Sec. 203.5. Delinquency Charges — (1) With respect to a consumer credit sale, refinancing, or consolidation, the parties may contract for a delinquency charge of not more than:

(a) five dollars ($5) on any installment or minimum payment due that is not paid in full within ten (10) days after its scheduled due date, if installments under the consumer credit sale, refinancing, or consolidation are due every fourteen (14) days or less;

(b) twenty-five dollars ($25) on any installment or minimum payment due that is not paid in full within ten (10) days after its scheduled due date, if installments under the consumer credit sale, refinancing, or consolidation are due every fifteen (15) days or more; or

(c) twenty-five dollars ($25) on any installment or minimum payment due that is not paid in full within ten (10) days after its scheduled due date, in the case of a consumer credit sale, refinancing, or consolidation that is payable in a single installment that is due at least thirty (30) days after the consumer credit sale, refinancing, or consolidation is made.

(2) A delinquency charge under this section may be collected only once on an installment however long it remains in default. A delinquency charge on consumer credit sales made under a revolving charge account may be applied each month that the payment is less than the minimum required payment. A delinquency charge may be collected any time after it accrues. No delinquency charge may be collected if the installment has been deferred and a deferral charge (IC 24-4.5-2-204) has been paid or incurred.

(3) A creditor may not, directly or indirectly, charge or collect a delinquency charge on a payment that:

(a) is paid within ten (10) days after its scheduled due date; and

(b) is otherwise a full payment of the payment due for the applicable installment period;

if the only delinquency with respect to the consumer credit sale, refinancing, or consolidation is attributable to a delinquency charge assessed on an earlier installment.

(4) If two (2) or more installments, or parts of two (2) or more installments, of a precomputed consumer credit sale are in default for ten (10) days or more, the creditor may elect to convert the consumer credit sale from a precomputed consumer credit sale to a consumer credit sale in which the credit service charge is based on unpaid balances. A creditor that makes this election shall make a rebate under the provisions on rebates upon prepayment under IC 24-4.5-2-210 as of the maturity date of the first delinquent installment, and thereafter may make a credit service charge as authorized by the provisions on credit service charges for consumer credit sales under IC 24-4.5-2-201. The amount of the rebate shall not be reduced by the amount of any permitted minimum charge under IC 24-4.5-2-210. Any deferral charges made on installments due at or after the maturity date of the first delinquent installment shall be rebated, and no further deferral charges shall be made.

(5) If the parties provide by contract for a delinquency charge that is subject to change, the seller shall disclose in the contract that the amount of the delinquency charge is subject to change as allowed by IC 24-4.5-1-106.

As added by P.L.247-1983, SEC.6. Amended by P.L.181-1991, SEC.2; P.L.115-1992, SEC.1; P.L.122-1994, SEC.13; P.L.45-1995, SEC.5; P.L.280-2019, SEC.1.