An Act To Increase the Efficiency of Certain Consumer Credit Protection Laws”
Maine Legislature, Session 129, LD 1767
Committee Amendment CA_A_S469 (Senate)
Amends: 9-A MRSA §1, 9-A MRSA §6, 14 MRSA §6111, 14 MRSA §6112, 32 MRSA §11013, 32 MRSA §11019, 32 MRSA §11020, 32 MRSA §11031

COMMITTEE AMENDMENT “      ” to S.P. 599, L.D. 1767, Bill, “An Act To 
Increase the Efficiency of Certain Consumer Credit Protection Laws”
Amend the bill in Part A by striking out all of section 2 and inserting the following:
'Sec. A-2.  9-A MRSA §1-301, sub-§17, as amended by PL 2017, c. 106, §1, is 
further amended to read:
17.   "Creditor" means a person who both:
A.  Regularly extends, whether in connection with loans, sales of property or 
services, or otherwise, consumer credit that is payable by agreement in more than 4 
installments or for which the payment of a finance charge is or may be required; and
B.  Is the person to whom the debt arising from the consumer credit transaction is 
initially payable on the face of the evidence of indebtedness or, if there is no such 
evidence of indebtedness, by agreement; except that, in the case of an open-end credit 
plan involving a credit card, the card issuer and any person who honors the credit 
card and offers a discount that is a finance charge are creditors.
For the purpose of the requirements imposed under Article 8-A for credit billing pursuant 
to 15 United States Code, Section 1666 et seq. and for open-end consumer credit pursuant 
to 15 United States Code, Section 1637(a)(5), (a)(6), (a)(7), (b)(1), (b)(2), (b)(3), (b)(8) 
and (b)(10), "creditor" also includes card issuers whether or not the amount due is 
payable by agreement in more than 4 installments or the payment of a finance charge is or 
may be required and the administrator shall by regulation apply these requirements to 
those card issuers, to the extent appropriate, even though the requirements are by their 
terms applicable only to creditors offering open-end credit plans.
For the purposes of this Title, "creditor" also includes any person who originates 2 or 
more mortgages referred to as high-cost mortgage loans under Article 8-A, section 8-506 
in any 12-month period or any person who originates one or more such mortgage loans 
through a mortgage broker as defined in Article 8-A, section 8-506, subsection 1, 
paragraph J, or a loan broker as defined in Article 10.
Date: 
(Filing No. S-          )
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT “      ” to S.P. 599, L.D. 1767
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
For purposes of this Title, "creditor" also includes a private educational lender as that 
term is defined in 15 United States Code, Section 1650.
A Except with respect to credit sales of automobiles, a person regularly extends consumer 
credit only if the person extended credit other than credit subject to high-cost mortgage 
loan requirements more than 25 times or more than 5 times for transactions secured by a 
dwelling in the preceding calendar year.  With respect to credit sales of automobiles, a 
person regularly extends consumer credit if the person extended credit more than 15 
times in the preceding calendar year.  If a person did not meet these numerical standards 
in the preceding calendar year, the numerical standards must be applied to the current 
calendar year.
"Creditor" includes a mortgage loan servicer.' 
Amend the bill in Part A by striking out all of section 5 and inserting the following:
'Sec. A-5.  9-A MRSA §6-203, sub-§3-D is enacted to read:
3-D.  Notwithstanding subsection 3-C, the administrator may by rule adjust the fees 
paid with respect to creditors that are not supervised financial organizations making 
residential mortgage loans to support the costs of compliance and staff attorney positions.  
Rules adopted pursuant to this subsection are routine technical rules as defined in Title 5, 
chapter 375, subchapter 2-A.' 
Amend the bill in Part A by striking out all of sections 9 and 10.
Amend the bill by striking out all of Part B.
Amend the bill in Part D by striking out all of section 2 and inserting the following:
'Sec. D-2.  14 MRSA §6111, sub-§3-B, as enacted by PL 2009, c. 402, §13, is 
amended to read:
3-B.  Report.  On a quarterly an annual basis, the Department of Professional and 
Financial Regulation, Bureau of Consumer Credit Protection shall report to the joint 
standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over insurance and financial 
services matters on the number of notices received pursuant to subsection 3-A. To the 
extent information is available, the report must also include information on the number of 
foreclosure filings based on data collected from the court and the Department of 
Professional and Financial Regulation, Bureau of Financial Institutions and on the types 
of lenders that are filing foreclosures.' 
Amend the bill in Part D by striking out all of section 3.
Amend the bill in Part D by striking out all of section 4 and inserting the following:
'Sec. D-4.  14 MRSA §6112, sub-§5, as enacted by PL 2009, c. 402, §15, is 
amended to read:
5.  Report.  Beginning January 1, 2010, the The Department of Professional and 
Financial Regulation, Bureau of Consumer Credit Protection shall report every 6 months 
annually on the revenues received pursuant to subsection 4, the expenditures made to 
carry out the purposes of this section, any financial orders submitted by the bureau and 
any updated assumptions related to the bureau's revenues and expenditures in accordance 
with this section.  The report must be submitted to the joint standing committee of the 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT “      ” to S.P. 599, L.D. 1767
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
Legislature having jurisdiction over appropriations and financial affairs and the joint 
standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over insurance and financial 
services matters.' 
Amend the bill by inserting after Part D the following:
'PART E
Sec. E-1.  32 MRSA §11013, sub-§11 is enacted to read:
11.  Collection action prohibited on debt from medical expenses if eligible for 
free or charity care.  A debt collector may not collect or attempt to collect a debt from 
medical expenses against a consumer who has been determined to be qualified for free or 
charity care under guidelines adopted pursuant to Title 22, section 1716, or against a 
consumer who would have been determined to be qualified for free or charity care under 
guidelines adopted pursuant to Title 22, section 1716 but did not apply for good cause. 
PART F
Sec. F-1.  32 MRSA §11019, sub-§1, as enacted by PL 2017, c. 216, §6, is 
amended to read:
1.  Complaint; required allegations.  A debt buyer may not initiate a collection 
action against a consumer, including an action brought in small claims court pursuant to 
Title 14, chapter 738, unless the debt buyer alleges all of the following information in the 
complaint:
A.  The information described in section 11013, subsection 9, including that the debt 
buyer possesses the documentation described in section 11013, subsection 9;
B.  The basis for any interest and fees described in section 11013, subsection 9;
C.  The basis for the request for attorney's fees, if applicable;
D.  That the debt buyer is the current owner of the debt; and
E.  That the cause of action is filed within the applicable statute of limitations period.
Sec. F-2.  32 MRSA §11020 is enacted to read:
§11020.  Collection action to collect credit card and student loan debts; additional 
requirements for collection action
1.  Applicability.  This section applies to any collection action against a consumer to 
collect a credit card or student loan debt initiated by a debt collector.
2.  Commencement of collection action.  A collection action may not be 
commenced in small claims court pursuant to Title 14, chapter 738. A collection action is 
commenced upon the filing or serving of a complaint that provides notice of the 
complaint in the same manner as other civil complaints and satisfies the requirements of 
this section. 
3.  Notice of complaint.  In a collection action subject to this section, the debt 
collector shall attach to the front of the complaint a one-page form notice to the consumer 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT “      ” to S.P. 599, L.D. 1767
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
as developed by the Department of Professional and Financial Regulation, Bureau of 
Consumer Credit Protection. The form notice must be written in language that is plain 
and readily understandable by the general public and, at a minimum, must contain the 
following:
A.  A statement that failure to answer the complaint may result in entry of judgment 
in the amount demanded by the debt collector; and 
B.  A sample answer and an explanation that the consumer may fill out the form and 
return it to the court as the answer to the complaint. If the consumer returns the form 
to the court, the consumer does not need to file a more formal answer or responsive 
pleading. 
4.  Entry of judgment.  A court may not enter judgment unless it specifically finds 
that all the requirements of this section and all other applicable requirements of this 
chapter are met, including, but not limited to, whether the plaintiff has produced evidence 
that is admissible pursuant to the Maine Rules of Evidence on all required elements of its 
claim.
5.  Default judgment.  If the defendant has failed to plead or otherwise defend, the 
plaintiff may apply for entry of default and a default judgment. The court is responsible 
for entering a default and a default judgment, not the clerk of the court. Regardless of 
whether the defendant appears in the action or the judgment is based on a proposed order 
concerning a settlement, the court may not enter judgment in favor of the plaintiff unless 
the court determines that all the requirements of this section and all other applicable 
requirements of this chapter are met, including, but not limited to, whether the plaintiff 
has produced evidence admissible pursuant to the Maine Rules of Evidence on all 
required elements of its claim.
6.  Exclusion. This section does not apply to any collection action brought by a 
supervised financial organization as defined in Title 9-A, section 1-301, subsection 38-A.
7.  Rules.  The court may adopt rules necessary to implement the provisions of this 
section.
Sec. F-3.  32 MRSA §11031, sub-§2, as amended by PL 2009, c. 243, §6, is 
further amended to read:
2.  Licenses.  Licenses granted by the superintendent under this section are for a 
period of 2 years and expire on July 31st or at such other times as the superintendent may 
designate.  Each license may be renewed biennially as long as the superintendent regards 
the business as responsible and safe, but in all cases terminate unless renewed by the 
expiration date. Each license must plainly state the name and business address of the 
licensee and be posted in a conspicuous place in the office where the business is 
transacted.  The fee for each biennial license is $600.  When the unexpired license term of 
an applicant is or will be less than one year at a time of licensure, the license fee may not 
exceed 1/2 the biennial license fee.  The superintendent may permit affiliated companies 
to be under a single license and subject to a single examination as long as all of the 
affiliated company names are listed on the license. The superintendent may adopt rules to 
determine what constitutes an affiliated company.  Rules adopted pursuant to this 
subsection are routine technical rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A.  
If a licensee desires to carry on business in more than one place, the licensee shall 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT “      ” to S.P. 599, L.D. 1767
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
procure a branch office license for each additional place where the business is to be 
conducted.  The fee for each biennial branch office license is $300.  Notwithstanding 
other remedies available under this chapter, applications received after the due date are 
subject to an additional fee of $100.' 
Amend the bill by relettering or renumbering any nonconsecutive Part letter or 
section number to read consecutively.
SUMMARY
This amendment is the majority report of the committee.  The amendment removes 
from the bill that section of Part A that amends the definition of "debt buyer" and 
removes all of Part B, which repeals mortgage lending restrictions applicable to nonbank 
mortgage lenders, and makes corresponding changes. The amendment also removes a 
provision in Part A that authorizes the Superintendent of Consumer Credit Protection 
within the Department of Professional and Financial Regulation to lower or suspend fees 
by order. 
The amendment makes changes to Part D of the bill to change the timeline for the 
required reports from quarterly or semiannually to annually. The bill proposes to 
eliminate the reporting requirements. The amendment also removes language in Part D 
related to the consolidation of accounts within the Bureau of Consumer Credit Protection.
The amendment adds Part E, which makes it a violation of the Maine Fair Debt 
Collection Practices Act to collect or attempt to collect a debt from medical expenses 
against an individual eligible for free or charity care. 
The amendment also adds Part F to the bill. Part F adds requirements relating to 
collection actions for credit card debt and student loan debt. Part F also authorizes the 
Superintendent of Consumer Credit Protection to permit affiliated companies to be under 
a single debt collector license.
FISCAL NOTE REQUIRED
(See attached)
Revised: 07/28/20
LD 1767
LR 2366(02)
FY 2019-20
FY 2020-21
Projections 
FY 2021-22
Projections 
FY 2022-23
Revenue
Other Special Revenue Funds
$0
($49,000)
($84,000)
($84,000)
Fiscal Detail and Notes
Any additional costs or revenues accruing to the Department of Professional and Financial Regulation as a result of 
this bill are expected to be minor. 
This bill requires that all student loan debt collection cases be filed as civil actions. These cases are currently filed as 
small claims cases, which include a mediation fee collected by the judicial department. Moving these cases to civil 
filings would result in a loss of this mediation fee, which is estimated to total about $84,000 annually. Assuming this 
bill is effective in December, it is estimated revenue will fall by $49,000 in fiscal year 2020-21. 
Fiscal Note
An Act To Increase the Efficiency of Certain Consumer Credit Protection Laws
Fiscal Note for Bill as Amended by Committee Amendment " "
Committee: Health Coverage, Insurance and Financial Services
Fiscal Note Required: Yes
LR2366(02) - Fiscal Note - Page 1 of 1