N.Y. Personal Property Law § 500: Definitions

§ 500. Definitions. For the purposes of this article:

1. "Advertisement" means a commercial message in any medium that

directly or indirectly promotes or assists a rental-purchase agreement.

2. "Cash price" means the price of the merchandise described in the

rental-purchase agreement that the consumer may pay in cash to the

merchant at the inception of the rental-purchase agreement to acquire

ownership of such merchandise.

3. "Consumer" means an individual who leases personal property under a

rental-purchase agreement.

4. "Merchandise" means the personal property that is the subject of a

rental-purchase agreement.

5. "Merchant" means a person who, in the ordinary course of business,

regularly leases, offers to lease, or acts as an agent for the leasing

of merchandise under a rental-purchase agreement.

6. "Rental-purchase agreement" means an agreement for the use of

merchandise by a consumer for primarily personal, family, or household

purposes, for an initial period of four months or less, that is

renewable with each payment after the initial period and that permits

the consumer to become the owner of the property. An agreement that

complies with this article is not a retail installment sales contract,

agreement, or obligation as defined in this chapter nor a security

interest as defined in paragraph thirty-five of subsection (b) of

section 1--201 of the uniform commercial code.

7. "Cost of rental" means the difference between the total of payments

necessary to acquire ownership under the rental-purchase agreement and

the cash price of the rental merchandise that is subject to the

rental-purchase agreement.

8. "Fee" means any payment, charge, fee, cost, or expense, however

denominated, other than a rental payment.

9. "Appliance" means and includes any refrigerator, freezer, range

including any cook top or oven, microwave oven, washer, dryer,

dishwasher, or room air conditioner or air purifier or other machine for

routine household tasks.

10. "Electronic set" means and includes any television, radio, camera,

video game, computer system or any type of device for the recording,

storage, copying, printing, transmission, display, or playback of any

sound or image.

11. "Merchant's cost" means the documented actual cost, including

actual freight charges, of the rental merchandise to the merchant from a

wholesaler, distributor, supplier, or manufacturer and net of any

discounts, rebates, and incentives that are vested and calculable as to

a specific item of merchandise at the time the merchant accepts delivery

of the merchandise.

12. "Total of payments" means the total amount of periodic payments

necessary to acquire ownership of the merchandise that is the subject of

the rental-purchase agreement if the consumer makes all regularly

scheduled payments.

13. "Periodic payment" means a payment to be made by a consumer for

the right of the possession and use of merchandise for a specific rental

period, but does not include taxes imposed on such payment.