Maine Payday Loan Laws and Protections

What Falls Under Maine's Definition

Title 9-A, section 1-301 defines a payday loan by its deferred collection. The customer gets their money immediately, while the business either holds the customer’s check for a later time or withdraws from the customer’s deposit account at a later time.

If a customer is located in Maine, then the Code's territorial provision applies to remote transactions made by that customer. A business's presence, including the presence of a website in a State, does not move the locus of the transaction outside of Maine. This page focuses on delayed check or scheduled debit schemes as opposed to small installment loans or other short-term borrowing schemes.

Licensing Is a Basic Safety Check

Maine places payday companies within its licensing system for high-rate consumer creditors. A business needs state authorization before it can make this type of loan to a Maine consumer. Before sharing a Social Security number, income details, or banking information, use the Bureau’s license search to confirm the company and compare the listed website and contact details.

Check the privacy statement in order to determine whether a site is a lender (instead of a lead generator), where your application is routed, how marketing and information sharing can be controlled, etc. A site having a Maine address (or a state name) or a Maine address is not proof of authorization. A search is only one review.

Maine Finance-Charge Limits and the $250 Example

The per-$100 payday fee system that is employed in many other states does not apply in Maine. For Section 2-401 of consumer loans, the charge rate in the form of an actuarial finance charge is restricted to an annual rate of 30% on the first $2,000 of the unpaid balance, 24% on the next $2,000 (i.e. on the balance greater than $2,000 but no more than $4,000), and 18% on any balance above $4,000. For amounts financed above $8,000, the cap is 18% per annum on the total financed amount.

Section 2-401(7) permits a lender to use a dollar floor. The most that floor may be is $5 when no more than $75 is financed, $15 when the financed amount is above $75 but below $250, and $25 at $250 or higher. On a loan lasting only a few days, the floor can exceed the cost produced by applying the annual rate to that brief period.

Maine's consumer guide provides an example illustration with a payday loan. This loan has an amount financed of $250, with a finance charge of $25, due in 14 days. In this example, the borrower would receive $250 and would owe $275. If this charge were to be annualized, it would equal 260.7% APR. This example should not be assumed to mean that a borrower would owe 260.7% for a two-week term of the loan. While the APR is useful for determining short-term costs of borrowing in order to compare differing offers, the borrower must also consider the other loan terms. Examples of these terms include, but are not limited to, financed amount, due date, total payment amount, and amount of finance charge.

Maine does not define payday loans with a standard 14-day duration or a limit of $250. The loan value, expense, and duration will depend on the lender’s proposal and the Consumer Credit Code's provisions that are relevant.

Disclosures and Electronic Payments

Before the transaction becomes binding, the borrower must receive two cost figures: the finance charge stated in dollars and the APR stated as an annual rate. Compare both with the cash proceeds and the total repayment. The overall borrowing cost may include expenses besides interest, so read the complete agreement instead of relying on a quoted rate or payment amount.

For online loans, assess the electronic payment authorization separately. You must find the transaction amount, transaction date, if the authorization is a single payment or multiple payments, and how to revoke the authorization. Terminating the authorization for automatic debits does not eliminate the loan.

When the federal CFPB payment rule covers a loan, two back-to-back debit attempts returned for lack of funds change what the lender may do next. Before trying that account again, the lender generally needs the borrower to separately approve another withdrawal. This restriction concerns the collection method only. It does not forgive the unpaid balance, and the lender may still pursue other lawful collection options.

Prepayment, Payment Trouble, and Collection

Generally, as a consumer in Maine, you may pay off part or all of your consumer-credit balance without prepayment penalties, except for minimum charges permitted by law. You are entitled to request the total balance owed and a receipt showing how the payment was applied.

If you anticipate an issue with a scheduled payment, you should contact your lender to discuss options before the payment is processed. Write to your lender with these requests: change the date, allow you to make smaller payments, and inquire what the lender’s fee would be and what other options you may have for payment authorization. The law regarding payday loans in Maine does not provide an automatic extended payment plan that is fee free to every borrower; therefore, you may not receive a no-fee extended payment plan unless you receive written confirmation you will be offered one.

While lenders and collectors may utilize certain legal collection practices, bank accounts and wages may not be garnished without a court order and a judgment. Do not ignore a court summons, or any communication from the court. You should keep copies of your contracts and agreements. Be sure to keep all records of your payments. Also, keep all communication you receive from your lender or collector.

Alternatives for Maine Borrowers

Before obtaining a single-payment loan, ask your billers if you can move your payment due date or if you're able to split the payment. Consider looking into emergency assistance, employer advances, small loans from a credit union, and non-profit credit counseling as options outside of taking a payday loan. All of these alternatives to payday loans that we outline in our guide discuss the costs, timing, eligibility, and how repayments work.

Before Borrowing in Maine

The total payment must be factored into your budget. If a loan payment, after it is deducted, leaves you with an inadequate amount for your basic needs, such as housing, food, utilities, transport, insurance, medicine, and other essentials, the loan is not affordable, even if the cost of the loan is legal. If you continually roll over a short-term debt into another, you will have even less money available for your basic needs.

Never remit a payment for a loan release, insurance, or for verification, using a gift card, wire transfer, prepaid card, or cryptocurrency. Such a request is a strong sign of a scam. Maine residents can submit a complaint of an unlicensed lender, undisclosed fee, unauthorized debit, or collections using the Bureau’s consumer complaint form.

Maine Payday Loan Laws & Regulations

This summary explains Maine’s definition of payday loans and finance charges for closed-end consumer loans, licensing for payday loans, and some protections for payments. Other conditions may apply to the lender, loan type, loan amount, and status of collection.

Official sources

• Title 9-A, section 1-301: defines payday loan
• Title 9-A section 1-201: territorial application
• Title 9-A, section 2-401: caps on finance charge
• Title 9-A, section 2-509: provisions on prepayment
• Licensing of supervised lenders in Maine
• Cost illustration of payday loan in Maine Consumer Credit Protection Book
• CFPB Rule on Payment Withdrawals
• CFPB Guidance on Garnishment

The latest assessment of legal and regulatory sources was done on September 11, 2026. Laws, regulations, and directives of agencies may be modified.