537.2401 - FINANCE CHARGE FOR CONSUMER LOANS NOT PURSUANT TO OPEN-END CREDIT.

        537.2401  FINANCE CHARGE FOR CONSUMER LOANS NOT      PURSUANT TO OPEN-END CREDIT.         1.  Except as provided with respect to a finance charge for loans      pursuant to open-end credit under section 537.2402 and loans secured      by a certificate of title of a motor vehicle under section 537.2403,      a lender may contract for and receive a finance charge not exceeding      the maximum charge permitted by the laws of this state or of the      United States for similar lenders, and, in addition, with respect to      a consumer loan, a supervised financial organization or a mortgage      lender may contract for and receive a finance charge, calculated      according to the actuarial method, not exceeding twenty-one percent      per year on the unpaid balance of the amount financed.  Except as      provided in section 537.2403, this subsection does not prohibit a      lender from contracting for and receiving a finance charge exceeding      twenty-one percent per year on the unpaid balance of the amount      financed on consumer loans if authorized by other provisions of the      law.         2.  This section does not limit or restrict the manner of      calculating the finance charge, whether by way of add-on, discount,      or otherwise, so long as the rate of the finance charge does not      exceed that permitted by this section or the laws of this state or of      the United States.  The finance charge permitted by this section or      the laws of this state or of the United States may be calculated by      determining the single annual percentage rate as required to be      disclosed to the consumer pursuant to section 537.3201 which, when      applied according to the actuarial method to the unpaid balances of      the amount financed, will yield the finance charge for that      transaction which would result from applying any graduated rates      permitted by this section or the laws of this state or of the United      States to the transaction on the assumption that all scheduled      payments will be made when due.  If the loan is a precomputed      consumer credit transaction, the finance charge may be calculated on      the assumption that all scheduled payments will be made when due, and      the effect of prepayment is governed by section 537.2510.         3.  Except as provided in subsection 5, the term of a loan for the      purposes of this section commences on the date the loan is made.  Any      month may be counted as one-twelfth of a year but a day is counted as      one-three hundred sixty-fifth of a year.  Subject to classifications      and differentiations the lender may reasonably establish, a part of a      month in excess of fifteen days may be treated as a full month if      periods of fifteen days or less are disregarded and that procedure is      not consistently used to obtain a greater yield than would otherwise      be permitted.  The administrator may adopt rules not inconsistent      with the Truth in Lending Act with respect to treating as regular      other minor irregularities in amount or time.         4.  Subject to classifications and differentiations the lender may      reasonably establish, the lender may make the same finance charge on      all amounts financed within a specified range.  A finance charge so      made does not violate subsection 1, if both of the following are      applicable:         a.  When applied to the median amount within each range, it      does not exceed the maximum permitted by that subsection.         b.  When applied to the lowest amount within each range, it      does not produce a rate of finance charge exceeding the rate      calculated according to paragraph "a" by more than eight percent      of the rate calculated according to paragraph "a".         5.  With respect to an insurance premium loan, the term of the      loan commences on the earliest inception date of a policy or contract      of insurance for which the premium is financed.  
         Section History: Early Form
         [C75, 77, 79, 81, § 537.2401; 82 Acts, ch 1153, § 16, 18(1)] 
         Section History: Recent Form
         83 Acts, ch 124, § 26; 2007 Acts, ch 26, §1         Referred to in § 533.316, 537.1301, 537.2308, 537.2504, 537.2505