610                               Laws of Maryland                      [Ch. 298

Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That this Act shall take effect
July 1, 1971.

Approved April 29, 1971

CHAPTER 298
(House Bill 400)

AN ACT to repeal and re-enact, with amendments, Section 153D (c)
of Article 83 of the Annotated Code of Maryland (1969 Replace-
ment Volume), title "Sales and Notices," subtitle "Retail Credit
Accounts Law," relating to the manner of computing outstanding
balances subject to service charges.

Section 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Maryland,
That Section 153D(c) of Article 83 of the Annotated Code of Mary-
land (1969 Replacmeent REPLACEMENT Volume), title "Sales and
Notices," subtitle "Retail Credit Accounts Law," be and the same is
hereby repealed and re-enacted, with amendments, to read as follows:

153D.

(c) When the service charge is assessed on the outstanding
balances from month to month, a service charge which shall not
exceed the following rates computed on the outstanding balances
from month to month:

(1)    On so much of the outstanding balance as does not exceed
five hundred dollars ($500.00), one and one-half percent (1½%)
per month; if the outstanding balance is more than five hundred
dollars ($500.00), one percent (1%) per month on the excess over
five hundred dollars ($500.00) of the outstanding balance.

(2)    Such service charge may be computed for all outstanding
balances within a range of not in excess of ten dollars ($10.00) on
the basis of the median amount within such range if as so computed
such service charge is applied to all outstanding balances within
such range.

(3) For the purpose of computing the outstanding balance subject
to the service charge as provided in this Section- (I) the outstanding
balance on any day shall consist of an amount which shall not exceed
the sum of the total charges to the account less the amounts paid or
credited to the account prior to such day., OR (II) THE OUT-
STANDING BALANCE MAY BE COMPUTED BY THE AVER-
AGE DAILY BALANCE METHOD.

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That this Act shall take effect
July 1, 1971 JANUARY 1, 1972.

Approved April 29, 1971