§412:9-302 Interest rates. (a) A financial services loan company shall have the right to charge, contract for, and receive interest, fees and other charges on loans, as permitted by chapter 478, or as otherwise permitted by law.

(b) In addition to and without limiting the authority granted by subsection (a), for any loan on which interest is calculated under the authority of section 412:9-301, a financial services loan company may charge, contract for, and receive interest at any rate which does not exceed the maximum rate allowed by this section:

(1) For precomputed loans, interest that is paid or deducted in advance shall not exceed fourteen per cent a year for the first eighteen months or portion thereof, plus ten and one-half per cent a year for the next twelve months or portion thereof, plus seven per cent a year for the next twelve months or portion thereof, plus four per cent a year for the last six months or portion thereof, of the term of the loan. The maximum term of a precomputed loan where the preceding rates are charged will be forty-eight months. If the term of a precomputed loan exceeds forty-eight months, the financial services loan company may charge, contract for, and receive a "finance charge" in any form or forms at an "annual percentage rate" not to exceed twenty-four per cent a year, together with any other charges that are excluded or excludable from the determination of finance charge under the Truth in Lending Act. The terms "finance charge" and "annual percentage rate" shall have the same meaning as under the Truth in Lending Act.

(2) For simple interest loans, a financial services loan company may charge, contract for, and receive a "finance charge" in any form or forms at an "annual percentage rate" not to exceed twenty-four per cent a year, together with any other charges that are excluded or excludable from the determination of finance charge under the Truth in Lending Act. The terms "finance charge" and "annual percentage rate" as used in this subsection shall have the same meaning as under the Truth in Lending Act.

The rate in this subsection shall be applicable to any simple interest loan, whether or not the Truth in Lending Act applies to the transaction, notwithstanding the fixed or variable manner in which interest or a finance charge may be computed under the loan, and whether or not the contract uses the terms "interest" or "annual percentage rate" or "finance charge" or any combination of such terms.

For rate computation purposes the financial services loan company conclusively shall be presumed to have given all disclosures in accordance with the terms of the loan that are contemplated by the Truth in Lending Act, including those necessary to exclude any charges from the finance charge.

(c) On maturity of a loan, the rate of interest on the unpaid principal balance of the loan shall be twenty-four per cent a year, unless a lesser rate is specified in the note or other form of contract signed by the borrower as an after-maturity interest rate.

(d) Any open-end loan account that is also a "credit card agreement" as defined in section 478-1 shall be subject to the rate limitations in section 478-4 rather than the rate limitations in this article. [L 1993, c 350, pt of §1]