This section limits what a seller or assignee can do in a consumer credit sale of goods or services, and gives the buyer certain protections if goods are retaken.
44-5501 - Restrictions 44-5501 . Restrictions A. This section applies to a consumer credit sale of goods or services. B. Notwithstanding any agreement to the contrary, if the seller or his assignee retakes goods which were the subject of the sale, the buyer shall not be personally liable for the unpaid balance of the price if the sales price were one thousand dollars or less. If the fair market value of retaken goods exceeds the unpaid balance, the buyer shall be entitled to the difference between the unpaid balance, after first deducting all unearned finance charges, and the fair market value of the goods at the time of retaking, less the seller's or assignee's reasonable costs and expenses as provided in title 47, chapter 9, article 6. However, the buyer may be liable in damages to the seller or his assignee if the buyer has wrongfully damaged the collateral or if, after default and demand, the buyer has wrongfully failed to make the collateral available to the seller or his assignee. C. Neither the seller of consumer goods or services nor his assignee may take any other security for a consumer credit sale other than (1) a security interest in goods sold or as to which services have been rendered and (2) in the realty to which such goods may be affixed. If the seller or assignee elects not to retake the goods, but brings an action for the unpaid balance, the goods may not thereafter be retaken and are not subject to judicial process to enforce any judgment obtained therein. D. "Fair market value" means the price arrived at in good faith which a knowledgeable and willing buyer would pay and a knowledgeable and willing seller would ask for the goods in question. "Good faith" shall be defined as set forth in section 47-1201.