Section 16-299. DEFINITIONS

 

299.1When used in this chapter, the following terms and phrases shall have the meanings ascribed:

 

1901 Act - Sections 1178, 1179 and 1180 of the Act of March 1, 1901, (31 Stat. 1377, ch. 854) as amended.

 

1913 Act - the Act of February 4, 1913, (37 Stat. 657, ch. 26) as amended.

 

Actual amount of the loan - the principal amount of money owed by a borrower at any given time, exclusive of interest.

 

Borrower - any person whose absolute promise to repay a loan of money was affected.

Comparable evidence of an insurance policy - a statement typewritten or printed in type as large as brevier or 8- point type, setting forth all information necessary to the exercise by the borrower of every right afforded under the terms of the insurance policy, as follows:

 

(a)The name of the insurance company and its address;

 

(b)The address of the local office of the insurance company, if any;

 

(c)The number of the policy;

 

(d)The date and hour on which the policy takes effect and the date and hour on which the policy terminates;

 

(e)The amount of the premium;

 

(f)The kind or kinds of insurance included in the policy;

 

(g)Any limitation pertaining to the insurance;

 

(h)The provisions for cancellation; and

 

(i)The procedure to be followed by the borrower in the making of any claim under the policy.

 

Engaged in the business of loaning money - the holding out in the District of Columbia, by the maintenance of a place of business in the District of Columbia or in any other manner, that a loan or loans of money may be effected by or through the person so holding out, plus the performance in the District of Columbia by that person of one or more acts which result in the making or in the collection of a loan of money.

 

Loan of money - each transaction, whatever its form and however designated, which is in truth the borrowing and lending of money, including every transaction, the substance of which is the advance, directly or indirectly, by a lender to a borrower, of any sum of money upon an absolute promise to repay, irrespective of whether the money advanced is the property of the lender or the creditor.

 

Interest - shall include, in addition to any sum of money charged or paid as compensation for the use of money, all expenses, demands, and services of every character, notarial fees, recording fees, and every other fee and charge except:

 

(a)Premiums on insurance specifically authorized by this chapter shall be included as interest if the obtaining by the borrower of the insurance is a prerequisite for the making of the loan. Insurance, all or any part of the premium or commission on which insures directly or indirectly to the benefit of the licensee, or to the benefit of any person having any direct or indirect interest in the business of such license, shall be deemed to have been required by the licensee, unless the licensee shall satisfy the Director that the insurance in fact was not so required and that the borrower could not reasonably have believed that it was required;

 

(b)On a loan of money the actual amount of which is in excess of two hundred dollars ($ 200), notary fees authorized by law for notarization of the instrument of security and for the certificate of the licensee required by this chapter, and the charge made by the Recorder for recording the instrument of security; and

 

(c)Upon the foreclosure of the security for a loan of money charges for attorney's and agent's fees which do not exceed ten percent (10%) of the actual amount of the loan found due in the foreclosure proceeding, plus such fees and charges as are reasonable and necessary expenses incurred for the liquidation of the loan.

 

Licensee - a person to whom the government of the District of Columbia has granted a Class A or Class B Money Lender's License.

 

Person - shall include an individual, a firm, a partnership, a joint-stock company, a corporation, an association, an incorporated society, a statutory or common-law trust, an estate, an executor, an administrator, a receiver, a trustee, a conservator, a liquidator, a committee, an assignee, an officer, an employee, a principal or an agent.

 

Repossess and repossession - shall include every act, other than an act performed under authority of process issuing out of a court of competent jurisdiction, which contributes to or results in obtaining physical possession of tangible personal property which is collateral security for a loan of money for the purpose of liquidating the loan in whole or in part.