§ 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.