Consumer Credit Laws and Regulations
The Consumer Credit Section of the Missouri Division of Finance is responsible for licensing and regulating various types of consumer finance companies to ensure compliance with numerous state and federal laws. During an examination, examiners will identify each type of transaction and apply the appropriate statutes and regulations governing that particular type of credit. In addition to state laws, companies must comply with many federal laws as well such as Regulation AA, Regulation B, Regulation Z, the Federal Trade Commission Credit Practices Rule, and the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA). While each type of lender has unique statutory requirements, there are several common threads. For example, credit insurance, financial calculations, Uniform Commercial Code, and Truth-in-Lending requirements apply to all lenders.
Because the statutes and regulations relating to consumer credit are so specialized, the Division of Finance has compiled a Missouri consumer credit lawbook. This lawbook contains all of the relevant Missouri licensing and substantive statutes and regulations for sale of checks, retail credit sales, premium finance, motor vehicle time sales, pawnbrokers, consumer credit loans, title loans, credit services (credit repair) operators, usury, real estate loans (both first and second mortgages), loans of $500 or less (payday loans), consumer installment loans, anti-redlining, mortgage brokers, reverse mortgages, consumer credit related criminal statutes plus the pertinent state laws on credit insurance products.