Sec. 3. 9-A MRSA §§9-305-A and 9-305-B are enacted to read:

§9-305-A.__Timely payments from escrow

A creditor, assignee or servicer that holds or controls funds of a consumer in an escrow account for the payment of taxes or insurance premiums shall make timely payments from that escrow account for a consumer credit transaction secured by a mortgage on real estate.__A creditor, assignee or servicer is liable to the consumer for actual damages resulting from failure to make timely payments from that escrow account.__The creditor, assignee or servicer shall also rectify the results of a failure to make timely payments, including causing corrections of the consumer's credit report and causing the discharge of any liens against the consumer's real estate.

§9-305-B.__Timely responses to requests for payoff figures

A creditor, assignee or servicer shall respond to a request for a payoff figure within 3 business days following receipt of such a request from a consumer or an agent of the consumer for a consumer credit transaction secured by a mortgage on real estate.__ The response must include a precise payoff figure as of a date certain and must contain information permitting the consumer or the consumer's agent to update that figure, such as providing a per diem rate from a date certain.__A charge may not be assessed for the first 2 requests in any calendar year, and a charge for each subsequent request may not exceed $5.

Sec. 4. 9-A MRSA §9-405, sub-§1, as enacted by PL 1987, c. 396, §12, is amended to read:

1. If a creditor, assignee or servicer has violated the provisions of this article applying to timely payments from escrow, section 9-305-A, timely responses to requests for payoff figures, section 9-305-B, misrepresentation, section 9-401, or illegal, fraudulent or unconscionable conduct in an attempted collection of debts, section 9-403, any aggrieved consumer has a right to recover actual damages from that person, or in lieu thereof any consumer named as a plaintiff in the complaint as originally filed has a right to recover from a person violating this article an amount determined by the court not less than $250 nor more than $1,000. No action pursuant to this subsection may be brought more than 2 years after the due date of the last scheduled payment.