Chapter I: Definitions

For the application of the provisions of this Title, the following are deemed to be:

1° Lender, any person who grants or undertakes to grant credit referred to in this Title in the course of his commercial or professional activities;

2° Borrower or consumer, any natural person who has a relationship with a lender, or a credit intermediary, in the context of a credit transaction carried out or envisaged for a purpose unrelated to his commercial or professional activity;

3° Purchaser, any person who acquires, subscribes to or orders by means of the loans mentioned in 1° of Article L. 313-1;

4° Seller, the other party to these same transactions;

5° Credit intermediary, any person who, in the course of his usual commercial or professional activities and for remuneration or an economic benefit, provides assistance in carrying out a transaction mentioned in this title, without acting in the capacity of lender;

6° Credit transaction or agreement, an agreement under which a lender grants or undertakes to grant the borrower credit, falling within the scope of this Title, in the form of a deferred payment, a loan, including in the form of an overdraft or any other similar payment facility, with the exception of agreements entered into for the provision of a continuous or successive supply of services or goods of the same kind and under which the borrower pays for them in instalments over the duration of the supply ;

7° Total cost of the credit to the borrower, all costs, including interest, fees, taxes, commissions or remuneration of any kind, whether direct or indirect, incurred by the borrower and known to the creditor at the date of issue of the offer of credit or the amendment to the credit agreement, or the amount of which can be determined at these same dates, and which constitute a condition for obtaining the credit or for obtaining it on the stated terms. This cost does not include the costs associated with the acquisition of the properties referred to in 1° of Article L. 313-1, such as the related taxes or notarial deed costs, or the costs to be borne by the borrower in the event of non-compliance with any of his obligations under the credit agreement.

All of these costs are defined in Article L. 314-1 relating to the annual percentage rate of charge, in accordance with terms specified by decree in the Conseil d'Etat.

8° Borrowing rate, the interest rate expressed as a fixed or variable percentage, applied to the capital borrowed or the amount of credit used, on an annual basis. The borrowing rate is fixed when the credit agreement provides for either a constant borrowing rate over the entire term of the credit agreement, or several constant borrowing rates applied to predetermined partial periods; in the latter case, the rate is fixed only for these partial periods, in other cases, the borrowing rate is variable or reviewable;

9° Total amount owed by the borrower, the sum of the total amount of credit and the total cost of credit owed by the borrower ;

10° Total amount of credit, the ceiling or total sums made available by virtue of a credit agreement or transaction;

11° Earmarked credit agreement or linked credit agreement, credit used exclusively to finance an agreement relating to the supply of specific goods or the provision of specific services; these two agreements constitute a single commercial transaction. A single commercial transaction is deemed to exist when the seller or service provider itself finances the credit or, in the case of financing by a third party, when the creditor uses the services of the seller or service provider for the conclusion or preparation of the credit agreement or when the credit agreement specifically mentions the goods or services concerned ;

12° Overdraft authorisation or overdraft facility, the credit agreement under which the lender expressly authorises the borrower to dispose of funds in excess of the borrower's deposit account balance;

13° Overdraft, a tacitly accepted overdraft under which a lender authorises the borrower to dispose of funds in excess of the borrower's deposit account balance or the agreed overdraft authorisation ;

14° Durable medium, any instrument enabling the borrower to store information addressed to him personally, in a way that allows easy reference to it in the future for a period of time appropriate to the purpose for which the information is intended and which allows identical reproduction of the information stored;

15° Ancillary service, a service offered to the borrower in connection with a credit agreement falling within the scope of this Title;

16° Bridging loan, a loan of limited duration intended to make a partial or total, temporary advance of the proceeds from the sale of one property in order to acquire another before the first property is sold.