Chapter 255B

Section 1. In this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires, the following words shall have the following meanings:— ''Commissioner'', the commissioner of banks. ''Finance charge'', the cost of credit determined in accordance with the provisions of section four of chapter o…

Section 10. The amount, if any, included for insurance on the motor vehicle purchased by the holder of the retail instalment contract, shall not exceed the applicable premiums chargeable in accordance with the rates filed with the commissioner of insurance. If dual interest insur…

Section 11. The holder of a retail installment contract may, if the contract so provides, collect a delinquency and collection charge on each installment in default for a period of not less than fifteen days in an amount not in excess of five percent of each installment or five d…

Section 12. No retail instalment contract shall be signed by any party thereto when it contains blank spaces to be filled in after it has been signed, except that, if delivery of the motor vehicle is not made at the time of the execution of the contract, the identifying numbers o…

Section 13. The seller shall deliver to the buyer, or mail to him at his address shown on the contract, a copy of the contract signed by the seller. If the seller fails to deliver or mail to the buyer on or before the time of the delivery of the motor vehicle a copy of the contra…

Section 14. A retail seller may charge, receive and collect for any new or used motor vehicle, a finance charge not in excess of an annual percentage rate of twenty-one per cent. Such finance charge shall be computed on the amount financed as determined under chapter one hundred …

Section 15. After the payment of all sums for which the buyer is obligated under a retail instalment contract, the holder of such contract shall mail to the buyer at his last known address, good and sufficient instruments to indicate payment in full and to release all security in…

Section 16. Notwithstanding the provisions of any retail installment contract to the contrary, any buyer may pay in full at any time before maturity the debt of any retail installment contract, and in so paying such debt shall receive a refund credit thereon for such anticipation…

Section 17. The holder of an instalment sale contract may, upon agreement with the buyer, defer the scheduled payment of all or part of any unpaid instalment payment or payments, or renew the unpaid total of payments of such contract. The agreement for such deferment or renewal s…

Section 18. A sales finance company may purchase a retail instalment contract from a seller on such terms and conditions and for such price as may be mutually agreed upon; and no filing of the assignment, no notice to the buyer of the assignment, and no requirement that the selle…

Section 19. Upon written request from the buyer, the holder of a retail instalment contract shall give or forward to the buyer a written statement of the dates and amounts of payments and the total amount unpaid under such contract. The buyer shall be entitled to only one such st…

Section 19A. The holder of a retail installment contract or other person acting in his behalf, shall be subject to all defenses, real and personal, which the retail buyer may have against the retail seller thereof.

Section 2. No person, other than a bank as defined in section one of chapter one hundred and sixty-seven, a national banking association, federal savings bank, federal savings and loan association, federal credit union, or any bank, trust company, savings bank, savings and loan a…

Section 20. A provision in a retail instalment contract (1) for confession of judgment, power of attorney therefor, or wage assignment; (2) for the subsequent inclusion of title to or a lien upon any goods, other than the motor vehicle which is the subject matter of the retail in…

Section 20A. (a) An agreement of the parties in a retail installment contract defining default is enforceable only to the extent that the default is material and consists of the buyer's failure to make one or more installments as required by the agreement; or the occurrence of an…

Section 20B. (a) Subject to the provisions of this section and section 20A a secured creditor under a consumer credit transaction may take possession of collateral. In taking possession the secured creditor under a consumer credit transaction may proceed without a prior hearing o…

Section 20C. Any creditor obtaining possession of a motor vehicle under the provisions of this chapter shall, within one hour after obtaining such possession, notify the police department of the city or town in which such possession occurred, giving such police department a descr…

Section 21. Whoever violates any provision of this chapter or any rule or regulation made thereunder by the commissioner shall be punished by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars or by imprisonment for not more than six months, or both.

Section 22. A violation of sections nine to fourteen, inclusive, or eighteen to twenty, inclusive, by any person shall bar his recovery of any finance charge, delinquency or collection charge or refinancing charge on the retail instalment contract involved.

Section 23. Any waiver of the provisions of this chapter shall be unenforceable and void.

Section 24. If any provision of this chapter or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is held unconstitutional, the remainder of the section and the application of such provision to other persons or circumstances shall not be affected thereby.

Section 25. A transaction subject to the provisions of this chapter shall also be subject to the provisions of chapter one hundred and forty D and in the event of a conflict between the provisions of this chapter and said chapter one hundred and forty D, the provisions of said ch…

Section 3. The commissioner may prescribe from time to time such rules and regulations as he deems necessary and proper for carrying out the provisions of this chapter including, but not limited to, the granting of licenses and the renewal thereof, the conduct of examinations and…

Section 4. The commissioner, or such other of his assistants as he may designate, may summon a licensee, or any of his agents or employees, and such other witnesses as he deems necessary, and examine them relative to their transactions, may require the production of books and pap…

Section 5. If the commissioner refuses to issue a license, he shall notify the applicant of the denial, and within twenty days thereafter he shall enter upon his records a written decision and findings containing the reasons supporting the denial, and shall forthwith give written…

Section 6. The commissioner, if he has reason to believe that any person other than a licensee has violated any of the provisions of this act, shall have the power to make such investigations as he shall deem necessary, and, to the extent necessary for this purpose, he may examin…

Section 7. A license may be suspended or revoked by the commissioner on the following grounds:—(1) material misstatement in application for license; (2) failure to comply with the provisions of this chapter; (3) defrauding any retail buyer to the buyer's damage; (4) fraudulent mi…

Section 8. No license shall be suspended or revoked except after hearing thereon by the commissioner or such of his assistants as he may designate. The commissioner shall give the licensee at least ten days' written notice, in the form of an order to show cause, of the time and p…

Section 9. A retail instalment contract shall be in writing and shall be signed by both the buyer and the seller and shall be completed as to all essential provisions prior to the signing of the contract by the buyer. The printed portion of the contract shall be in at least eight…