720                                        LAWS OF MARYLAND                                Ch. 319

50.

Any person who shall wilfully and unlawfully misapply or convert to his own use
any money or other property belonging to said organized militia, or any
organization thereof, or who shall, when lawfully called upon to do so by the
proper officer, fail or refuse to pay or deliver to said officer any money or
property in his possession, or for which the said person was chargeable or
accountable, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof, in the
District Court sitting in the city or county wherein such offense was committed, or
the circuit court of the county wherein such offense was committed, or the
Criminal Court of Baltimore, should [be] THE accused party prefer a jury trial,
shall be fined a sum not exceeding five hundred dollars, or sentenced to
imprisonment in jail for a period not exceeding one year, or he shall be both fined
and imprisoned, in the discretion of the court.

SECTION 2. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act shall take
effect July 1, 1973.

Approved May 7, 1973.

CHAPTER 320
(House Bill 761)

AN ACT to repeal and re-enact, with amendments, Section 153D(c) of Article 83
of the Annotated Code of Maryland (1969 Replacement Volume and 1972
Supplement), title "Sales and Notices," subtitle "Retail Credit Accounts Law,"
to prohibit [[separate accounts for balances over a certain amount in order to
impose interest at the higher legal rate on each account]] in certain
circumstances the imposing of higher rates of service charges than could be
obtained if the buyer had only a single account, with certain exceptions; and
matters relating to retail credit accounts, and to provide that this Act shall only
apply prospectively after January 1, 1974.

SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF
MARYLAND, That Section 153D(c) of Article 83 of the Annotated Code of
Maryland (1969 Replacement Volume and 1972 Supplement), title "Sales and
Notices," subtitle "Retail Credit Accounts Law," be and it is hereby repealed and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 (1-1/2%) 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.