(1) With respect to a consumer loan other than a supervised loan (Section 3-501), a lender may contract for and receive a loan finance charge, calculated according to the actuarial method, not exceeding ten percent (10%) per year on the unpaid balances of the principal.

(2) This section does not limit or restrict the manner of contracting for the loan finance charge, whether by way of add-on, discount, or otherwise, so long as the rate of the loan finance charge does not exceed that permitted by this section. If the loan is precomputed

(a)the loan finance charge may be calculated on the assumption that all scheduled payments will be made when due; and

(b)the effect of prepayment is governed by the provisions on rebate upon prepayment (Section 3-210).

(3) For the purposes of this section, the term of a loan commences with the date the loan is made. Differences in the lengths of months are disregarded and a day may be counted as one-thirtieth (1/30) of a month. Subject to classifications and differentiations the lender may reasonably establish, a part of a month in excess of fifteen (15) days may be treated as a full month if periods of fifteen (15) days or less are disregarded and if that procedure is not consistently used to obtain a greater yield than would otherwise be permitted.

(4) With respect to a consumer loan made pursuant to a revolving loan account

(a)the loan finance charge shall be deemed not to exceed ten percent (10%) per year if the loan finance charge contracted for and received does not exceed a charge in each monthly billing cycle which is five-sixths of one percent (5/6 of 1%) of an amount no greater than

(i)the average daily balance of the debt;

(ii)the unpaid balance of the debt on the same day of the billing cycle; or

(iii)subject to subsection (5), the median amount within a specified range within which the average daily balance or the unpaid balance of the debt, on the same day of the billing cycle, is included: for the purposes of this subparagraph and subparagraph (ii), a variation of not more than four (4) days from month to month is "the same day of the billing cycle";

(b)if the billing cycle is not monthly, the loan finance charge shall be deemed not to exceed ten percent (10%) per year if the loan finance charge contracted for and received does not exceed a percentage which bears the same relation to five-sixths of one percent (5/6 of 1%) as the number of days in the billing cycle bears to thirty (30); and

(c)notwithstanding subsection (1), if there is an unpaid balance on the date as of which the loan finance charge is applied, the lender may contract for and receive a charge not exceeding fifty cents ($0.50) if the billing cycle is monthly or longer, or the pro rata part of fifty cents ($0.50) which bears the same relation to fifty cents ($0.50) as the number of days in the billing cycle bears to thirty (30) if the billing cycle is shorter than monthly, but no charge may be made pursuant to this paragraph if the lender has made an annual charge for the same period as permitted by the provisions on additional charges (paragraph (c) of subsection (1) of Section 3-202).

(5) Subject to classifications and differentiations the lender may reasonably establish, he may make the same loan finance charge on all amounts financed within a specified range. A loan finance charge so made does not violate subsection (1) if

(a)when applied to the median amount within each range, it does not exceed the maximum permitted by subsection (1); and

(b)when applied to the lowest amount within each range, it does not produce a rate of loan finance charge exceeding the rate calculated according to paragraph (a) by more than eight percent (8%) of the rate calculated according to paragraph (a).

Added by Laws 1969, c. 352, § 3-201, eff. July 1, 1969.