Chapter 140D

Section 1. For the purpose of this chapter, the following words shall, unless the context indicates otherwise, have the following meanings: ''Accepted credit card'', any credit card which the cardholder has requested and received or has signed or has used, or authorized another t…

Section 10. (a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, in the case of any consumer credit transaction, including opening or increasing the credit limit for an open-end-credit plan, in which a security interest, including any such interest arising by operation of law, is or…

Section 11. (a) Before opening any account under an open end consumer credit plan, the creditor shall disclose to the person to whom credit is to be extended each of the following items, to the extent applicable: (1) The conditions under which a finance charge may be imposed, inc…

Section 12. (a) For each consumer credit transaction other than under an open-end-credit plan, the creditor shall disclose each of the following items, to the extent applicable: (1) The identity of the creditor required to make disclosure. (2)(A) The ''amount financed'', using th…

Section 14. (a) For the purposes of this chapter, or rules or regulations issued thereunder, a catalog or other multiple-page advertisement shall be considered a single advertisement if it clearly and conspicuously displays a credit terms table on which the information required t…

Section 15. (a) Except as provided in subsection (b), this section applies to any advertisement to aid, promote, or assist directly or indirectly any consumer credit sale, loan, or other extension of credit subject to the provisions of this chapter, other than an open-end-credit …

Section 15A. Any application form or pre-approved written solicitation for an open-end credit plan and any printed advertisement which contains such application form or pre-approved written solicitation which is mailed or distributed on or after July first, nineteen hundred and e…

Section 16. There shall be no liability under this chapter on the part of any owner or personnel, as such, of any medium in which an advertisement appears or through which it is disseminated.

Section 17. In responding orally to any inquiry about the cost of credit, a creditor, regardless of the method used to compute finance charges, shall state rates only in terms of the annual percentage rate, except that in the case of an open-end-credit plan, the periodic rate als…

Section 18. The use of model disclosure forms and clauses for common transactions to facilitate compliance with the disclosure requirements and to aid and assist the borrower in understanding the transaction by utilizing readily understandable language to simplify the technical n…

Section 19. (a) The creditor shall mail or deliver to the customer the statement or statements required by subsection (b) of section eleven for each billing cycle at least 14 days before the end of the next succeeding billing cycle or the payment due date, whichever is earlier. I…

Section 2. This chapter shall not apply to the following: (a) Credit transactions involving extensions of credit primarily for business, commercial, or agricultural purposes, or to government or governmental agencies or instrumentalities, or to organizations. (b) Transactions in …

Section 20. If a finance charge is imposed under an open-end credit plan on balances resulting from the sale of goods or services at retail made in reliance on a credit card, the finance charge applicable to said balances for any cycle shall be computed on (i) the previous balanc…

Section 21. A person issuing a credit card shall not apply any funds of the cardholder held for any purpose by the issuer of the card in order to satisfy a debt arising from the use of such credit card unless such action was previously authorized by the cardholder in a separately…

Section 22. Whenever a credit balance equal to or in excess of one dollar is created in connection with a consumer credit transaction through (1) transmittal of funds to a creditor in excess of the total balance due on an account, (2) rebates of unearned finance charges or insura…

Section 23. No bank or credit union shall transfer any funds held in any account of the customer in said bank or credit union as a consequence of a default of a debt owed to such institution unless the customer has been provided a written notice, prior to the time the loan is mad…

Section 24. No person who executes a guaranty of the obligations of another in connection with an application by such other person for an open-end-credit plan or for an extension of credit other than an open-end-credit plan shall be liable as a result of such guaranty for an obli…

Section 25. No credit card shall be issued except in response to a request or application therefor, or the issuance of a credit card in renewal of, or in substitution for, an accepted credit card.

Section 26. (a)(1) A cardholder shall be liable for the unauthorized use of a credit card only if: (A) The card is an accepted credit card; (B) The liability is not in excess of fifty dollars; (C) The card issuer gives adequate notice to the cardholder of the potential liability;…

Section 27. (a) Whoever knowingly in a transaction uses or attempts or conspires to use any counterfeit, fictitious, altered, forged, lost, stolen, or fraudulently obtained credit card to obtain money, goods, services, or anything else of value which within any one-year period ha…

Section 28. The exemption provided by subsection (a) of section two shall not apply to the provisions of sections twenty-five, twenty-six and twenty-seven, except that a card issuer and a business or other organization which provides credit cards issued by the same card issuer to…

Section 28A. (a)(1) With respect to a credit card which may be used for extensions of credit in sales transactions in which the seller is a person other than the card issuer, the card issuer may not, by contract or otherwise, prohibit any such seller from offering a discount to a…

Section 28B. Notwithstanding any agreement to the contrary, a card issuer may not require a seller, as a condition to participating in a credit card plan, to open an account with or procure any other service from the card issuer or its subsidiary or agent.

Section 29. The commissioner may prescribe from time to time rules and regulations consistent with the provisions of the Federal Fair Credit Billing Act 15 USC 1666 to 1666j, inclusive, and the regulations promulgated thereunder, and a creditor upon whom such rules and regulation…

Section 3. (a) The commissioner shall prescribe from time to time such rules and regulations as may be necessary or proper in carrying out the provisions of this chapter. Such rules and regulations may contain such classifications, differentiations or other provisions, and may pr…

Section 30. Each creditor shall, when directed by the commissioner, permit the commissioner or his duly authorized representative to inspect its relevant records and evidence of compliance with this chapter, or any rule or regulation issued thereunder.

Section 31. Whoever willfully and knowingly: (1) Gives false or inaccurate information or fails to provide information which he is required to disclose under the provisions of this chapter or any regulation issued thereunder, (2) Uses any chart or table authorized by the commissi…

Section 32. (a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, any creditor who fails to comply with any requirement imposed under this chapter or any rule or regulation issued thereunder including any requirement under section ten with respect to any person is liable to such pers…

Section 33. (a) Except as otherwise specifically provided in this chapter, or any rule or regulation issued thereunder, any civil action for a violation of this chapter, or any rule or regulation issued thereunder, or proceeding under section six which may be brought against a cr…

Section 34. A violation of this chapter, or any rule or regulation issued hereunder, shall constitute a violation of chapter ninety-three A.

Section 35. (a) For any consumer credit transaction subject to this chapter that is consummated before September thirtieth, nineteen hundred and ninety-five, a creditor or any assignee of a creditor shall have no civil, administrative or criminal liability under this chapter for,…

Section 36. The commissioner may take any action necessary, including but not limited to promulgating regulations under chapter 30A, to apply for or to preserve a determination by the bureau, or its successor agency, that under the laws of the commonwealth any class of credit tra…

Section 4. (a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, the amount of the finance charge in connection with any consumer credit transaction shall be determined as the sum of all charges, payable directly or indirectly by the person to whom the credit is extended, and imposed…

Section 5. (a) The annual percentage rate applicable to any extension of consumer credit shall be determined in accordance with the regulations of the commissioner. (1) In the case of any extension of credit other than an open-end-credit plan, as (A) that nominal annual percentag…

Section 6. (1) In carrying out the enforcement provisions of this chapter, or any rule or regulation issued thereunder, the commissioner, in cases where an annual percentage rate or finance charge was inaccurately disclosed, shall notify the creditor of such disclosure error and …

Section 7. (a) Subject to subsection (b), a creditor shall disclose to the person who is obligated on a consumer credit transaction the information required under this chapter. In a transaction involving more than one obligor, a creditor, except in a transaction under section ten…

Section 8. (a) Information required by this chapter shall be disclosed clearly and conspicuously, in accordance with regulations of the commissioner. The terms annual percentage rate and finance charge shall be disclosed more conspicuously than other terms, data or information pr…

Section 9. If information disclosed in accordance with this chapter is subsequently rendered inaccurate as the result of any act, occurrence, or agreement subsequent to the delivery of the required disclosures, the inaccuracy resulting therefrom does not constitute a violation of…