W. Va. Code R. § 142-22-5

Current through Register Vol. XLI, No. 50, December 13, 2024

Section 142-22-5 - Termination Notice

5.1. A dealer's notice to terminate a rent-to-own agreement shall be presumed to satisfy the requirements of the statute if it is in substantial compliance with the following format and language:

NOTICE OF TERMINATION AND

NOTICE OF RIGHT TO REINSTATE

You have failed to make your payment(s) due on ____________. Your rent-to-own agreement will terminate seven days from your receipt of this notice. You have failed to make your payment(s) in the total amount of $______.

A late charge of $_______ has been added to the amount you owe under your rent-to-own agreement.

You may voluntarily surrender possession of the goods rented under your rent-to-own agreement by making them available to the dealer at the place where the goods are located.

NOTICE OF RIGHT TO

"REINSTATEMENT" OF YOUR RIGHT

TO OBTAIN OWNERSHIP OF GOODS

You have been using item(s) which you got from a rent-to-own dealer. The rent-to-own agreement gave you the right to own the item(s) if you paid all of the periodic payments. Now you may have returned the item(s) to the dealer (or the dealer may have picked them up or repossessed them from you), or you may just be behind on the payment and the dealer is seeking payment or return of the goods.

You may have the right to "reinstate" the agreement even though the dealer has the item(s) back. This means you can pick up making the payments where you left off. The dealer will return possession of the item(s) to you. (If the dealer has already rented the item(s) you had to someone else, the dealer must give you goods that are the same or better than what you had before.) And, you will have the same right to eventually own the item(s), if you finish the terms of the agreement, that you had before.

You have sixty (60) days form the last day of the last rental period for which you made a payment (ninety (90) days if you have paid forty percent (40%) or more of the payments) to go to the dealer and "reinstate" the agreement. If the dealer has had to repossess or has tried to repossess the goods two times in the past, the dealer does not have to let you "reinstate" the agreement.

If you want to "reinstate" the agreement and obtain ownership of the goods, you only have to go to the dealer and do the following:

1) Pay the dealer any payments that have come due which you have not paid, but only if those payments are due for periods of time when you actually had the item(s) in your possession;

2) Pay the dealer any other fees provided in the written agreement which have become due, but have not been paid; and

3) Pay the dealer a reinstatement fee of not more than five dollars ($5.00) if that fee is in the written agreement and if the dealer has possession of the item(s).

5.2. A dealer's notice to terminate will be effective for purposes of the seven-day notice period upon actual receipt by the consumer. However, the seven-day notice period is to be calculated exclusive of the day of its receipt. The burden of establishing actual receipt is on the dealer, PROVIDED that notice made by regular mail properly addressed and mailed to the last known address of the consumer shall be presumed to have been received by the consumer, and to have been received on the third day following its mailing.

W. Va. Code R. § 142-22-5