Hawaii

Hawaii is one of 23 states that have already enacted laws to regulate payday loan institutions. Under Hawaii law, payday lenders are required to provide a written agreement for each transaction. The written agreement for a payday loan must have a statement of the total amount of charges plus any fees. The amount must be expressed in U.S. dollars along with the annual percentage rate. The written agreement must not make any mention of collateral.

Hawaii restricts the payday loan terms. In Hawaii, payday lenders are not allowed to have term limits past 31 days. In addition, the face amount of a check cannot exceed $300. Also, the maximum amount in fees a payday lender can charge their customers in Hawaii is 15 percent. Any payday loan lenders that charge over this limit are in violation of chapter 478.

In Hawaii, a payday loan lender cannot enter into a new agreement with a customer if they already have outstanding loan balances. Also, Hawaii law prohibits and payday loan lender offering another payday loan to repay the previous one.

Surprisingly payday loan lenders cannot sue their customers to collect debt. Under Hawaii law it states that a payday lender who enters into a deferred deposit agreement and accepts a check passed on insufficient funds, shall not be entitled to recover damages. The maximum recovery fee a payday lender in Hawaii can charge is $20.