APPROVED CHAPTER
JUNE 16, 2021 245
BY GOVERNOR PUBLIC LAW
STATE OF MAINE
_____
IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD
TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-ONE
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H.P. 1082 - L.D. 1466
An Act To Improve the Efficiency of Certain Consumer Credit Protection
Laws
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
PART A
Sec. A-1. 9-A MRSA §1-201, sub-§1, as amended by PL 2005, c. 604, §1, is
further amended to read:
1. Except as otherwise provided in this section, this Act applies to consumer credit
transactions and open-end credit plans made or entered into in this State. For purposes of
this Act, a consumer credit transaction or open-end credit plan is made or entered into in
this State if: the creditor, wherever located, enters into a consumer credit transaction or
open-end credit plan with a consumer who is located in this State.
A. A signed writing evidencing the obligation or offer of the consumer is received by
the creditor in this State;
B. The creditor, wherever located, induces the consumer who is a resident of this State
to enter into the transaction or open-end credit plan by face-to-face, mail, telephone or
electronic mail solicitation in this State; or
C. With respect to a payday loan, the lender, wherever located, enters into a payday
loan transaction with a consumer who is located in this State.
Sec. A-2. 9-A MRSA §1-301, sub-§17, as amended by PL 2017, c. 106, §1, is
further amended by amending the 4th blocked paragraph to read:
A Except with respect to credit sales of automobiles, a person regularly extends consumer
credit only if the person extended credit other than credit subject to high-cost mortgage
loan requirements more than 25 times or more than 5 times for transactions secured by a
dwelling in the preceding calendar year. With respect to credit sales of automobiles, a
person regularly extends consumer credit only if the person extended credit more than 15
times in the preceding calendar year. If a person did not meet these numerical standards in
the preceding calendar year, the numerical standards must be applied to the current calendar
year.
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 Sec. A-3. 9-A MRSA §2-301, sub-§2, as amended by PL 2017, c. 106, §4, is
further amended to read:
2. Taking assignments of and undertaking direct collection of payments from or
enforcement of rights from an office in this State against debtors arising from supervised
loans; or
Sec. A-4. 9-A MRSA §6-116, sub-§2, as amended by PL 2009, c. 402, §4, is
further amended to read:
2. Financial information not normally available to the public that is submitted in
confidence by an individual or organization to comply with the licensing, registration or
other regulatory functions of the administrator, including information derived from a credit
or background investigation conducted pursuant to section 6-105-A, subsection 2;
Sec. A-5. 9-A MRSA §6-203, sub-§3-D is enacted to read:
3-D. Notwithstanding subsection 3-C, the administrator may by rule adjust the fees
paid with respect to creditors that are not supervised financial organizations making
residential mortgage loans to support the costs of compliance and staff attorney positions.
Rules adopted pursuant to this subsection are routine technical rules as defined in Title 5,
chapter 375, subchapter 2-A.
Sec. A-6. 10 MRSA §1273, as enacted by PL 1993, c. 115, §1 and amended by PL
1995, c. 309, §27, is further amended to read:
§1273. Administrative enforcement
The Director of Consumer Credit Regulation Superintendent of Consumer Credit
Protection may take appropriate action to ensure compliance with this chapter, including
without limitation: to receive and act on complaints; negotiate an assurance in writing that
a violator will not engage in the same or similar conduct in the future; conduct hearings in
accordance with the Maine Administrative Procedure Act and issue a cease and desist order
for violation of this chapter; and refer cases to the Attorney General, who may bring a civil
action against a person for knowingly violating a written assurance of discontinuance. If a
court finds a violation of this chapter it may assess a civil forfeiture of not more than $1,000.
Sec. A-7. 10 MRSA §1495-H, sub-§6, as enacted by PL 2003, c. 668, §6 and
affected by §12, is repealed and the following enacted in its place:
6. Action on license. After notice and the opportunity for hearing before the
administrator, revocation, suspension or nonrenewal of the payroll processor's license.
A respondent aggrieved by an order of the administrator may obtain judicial review of the
order in the Superior Court. The proceeding for review is initiated and conducted in
accordance with Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 7.
Sec. A-8. 30-A MRSA §3964-A, sub-§3, as amended by PL 2011, c. 427, Pt. D,
§19, is further amended to read:
3. Model forms. The Director of Consumer Credit Regulation Superintendent of
Consumer Credit Protection may issue model disclosure forms and clauses to facilitate
compliance with the disclosure and computational requirements of this subchapter,
pursuant to the truth-in-lending provisions of the Maine Consumer Credit Code, Title 9-A,
Article 8-A.
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 Sec. A-9. 32 MRSA §6102, sub-§10, as enacted by PL 1997, c. 155, Pt. A, §2, is
amended to read:
10. Money transmission. "Money transmission" means the business of selling or
issuing payment instruments or the business of receiving money, including virtual
currencies, for transmission or transmitting money, including virtual currencies, within the
United States or to locations abroad by any means, including, but not limited to, payment
instrument, wire, facsimile or electronic transfer.
Sec. A-10. 32 MRSA §6102, sub-§15 is enacted to read:
15. Virtual currency. "Virtual currency":
A. Means a digital representation of value that:
(1) Is used as a medium of exchange, unit of account or store of value; and
(2) Is not legal tender, whether or not denominated in legal tender; and
B. Does not include:
(1) A transaction in which a merchant grants, as part of an affinity or rewards
program, value that cannot be taken from or exchanged with the merchant for legal
tender, bank credit or virtual currency; or
(2) A digital representation of value issued by or on behalf of a publisher and used
solely within an online game, game platform or family of games sold by the same
publisher or offered on the same game platform.
Sec. A-11. 32 MRSA §11051, as amended by PL 2009, c. 243, §7, is further
amended to read:
§11051. Investigation, suspension and revocation of licenses
The Bureau of Consumer Credit Protection may examine or investigate the records and
practices of any person the superintendent administrator believes has engaged in conduct
governed by this chapter in accordance with Title 9‑A, section 6‑106, may review and
approve collection letters proposed for use in this State and may charge for expenses
incurred pursuant to Title 9‑A, section 6‑106, subsection 6. The superintendent may file a
complaint with the District Court to suspend or revoke a license issued pursuant to this
chapter, if, after investigation or hearing, or both, the superintendent has reason to believe
that the licensee has violated any provisions of this chapter or any administrative rules
issued pursuant to this chapter, or has failed to maintain its financial condition sufficient to
qualify for a license on an original application.
After notice and opportunity for hearing, the administrator may suspend or revoke a
licensee's license issued pursuant to this chapter if the administrator finds that:
1. Grounds for denial. A fact or condition exists that, if it had existed at the time
when the licensee applied for its license, would have been grounds for denying the
application;
2. Violations. The licensee has knowingly violated any material provision of this
chapter or any rule adopted or order validly issued by the administrator under authority of
this chapter;
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 3. Safety and soundness. The licensee is conducting its business in an unsafe or
unsound manner;
4. Insolvency. The licensee is insolvent;
5. Failure to meet obligations. The licensee has suspended payment of its
obligations, has made an assignment for the benefit of its creditors or has admitted in
writing its inability to pay its debts as they become due;
6. Bankruptcy. The licensee has applied for an adjudication of bankruptcy,
reorganization, arrangement or other relief under any bankruptcy;
7. Refusal of examination. The licensee has refused to permit the administrator to
make an examination authorized by this chapter;
8. Failure to respond. The licensee has failed to promptly and adequately respond to
communications from the administrator; or
9. Failure to file report. The licensee has willfully failed to make a report required
by this chapter.
Sec. A-12. 32 MRSA §11051-B is enacted to read:
§11051-B. Administrative enforcement orders
1. Cease and desist. After notice and hearing, the administrator may order a person
to cease and desist from engaging in violations of this chapter or a lawful rule adopted or
order issued by the administrator and may further order that the person take appropriate
corrective action to reimburse consumers in cases in which consumers have been charged
amounts in excess of those permitted by this chapter. Notice and hearing need not be
provided prior to issuance of an order to cease and desist when, in the opinion of the
administrator, immediate action is required to protect the public interest and:
A. The debt collector has not complied with section 11031; or
B. The debt collector does not maintain a permanent place of business in this State.
A respondent aggrieved by an order of the administrator may obtain judicial review of the
order in the Superior Court. The proceeding for review is initiated and conducted in
accordance with Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 7.
2. Objection not urged; remand. An objection not urged at the hearing under
subsection 1 may not be considered by the court unless the failure to urge the objection is
excused for good cause shown. A party may move the court to remand the case to the
administrator in the interest of justice for the purpose of adducing additional specified and
material evidence and seeking findings thereon upon good cause shown for the failure to
adduce this evidence before the administrator.
3. Testimony available to parties. The administrator's copy of the testimony at the
hearing under subsection 1 must be available at reasonable times to all parties for
examination without cost.
4. Obtain decree. If no proceeding is initiated under subsection 1, the administrator,
through the Attorney General, may obtain a decree of the Superior Court for enforcement
of its order upon showing that the order was issued in compliance with this section, that no
proceeding for review was timely initiated and that the respondent is subject to the
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jurisdiction of the court. The decree of the Superior Court may also provide any relief
available in an action brought under Title 9-A, section 6-110.
5. Unconscionable agreements; fraudulent, unconscionable conduct. With respect
to unconscionable agreements or fraudulent or unconscionable conduct by the respondent,
the administrator may not issue an order pursuant to this section, but, through the Attorney
General, may bring a civil action for an injunction.
Sec. A-13. 32 MRSA §11051-C is enacted to read:
§11051-C. Assurance of discontinuance
If it is claimed that a person has engaged in conduct that could be subject to an order
by the administrator or by a court, the administrator may accept an assurance in writing
that the person will not engage in the same or in similar conduct in the future. Such an
assurance may include any or any combination of the following: stipulations for the
voluntary payment by the debt collector of the costs of investigation or of an amount to be
held in escrow as restitution to debtors aggrieved by past or future conduct of the debt
collector or to cover costs of future investigation; or admissions of past specific acts by the
debt collector or that such acts violated this chapter or other statutes. A violation of an
assurance of discontinuance is a violation of this chapter.
Sec. A-14. 33 MRSA §527, as amended by PL 2001, c. 44, §11 and affected by
§14, is further amended to read:
§527. Enforcement
With respect to lenders that are supervised financial organizations as that term is
defined in Title 9‑A, section 1‑301, subsection 38‑A, a violation of this subchapter is
deemed an anticompetitive and deceptive practice and the Superintendent of Financial
Institutions may take appropriate action to ensure compliance with this subchapter. With
respect to all other supervised lenders, as that term is defined in Title 9-A, section 1-301,
subsection 39, the Director of Consumer Credit Regulation Superintendent of Consumer
Credit Protection may take such action.
PART B
Sec. B-1. 9-A MRSA §6-105-A, as amended by PL 2011, c. 427, Pt. B, §§10 and
11, is further amended to read:
§6-105-A. Uniform multistate automated licensing system
For the purposes of participating in the establishment and implementation of a uniform
multistate automated licensing system, referred to in this section as "the system," for loan
brokers, supervised lenders that are not supervised financial organizations and individual
mortgage loan originators thereof, or entities in other license categories processed by the
system that are licensed or registered by the administrator, the administrator may undertake
the following actions.
1. The administrator may establish new rules and procedures, consistent with the
principles for operation and implementation established by the system, that are necessary
for the State to participate in the system, including rules and procedures authorizing the
system to collect license fees on behalf of the State and remit those fees to the State,
authorizing collection fees by the system to pay for its services, authorizing the system to
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process and maintain license records and authorizing use of the system's uniform forms,
upon the director's administrator's finding that each new rule or procedure is consistent with
the public interest and the purposes of this Act. Rules adopted pursuant to this subsection
are routine technical rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2‑A.
2. The administrator may require a credit and background investigation of each
applicant for a license as a loan broker, a supervised lender that is not a supervised financial
organization or a mortgage loan originator thereof, or entity in another license category
processed by the system that is licensed or registered by the administrator, by means
including fingerprint checks for state and national criminal histories, commencing at the
time the State joins the system pursuant to this section. The cost of the investigations must
be charged to the applicants. Information obtained or held by the administrator pursuant
to this subsection is nonpublic pursuant to section 6-116 and not subject to disclosure.
Any information provided by or to the administrator pursuant to this section that has
been designated as confidential by another state's regulatory agency remains the property
of the agency furnishing the information and must be kept confidential by the administrator
and the system except as authorized by the agency that furnished the information.
Sec. B-2. 9-A MRSA §6-202, sub-§1, as amended by PL 2009, c. 228, §1, is
further amended to read:
1. Persons subject to this Part shall file notification with the administrator before
commencing business in this State, and, annually thereafter, on or before January 31st of
each year or an alternate date established by the administrator. The notification filings must
be made to the administrator and must be in a form and contain information that the
administrator considers appropriate for the proper supervision and regulation of such
persons.
PART C
Sec. C-1. 9-A MRSA §12-107, sub-§4, as enacted by PL 2007, c. 394, §1 and
affected by §3, is repealed.
PART D
Sec. D-1. 9-A MRSA §2-302, sub-§1, as amended by PL 2017, c. 106, §5, is
further amended to read:
1. The administrator shall receive and act on all applications for licenses to make or
service supervised loans under this Act. Applications must be filed in the manner
prescribed by the administrator and must contain the information required by the
administrator to make an evaluation of the financial responsibility, character and fitness of
the applicant.
A. For a lender subject to this subsection whose activities include making or arranging
residential mortgage loans, an The administrator may require an application for a
license to make or service supervised loans must to be made electronically, through the
nationwide mortgage licensing system and registry as defined in section 13-102,
subsection 8. Licenses for which applications were made electronically through the
nationwide mortgage licensing system and registry expire December 31st of each year
and must be renewed through the nationwide mortgage licensing system and registry.
An application for an initial license must be accompanied by a fee of $250, and an