Maine Payday Loan Laws and Regulations

Are Payday Loans Legal in Maine?

Short-term Payday Loans are Available (with some restrictions) in Maine and are regulated through Me. Rev. Stat. Ann. tit 9-A §1-201 and Me. Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 9-A §1-301. The Payday Lending legislation covers all the parts of the process concerning:

• Payday Loan amounts
• Payday Loan repayment terms
• Payday Loan online direct lenders
• Payday Loan stores near you
• Payday Loan interest rates and other fees
• Payday Loan collecting practices
• Payday Loan default penalties
• The number of outstanding Payday Loans as well as a cooling-off period in-between etc.

Read more: PAYDAY LOANS IN MAINE

To see if you’re eligible for a Payday Loan in Maine check out the lenders’ requirements:

• US residence
• Minimum regular income of $1,000 per month
• Valid checking or savings account with direct deposit
• Phone number and e-mail address

Payday loans are short-term, high interest rate, unsecured loans. The term “payday loan” derives from the fact that historically, workers borrowed money on Monday and promised to repay the advance, with interest, on Friday, which was traditional “payday.”

Maine law currently limits the interest rate on unsecured loans of less than $2000 to 30.00% APR. In the alternative, lenders can charge $15 on a loan between $75 and $250, or $25 on a loan in excess of $250. Payday lenders, by contrast, often charge 25% per week, for the equivalent of 1300% APR.  

For other details read further to find out how many Payday Loans you can borrow, whether rollovers or extensions are allowed, etc.

Maine Payday Loan Terms and Amounts

Maine residents who are eligible for a Payday Loan can get $2000 cash advance per contract. The repayment term is not limited. neither are the purposes of loan usage. Any urgent expenses, unforeseen bills, car repair, home repair, etc. may seem a sound reason to apply for a Payday Loan in Maine.

If $2000 is not enough, there are always other options to receive the necessary funds in Maine:

• unsecured Installment Loans,
• bad credit Personal Loans,
• Title Loans,
• Check Cashing,
• Pawn Shops, etc.

Maine Payday Loans online laws

Cash advances (payday loans) from both storefront and online lenders are legal in the state of Maine pursuant to the The Bureau of Consumer Credit Protection, Department of Professional and Financial Regulation, 35 State House Station Augusta ME 04333, 800-332-8529. Reputable online lenders operating in accordance with all relevant state and federal laws can be applied to and compared on our platform using a simple online application form.

You state the necessary amount, fill in your personal information and get suitable offers from legit direct lenders. It takes only a few minutes and doesn’t affect your credit score. 

In recent years, some internet-based payday lenders have located themselves on Native American reservations in Oklahoma, Nebraska and other states. These lenders claim that state law is inapplicable to them since they are governed solely by Tribal law and procedure.

Finally, a review of consumer complaints reveals that some internet payday lenders are located in such places as Nevis, West Indies; the Island of Malta (in the Mediterranean); British Columbia, Canada; and in England. These companies, like the Native American-based lenders, claim that state laws are not applicable to them, as foreign, sovereign entities. So, check the legal status of online Payday lender before submitting the request to avoid scams.

Maine Payday Loans interest rates, fees and other finance charges

The main part of payday loan payment is mostly made up of the interest rate, or APR. The maximum APR that may be charged for short-term cash advance in Maine is capped at 30.00%. It means that if you borrow $100 Payday Laon for 14 days the finance charges will be $5 for amounts financed up to $75; $15 minimum charge for amounts financed of $75.01-$249.99; or $25 for amounts financed of $250 or more.

Besides the total cost of a Payday Loan you may be charged some additional fees find it out with a lender.

The law obligates Maine Payday Loan lenders to provide you with a written disclosure of all the rates and fees in the understandable language. You should read them carefully and if you agree acknowledge the notification by signing the contract.

Maine Payday Loans direct lenders regulations

According to Maine payday loan laws all direct lenders are obliged to register their companies which will allow issuing payday loans contract. It concerns both Online Payday Loans and Payday Loans Near Me.

12 companies that currently hold valid Maine Payday Lending licenses are registered at the present moment. Under the state’s Consumer Credit Code, these licenses are a sub-category of a “supervised lender” license. However, these lenders do not make mortgage loans secured by real estate, nor do they generally make loans secured by collateral such as automobiles.

Licensed companies conduct business within the regulatory structure of Maine law, including the interest rate caps. In addition, before receiving their 2-year license they had to demonstrate to the bureau a net worth of at least $25,000, and post a surety bond in the amount of $50,000.

The bureau has not received consumer complaints about licensed lenders. However, in cases of complaints against other categories of licensed entities, staff obtains quick, substantive responses. The companies know that responding promptly and fully to complaints is a condition of continued licensure, and they also understand that the bureau can access the funds represented by the surety bond if a consumer can demonstrate they’ve been financially harmed by the actions of a licensed, bonded entity. Licensed companies are also subject to compliance examinations conducted by bureau personnel, so the state has a way to monitor the operations of licensed entities.

Maine Payday Loans consumer information

Besides amounts, rates and fees, consumers must be also well aware of other details of Payday Loans in Maine. They include the availability and number of rollovers, extensions and repayment plan, a cooling-off period, any default penalties or additional fees, etc. Check out the table below to find the most essential information:

Look for more detailed information on the official Maine state regulator website – https://www.maine.gov/pfr/consumercredit/index.shtml, https://www.maine.gov/pfr/consumercredit/index.shtml.

Legitimate Payday Loans Online with NO credit check in Maine

Looking for a legal Payday Loan with No credit check in Maine? You must understand the meaning of this phrase correctly at first. No credit check implies that a lender will not inquire about your credit history information from or send your borrowing data to any of the three major credit bureaus Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.

If you don’t want to damage your credit history Maine law allows you to apply for a Payday Loan with No credit check. But you should understand that a lender needs to check your creditworthiness at least in some way. He can perform a soft credit check when a lender pre-approves you for a loan and this inquiry will not appear on your credit report. Or there’re other ways to prove you can afford the cash advance. Payday Loan lenders use the tracking system to verify your debts, check your income, etc. And generally, they charge higher interest to lessen the risks.

Maine Payday loans online no credit check is one of the easiest options of getting quick cash to cope with emergency financial requirements, especially for the people with poor credit.

Does Maine law allow Payday Loans for bad credit borrowers?

The average credit score in Maine is 689, placing it in the fair range. But it doesn’t mean that those who have a worse credit can’t apply for a Payday Loan in Maine. 

• First of all, there’re a lot of legit direct lenders in Maine providing Payday cash advance to borrowers with both good and bad credit score.
• Secondly, you can always find a cosigner to increase your chances of being approved for a bad credit Payday Loan.
• Find out how to improve your credit score and do your best to do it fast. 
• Or consider taking out bad credit Installment Loans, or bad credit Personal Loans.

Legit Payday Loans in Maine collection practices

If consumers default on the loans, by not having sufficient funds in their accounts or by closing their accounts, many of these debts are given to unlicensed debt collectors who use aggressive, often illegal tactics to collect the debts.

As regulators, bureau staffers are often frustrated in their efforts to assist consumers in debt to payday lenders, since the actual locations of the lenders or collectors hired by them are not known. Of those whose whereabouts are known, several large lenders are situated on Native American reservations in other states, and assert that tribal law supersedes state laws. While bureau staff has a great deal of success in individual cases obtaining refunds or convincing lenders to abandon the alleged debts, getting control of this activity is a priority for regulators in Maine, in other states, and at the federal level within the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).

Another troubling development occurs when a consumer stops paying the alleged payday loan debt, usually by working with their own financial institution to close the account from which the debts are being taken, or by having their institution reject claims for payment from the lender. The accounts are then commonly assigned to unlicensed, out-of-state debt collectors, and the consumers are subject to a barrage of phone calls threatening civil action or even the institution of criminal proceedings. These are all specious threats – in the bureau’s experience not a single unlicensed internet-based payday lender has ever used the Maine court system to advance a claim – but the calls take an emotional toll on the consumer, and communications sometimes include calls to the consumers’ places of work or to their supervisors. As in the case of the unlicensed lenders, these unlicensed collectors pose a challenge to bureau staff, since their whereabouts are purposely hidden, and since they use phone-masking technology to “spoof” or disguise their outgoing telephone numbers.

If you think that your payday lender violates the Maine Payday Loans law, you may file a written complaint with The Bureau of Consumer Credit Protection, Department of Professional and Financial Regulation, 35 State House Station Augusta ME 04333, 800-332-8529. 

Maine Payday Loans news  – latest changes

Today, there are about 23,000 payday lenders across the country. Young people today have bad financial difficulties compared with previous generations. They must pay for basic expenses and student loans, etc. Payday loans seem a convenient and easy way to solve the problem. However, considering that most payday loans go to borrowers who take out multiple payday loans per year, these loans are the opposite of a quick problem solver.

Based on these data, the CFPB adopted a rule, set to take effect this year, to limit back-to-back loans and require lenders working with repeat borrowers to examine the borrower’s ability to repay the loan–looking at income and expenses in the way that responsible banks and other above-board creditors do.

Maine Payday Loans historical background