CHAPTER 206
H.P. 980 - L.D. 1416
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 9-A MRSA §1-201, sub-§10 is enacted to read:
10. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, this Act applies to any person offering, arranging or purporting to offer or arrange a consumer credit transaction if that person, in advertising or soliciting or otherwise communicating with a consumer, asserts to be located in this State or to possess a license or registration issued pursuant to this Act.
Sec. 2. 9-A MRSA §6-201, as amended by PL 2001, c. 371, §5, is further amended to read:
This Part applies to a person engaged in this State in entering into consumer credit transactions and to a person having an office or place of business in this State who takes assignments of and or undertakes direct collection of payments from or enforcement of rights against debtors arising from these transactions. In addition, this Part applies to a person, wherever located, who takes assignments of and or undertakes direct collection of payments from or enforcement of rights against debtors arising from a consumer credit sale of a motor vehicle transaction subject to this Title. This Part also applies to a person, other than a supervised financial organization, wherever located, who takes assignments of and or undertakes direct collection of payments from or enforcement of rights against debtors arising from a consumer credit transaction subject to Article IX 9.
Sec. 3. 9-A MRSA §§9-305-A and 9-305-B are enacted to read:
§9-305-A. Timely payments from escrow
A creditor, assignee or servicer that holds or controls funds of a consumer in an escrow account for the payment of taxes or insurance premiums shall make timely payments from that escrow account for a consumer credit transaction secured by a mortgage on real estate. A creditor, assignee or servicer is liable to the consumer for actual damages resulting from failure to make timely payments from that escrow account. The creditor, assignee or servicer shall also rectify the results of a failure to make timely payments, including causing corrections of the consumer's credit report and causing the discharge of any liens against the consumer's real estate.
§9-305-B. Timely responses to requests for payoff figures
A creditor, assignee or servicer shall respond to a request for a payoff figure within 3 business days following receipt of such a request from a consumer or an agent of the consumer for a consumer credit transaction secured by a mortgage on real estate. The response must include a precise payoff figure as of a date certain and must contain information permitting the consumer or the consumer's agent to update that figure, such as providing a per diem rate from a date certain. A charge may not be assessed for the first 2 requests in any calendar year, and a charge for each subsequent request may not exceed $5.
Sec. 4. 9-A MRSA §9-405, sub-§1, as enacted by PL 1987, c. 396, §12, is amended to read:
1. If a creditor, assignee or servicer has violated the provisions of this article applying to timely payments from escrow, section 9-305-A, timely responses to requests for payoff figures, section 9-305-B, misrepresentation, section 9-401, or illegal, fraudulent or unconscionable conduct in an attempted collection of debts, section 9-403, any aggrieved consumer has a right to recover actual damages from that person, or in lieu thereof any consumer named as a plaintiff in the complaint as originally filed has a right to recover from a person violating this article an amount determined by the court not less than $250 nor more than $1,000. No action pursuant to this subsection may be brought more than 2 years after the due date of the last scheduled payment.
Effective September 17, 2005.
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