MAINE

Legal: 8%: Post Judgment: 15% annual (less than $30,000) T-Bill rate over $30,000

Open Acct.: 6: Written Contract: 6 + 20 (with attestment); Domestic Judgment: 20; Foreign Judgment: 20

Maine's Consumer Credit Code regulates all Consumer Credit Transactions (secured and unsecured).

If a debtor defaults by failing to make payments within 10 days of the due date, M.R.S.A sections 5-510 & 5-511 require that a debtor be sent a written notice to cure prior to enforcing any contractual remedies including accelerating the balance due or retaking possession of the secured property.

A creditor must issue a (14) fourteen day written notice of default. The notice must describe the alleged default and allow the borrower a right to cure the default. The notice must include the name and telephone number of the creditor, the amount of the payment needed to cure the default, and the last date payment must be made. Notice may be sent by regular mail or by certified mail. The 14 day time period to cure does not begin until the consumer actually receives the notice.

If the notice is sent by ordinary first class mail, the date of receipt is determined by the date the consumer receives the mail. If a post office certificate is obtained, the date of receipt by the consumer will be judicially presumed to occur on the third (3rd) Calendar Day after mailing. The Maine Supreme Court addressed this issue in Griffin v. Chrysler Credit Corp., 553 A.2d 653 (ME 1989), and upheld this mandatory presumption. Thus, the creditor knows the exact date to start the 14 day cure period.

If the notice is sent by Certified Mail, Return Receipt Requested, the date of receipt is determined by the date the consumer signs for the receipt, or the last date that delivery was attempted on unclaimed certified mail.

The burden of proof is on the Creditor to establish that the notice was received. Thus, it is recommended that the creditor mail the notice by first class mail and obtain a post office certificate of mailing. Without proof of compliance, a lawful act, such as a peaceful repossession, could turn wrongful and exposes the creditor to liability under state and federal laws.

If the debtor defaults again within 365 days (1 Year) from the date of the original default, the creditor is not required by statute to send an additional notice.

The creditor may not enforce its remedies under the loan agreement during the 14 day period. It is recommended not to count the first and last day during this time period. In the case of a secured transaction, it is permissible to accept a voluntary surrender of the collateral during this cure period (M.R.S.A. Section 5-111(3).

Maine Borrowing Statute

M.R.S.A. 14 § 866. (2003)

§ 866. Defendant out of State when action commenced; insolvency If a person is out of the State when a cause of action accrues against him, the action may be commenced within the time limited therefor after he comes into the State. If a person is absent from and resides out of the State, after a cause of action has accrued against him, the time of his absence from the State shall not be taken as a part of the time limited for the commencement of the action. If a person is adjudged an insolvent debtor after a cause of action has accrued against him, and such cause of action is one provable in insolvency, the time of the pendency of his insolvency proceedings shall not be taken as a part of the time limited for the commencement of the action.

No action shall be brought by any person whose cause of action has been barred by the laws of any state, territory or country while all the parties have resided therein