[§481M-11]  Unconscionability.  (a) 
With respect to a lease-purchase transaction, if the court as a matter of law
finds the transaction, agreement, or any clause of the agreement to have been
unconscionable at the time it was made, the court may:



(1)  Refuse to enforce the agreement;



(2)  Enforce the remainder of the agreement without
the unconscionable clause; or



(3)  Limit the application of any unconscionable
clause to avoid any unconscionable result.



(b)  If it is claimed or appears to the court
that the transaction, agreement, or clause may be unconscionable, the parties
shall be afforded a reasonable opportunity to present evidence as to its
setting, purpose, and effect to aid the court in making a determination related
to unconscionability.



(c)  If, in an action in which
unconscionability is claimed, the court finds unconscionability pursuant to
this section, the court may award the costs of the action and reasonable
attorney fees to the lessee.  If the court does not find unconscionability and
does find that the lessee claiming unconscionability brought or maintained an
action that the lessee knew to be groundless, the court may award the costs of
the action and reasonable attorney fees to the party against whom the claim was
made.  In determining attorney fees, the amount of recovery claimed on behalf
of the lessee shall not be controlling.



(d)  The remedies of this section shall be in
addition to remedies otherwise available for the same conduct authorized under
law other than in this chapter, but double recovery of actual damages shall be
prohibited.



(e)  For the purpose of this section, a charge
or practice expressly permitted by this chapter shall not be unconscionable. [L
1997, c 248, pt of §1]