Sec. 1. 9-A MRSA §2-201, sub-§2, as amended by PL 1997, c. 727, Pt. B, §3, is repealed.

Sec. 2. 9-A MRSA §2-201, sub-§2-A is enacted to read:

2-A.__The finance charge, calculated according to the actuarial method, may not exceed 12% per year on the unpaid balances of the amount financed.

Sec. 3. 9-A MRSA §2-201, sub-§5, as enacted by PL 1973, c. 762, §1, is repealed.

Sec. 4. 9-A MRSA §2-201, sub-§5-A is enacted to read:

5-A.__Subject to classifications and differentiations a seller may reasonably establish, the seller may make the same finance charge on all amounts financed within a specified range.__A finance charge so made does not violate subsection 2-A if, when applied to the median amount within each range, it does not exceed the maximum permitted by subsection 2-A.

Sec. 5. 9-A MRSA §2-201, sub-§6, as repealed and replaced by PL 1975, c. 298, §1, is amended to read:

6. Notwithstanding subsection 2 2-A, the seller may contract for and receive a minimum charge of not more than:

A. Five dollars when the amount financed does not exceed $75;

B. Seven dollars and fifty cents when the amount financed exceeds $75, but is less than $250; or

C. Twenty-five dollars when the amount financed is $250 or more and when, within 30 days from the date of the transaction, the agreement is assigned by the seller, other than a seller of motor vehicles, to an assignee having no corporate relationship to the seller-assignor.

Sec. 6. 9-A MRSA §2-201, sub-§7, as amended by PL 1985, c. 819, Pt. B, §§3 and 4, is further amended to read:

7. The finance charge on any transaction involving the credit sale of goods or services used in the modernization, rehabilitation, repair, alteration or improvement of real property, in which the seller or his the seller's agent installs the goods or provides the services related to the modernization, rehabilitation, repair, alteration or improvement of the real