16-118. Requirements; failure to comply. (a) A debtor or a creditor may not maintain an action for legal or equitable relief or a defense, based in either case upon a failure to perform on an alleged credit agreement, unless the material terms and conditions of the agreement are in writing and signed by the creditor and the debtor.

(b) All credit agreements shall contain a clear, conspicuous and printed notice to the debtor that states that the written credit agreement is a final expression of the credit agreement between the creditor and debtor and such written credit agreement may not be contradicted by evidence of any prior oral credit agreement or of a contemporaneous oral credit agreement between the creditor and debtor. A written credit agreement shall contain a sufficient space for the placement of nonstandard terms, including the reduction to writing of a previous oral credit agreement and an affirmation, signed or initialed by the debtor and the creditor, that no unwritten oral credit agreement between the parties exists.

(c) Failure to comply with provisions of subsections (a) and (b) shall preclude an action or defense based on any of the following legal or equitable theories: (1) An implied agreement based on course of dealing or performance or on a fiduciary relationship; (2) promissory or equitable estoppel; (3) part performance; or (4) negligent representation.

History: L. 1988, ch. 55, § 2; L. 1989, ch. 70, § 2; L. 1998, ch. 56, § 2; July 1.