title to change the periodic percentage rate or rates of interest applicable to the revolving credit plan between the licensee and a borrower upon the occurrence of a delinquency or default or other failure of the borrower to perform in accordance with the terms of the plan.
(b) No charges assessed by a licensee in accordance with this section shall be deemed void as a penalty or otherwise unenforceable under any statute or the common law.
66 Del. Laws, c. 22, § 1; 68 Del. Laws, c. 303, § 40; 70 Del. Laws, c. 327, § 45; 71 Del. Laws, c. 19, § 68.;
§ 2223. Attorney's fees; costs.
In the event a borrower defaults under the terms of a plan, the licensee may, if the borrower's account is referred to an attorney (not a regularly salaried employee of the licensee) or to a third party for collection and if the agreement governing the revolving credit plan so provides, charge and collect from the borrower a reasonable attorney's fee. In addition, following a borrower's default, the licensee may, if the agreement governing the plan so provides, recover from the borrower all court, alternative dispute resolution or other collection costs (including, without limitation, fees and charges of collection agencies) actually incurred by the licensee.
66 Del. Laws, c. 22, § 1; 72 Del. Laws, c. 15, § 33.;
§ 2224. Amendment of agreement.
(a) Unless the agreement governing a revolving credit plan otherwise provides, a licensee may at any time and from time to time amend such agreement in any respect, whether or not the amendment or the subject of the amendment was originally contemplated or addressed by the parties or is integral to the relationship between the parties. Without limiting the foregoing, such amendment may change terms by the addition of new terms or by the deletion or modification of existing terms, whether relating to plan benefits or features, the rate or rates of periodic interest, the manner of calculating periodic interest or outstanding unpaid indebtedness, variable schedules or formulas, interest charges, fees, collateral requirements, methods for obtaining or repaying extensions of credit, attorney's fees, plan termination, the manner for amending the terms of the agreement, arbitration or other alternative dispute resolution mechanisms, or other matters of any kind whatsoever. Unless the agreement governing a revolving credit plan otherwise expressly provides, any amendment may, on and after the date upon which it becomes effective as to a particular borrower, apply to all then outstanding unpaid indebtedness in the borrower's account under the plan, including any such indebtedness that arose prior to the effective date of the amendment. An agreement governing a revolving credit plan may be amended pursuant to this section regardless of whether the plan is active or inactive or whether additional borrowings are available thereunder. Any amendment that does not increase the rate or rates of periodic interest charged by a licensee to a borrower under § 2216 or § 2217 of this title shall become effective as determined by the licensee, subject to compliance by the licensee with any applicable notice requirements under the Truth in Lending Act (15 U.S.C. §§ 1601 et seq.), and the regulations promulgated thereunder, as in effect from time to time. Any notice of an amendment sent by the licensee may be included in the same envelope with a periodic statement or as part of the periodic statement or in other materials sent to the borrower.
(b)(1) If an amendment increases the rate or rates of periodic interest charged by a licensee to a borrower under § 2216 or § 2217 of this title, the licensee shall mail or deliver to the borrower, at least 15 days before the effective date of the amendment, a clear and conspicuous written notice that shall describe the amendment and shall also set forth the effective date thereof and any applicable information required to be disclosed pursuant to the following provisions of this section.
(2) Any amendment that increases the rate or rates of periodic interest charged by a licensee to a borrower under § 2216 or § 2217 of this title shall become effective as to a particular borrower if the borrower does not, within 15 days of the earlier of the mailing or delivery of the written notice of the amendment (or such longer period as may be established by the licensee), furnish written notice to the licensee that the borrower does not agree to accept such amendment. The notice from the licensee shall set forth the address to which a borrower may send notice of the borrower's election not to accept the amendment and shall include a statement that, absent the furnishing of notice to the licensee of nonacceptance within the referenced 15 day (or longer) time period, the amendment will become effective and apply to such borrower. As a condition to the effectiveness of any notice that a borrower does not accept such amendment, the licensee may require the borrower to return to it all credit devices. If, after 15 days from the mailing or delivery by the licensee of a notice of an amendment (or such longer period as may have been established by the licensee as referenced above), a borrower uses a plan by making a purchase or obtaining a loan, notwithstanding that the borrower has prior to such use furnished the licensee notice that the borrower does not accept an amendment, the amendment may be deemed by the licensee to have been accepted and may become effective as to the borrower as of the date that such amendment would have become effective but for the furnishing of notice by the borrower (or as of any later date selected by the licensee).
(3) Any amendment that increases the rate or rates of periodic interest charged by a licensee to a borrower under § 2216 or § 2217 of this title may, in lieu of the procedure referenced in paragraph (2) of this subsection, become effective as to a particular borrower if the borrower uses the plan after a date specified in the written notice of the amendment that is at least 15 days after the mailing or delivery of the notice (but that need not be the date the amendment becomes effective) by making a purchase or obtaining a loan; provided, that the notice from the licensee includes a statement that the described usage after the referenced date will constitute the borrower's acceptance of the amendment.
(4) Any borrower who furnishes timely notice electing not to accept an amendment in accordance with the procedures referenced in paragraph (2) of this subsection and who does not subsequently use the plan, or who fails to use such borrower's plan as referenced in paragraph (3) of this subsection, shall be permitted to pay the outstanding unpaid indebtedness in such borrower's account under the plan in accordance with the rate or rates of periodic interest charged by a licensee to a borrower under § 2216 or § 2217 of this title without giving effect to the amendment; provided however, that the licensee may convert the borrower's account to a closed end credit account as governed by subchapter III of this chapter, on credit terms substantially similar to those set forth in the then-existing agreement governing the borrower's plan.
(5) Notwithstanding the other provisions of this subsection, no notice required by this subsection of an amendment of an agreement governing a revolving credit plan shall be required, and any amendment may become effective as of any date agreed upon between a licensee and a borrower, with respect to any amendment that is agreed upon between the licensee and the borrower, either orally or in writing.
(c) For purposes of this section, the following are examples of amendments that shall not be deemed to increase the rate or rates of periodic interest charged by a licensee to a borrower under § 2216 or § 2217 of this title:
(1) A decrease or increase in the required number or amount of periodic installment payments;
(2) Any change to a plan that increases the rate or rates in effect immediately prior to the change by less than 1/4 of 1 percentage point per annum; provided that a licensee may not make more than 1 such change in reliance on this paragraph with respect to a plan within any 12-month period;
(3)a. A change in the schedule or formula used under a variable rate plan under § 2217 of this title that varies the determination date of the applicable rate, the time period for which the applicable rate will apply or the effective date of any variation of the rate, or any other similar change, or
b. Any other change in the schedule or formula used under a variable rate plan under § 2217 of this title;
provided that the initial interest rate that would result from any such change under this paragraph (3), as determined on the effective date of the change or, if notice of the change is mailed or delivered to the borrower prior to the effective date, as of any date within 60 days before mailing or delivery of such notice, will not be an increase from the rate in effect on such date under the existing schedule or formula;
(4) A change from a variable rate plan to a fixed rate, or from a fixed rate to a variable rate plan so long as the initial rate that would result from such a change, as determined on the effective date of the change, or if the notice of the change is mailed or delivered to the borrower prior to the effective date, as of any date within 60 days before mailing or delivery of such notice, will not be an increase from the rate in effect on such date under the existing plan;
(5) A change from a daily periodic rate to a periodic rate other than daily or from a periodic rate other than daily to a daily periodic rate; and
(6) A change in the method of determining the outstanding unpaid indebtedness upon which periodic interest is calculated (including, without limitation, a change with respect to the date by which or the time period within which a new balance or any portion thereof must be paid to avoid additional periodic interest).
66 Del. Laws, c. 22, § 1; 66 Del. Laws, c. 403, § 3; 70 Del. Laws, c. 217, § 2; 71 Del. Laws, c. 19, § 69; 72 Del. Laws, c. 15, §§ 34, 35.;
§ 2225. Application of other State laws.
Any other law of this State limiting the rate or amount of interest, discount, points, finance charges, service charges or other charges which may be charged, taken, collected, received or reserved shall not apply to extensions of credit under a revolving credit plan operated in accordance with this subchapter.
66 Del. Laws, c. 22, § 1.;
§ 2226. Nonexclusivity; captions.
(a) The provisions of this subchapter are not exclusive and a licensee may at its option elect to extend credit either pursuant to this subchapter or as otherwise permitted by applicable law.
(b) Section headings and captions contained in this subchapter are inserted only as a matter of convenience and for reference and do not and shall not be construed to define, limit, extend or describe the scope of this subchapter or the meaning or intent of any section hereof.
66 Del. Laws, c. 22, § 1.;