31-1-242. Refunds on prepayment. - Montana Statutes

     31-1-242. Refunds on prepayment. (1) Notwithstanding the provisions of any retail installment contract to the contrary, any buyer may prepay in full, at any time before maturity, the debt of any retail installment contract and in so paying such debt shall receive a refund credit thereon for such anticipation of payments.
     (2) In a contract where the period of the contract does not exceed 61 months, the amount of such refund shall represent at least as great a proportion of the finance charge as the sum of the monthly time balances beginning 1 month after prepayment is made bears to the sum of all the monthly time balances under the schedule of payment in the contract. Where the amount of credit is less than $1, no refund need be made.
     (3) In any contract where the period of the contract exceeds 61 months, the amount of such refund is the portion of the original finance charge that is applicable to all fully unexpired months in the contract as originally scheduled or, if deferred, as deferred, following the date of prepayment. For this purpose, the applicable charge is the charge that would have been earned for that period if the contract were not precomputed, by applying to the unpaid principal balance, according to the actuarial method, the annual percentage rate disclosed pursuant to federal law, based on the assumption that all payments were made as originally scheduled.

     History: En. Sec. 9, Ch. 282, L. 1959; R.C.M. 1947, 74-609; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 135, L. 1983.