[§481K-1]  Definitions.  When used in
this chapter unless the context otherwise requires:



"Assistive device" means any device,
including a demonstrator, that a consumer purchases or accepts transfer of in
this State which is used to assist a person with a disability (as defined in 42
U.S.C. §§12101 et seq.) in connection with a major life activity including but
not limited to mobility, vision, hearing, speech, communication, maneuvering,
and manipulation of a person's environment.  Assistive devices include but are
not limited to manual wheelchairs, motorized wheelchairs, motorized scooters,
and other [aids] that enhance the mobility of an individual; hearing [aids],
telephone communication devices for the deaf, assistive listening devices, and
other [aids] that enhance an individual's ability to hear; voice synthesized
computer modules, optical scanners, talking software, braille printers, and
other devices that enhance a sight impaired individual's ability to
communicate; and any other device that enables a person with a disability to
communicate, see, hear, speak, manipulate the person's environment, move, or
maneuver.



"Assistive device dealer" means a
person who is in the business of selling new assistive devices.



"Assistive device lessor" means a
person who leases new assistive devices to consumers, or who holds the lessor's
residual interest under a written lease, to new assistive devices leased to
consumers.



"Collateral charges" means those
additional charges to a consumer [wholly] incurred as a result of the
acquisition of the assistive device.  For the purposes of this chapter,
collateral charges include but are not limited to items installed by the
manufacturer, its agent, assistive device dealer or assistive device lessor,
finance charges and financing costs, general excise tax, and other governmental
charges, taxes, or fees.



"Consumer" means any of the
following:



(1)  The purchaser of an assistive device, if the
assistive device was purchased from an assistive device dealer or manufacturer
for purposes other than resale;



(2)  A person to whom the assistive device is
transferred for purposes other than resale, if the transfer occurs before the
expiration of an express warranty applicable to the assistive device;



(3)  A person who may enforce any warranty applicable
to the assistive device; or



(4)  A person who leases an assistive device from an
assistive device lessor under a written lease.



"Demonstrator" means an assistive
device used primarily for the purpose of demonstration to the public.



"Early termination cost" means an
expense or obligation that an assistive device lessor incurs as a result of
both the termination of a written lease before the termination date set forth
in that lease and the return of an assistive device to the manufacturer.  The
term includes a penalty for prepayment under a finance arrangement.



"Early termination savings" means an
expense or obligation that an assistive device lessor avoids as a result of
both the termination of a written lease before the termination date set forth
in that lease and the return of an assistive device to a manufacturer.  The
term includes any interest charge that the assistive device lessor would have
paid to finance the assistive device or, if the assistive device lessor does
not finance the assistive device, the difference between the total period of
the lease term remaining after the early termination and the present value of
that amount at the date of the early termination.



"Incidental charges" means those
reasonable costs incurred by the consumer, including but not limited to the
costs of repair, the costs of return, and the costs of obtaining alternative
assistance or alternative assistive devices, which are directly caused by the
nonconformity or nonconformities which are the subject of the complaint, but
shall not include loss of use, loss of income, or personal injury claims.



"Manufacturer" means a person who
manufactures or assembles assistive devices and agents of that person,
including an importer, a distributor, a factory branch, distributor branch, and
a warrantor of the manufacturer's assistive device, but does not include an
assistive device dealer.



"Nonconformity" means a defect,
malfunction, or condition that fails to conform to any warranty applicable to
an assistive device, but does not include a defect, malfunction, or condition
that results from accident, abuse, neglect, modification, or alteration of the
assistive device by persons other than the manufacturer, its agent,
distributor, or authorized assistive device dealer, or assistive device lessor.
[L 1997, c 282, pt of §1]



 



Case Notes



 



  Hearing aid dealer was also acting as the hearing aid
manufacturer's agent in the capacity of warrantor, and therefore, in that
capacity, was governed by this chapter's requirements pertaining to a
"manufacturer".  119 H. 483, 199 P.3d 72.