The Office of the Iowa Attorney General administers the notification and fees provisions of the Iowa
Consumer Credit Code (ICCC). Iowa Code sections 537.6202537.6203 require that all creditors who
engage in consumer credit transactions subject to the ICCC, and all assignees that purchase
consumer credit transactions subject to the ICCC, file an annual notification statement with the ICCC
Administrator. The ICCC also requires all creditors and assignees to pay both an annual and a volume
fee. The purpose of assessing these fees is to ensure that all creditors and assignees contribute to
the cost of enforcing the Code, and the law stipulates that all fee money collected be put to that use.
The ICCC Administrator has adopted an administrative rule, 61 Iowa Administrative Code Chapter 22,
implementing this section.

The ICCC’s notification and fee requirements apply to all “consumer credit transactions” with Iowa
residents. Companies that enter into consumer credit transactions, such as retail installment sales
contracts, leases, rent-to-own, or other credit programs with Iowa consumers are subject to these
requirements, as are retail stores that run their own credit card programs (i.e., offer a credit card in the
store’s name). New and used car dealerships, for example, are subject to the notification requirement
and annual fee if they initiate the consumer credit sale of an automobile with an Iowa consumer, a
requirement that applies even if the dealer immediately assigns the credit contract to a third party.
Car dealerships that also hold the paper on consumer credit sales they initiate with Iowa consumers
(e.g., under a “Buy Here, Pay Here” system) must pay the volume fee in addition to filing the notification
statement and paying the annual fee. Layaway plans, however, are generally not considered
consumer credit transactions and are not subject to the notification and fees requirements. Iowa Code
sections 537.1301(11)-537.1301(16) define the term “consumer credit transaction” in greater detail.

Assignees that purchase consumer credit sales contracts, leases, or loans with Iowa consumers from the
creditor who initiated the transaction must also file a notification statement and pay the necessary fees
for any transactions they have purchased. If an assignee does not pay its portion of the fees, however, the
original creditors remain responsible for them. Furthermore, Iowa code section 537.6201 exempts banks,
savings and loan associations, credit unions, and regulated loan companies (finance companies) from
these requirements. These entities are exempt because they already contribute to enforcing the ICCC by
paying examination fees to the Iowa Department of Commerce. You may wish to consult with your
attorney to determine your obligations under these laws.

All creditors and assignees required to file a notification statement with the Office of the
Iowa Attorney General and must pay an annual fee, which the ICCC sets at $10, and a volume fee,
which varies based on the average unpaid balance owed on credit transactions that the creditor or
assignee holds. To determine the fee owed, a creditor should first calculate the average unpaid balance
arising from all “consumer credit transactions” (as defined in Iowa Code sections
537.1301(11)-537.1301(16)) and held on the last day of each calendar month over the preceding calendar
year. The rate of the volume fee is $10 for each $100,000 of that average monthly amount, and $10 for
every additional portion of the average monthly amount that is greater than $10,000 but less than
$100,000. Thus, for example, a creditor whose average monthly unpaid balance over the preceding
year was $105,000 would owe a volume fee of $10, while a creditor whose average monthly unpaid balance
was $130,000 would owe $20.Please see Table 1 below for more examples. The statute and
administrative rule provide additional information on how to calculate these fees.

Table 1: Examples of Volume Fee Rates

Annual notification statements and fees must be provided prior to January 31 of each year. The check
should be made payable to the “Consumer Credit Administration Fund” and sent to the
Consumer Protection Division of the Office of the Iowa Attorney General at the address given in the
letterhead. Failure to file a notification statement and pay the appropriate fees subjects creditors
and assignees to late fees of $25 as well as a possible civil action in which the administrator may
sue to recover interest on the unpaid fees, the costs of the action, and a penalty as high as $1,000
or three times the fees owed, whichever is greater. See Iowa Code sections 537.6113(3)
and 537.6203(4) for details.