H. B. 4461
(By Delegate Hatfield (By Request))
[Introduced February 12, 2002; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend article one, chapter forty-six-a of the code of
West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated section
one hundred nine, relating to consumer credit and lending;
providing that the date a payment is postmarked is the date
the payment is considered to be received; and providing
exemptions.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article one, chapter forty-six-a of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be
amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section one
hundred nine, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 1. SHORT TITLE, DEFINITIONS AND GENERAL PROVISIONS.
§46A-1-109. Postmark prompt payment act.
(a) This section may be known and cited as the "Postmark
Prompt Payment Act."
(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, if a payment
required to be made on or before a prescribed date is delivered
after that date by the United States postal service to the payee,
the payment is considered to have been received by the payee on the
date of the postal service's postmark stamped on the envelope or
other cover in which the payment is mailed.
(c) Subsection (b) of this section applies only:
(1) With respect to a payment that is a payment on:
(A) A consumer credit transaction arising under this chapter;
(B) A lender credit card or similar arrangement;
(C) A regulated consumer loan arising under article four of
this chapter; or
(D) An agreement which is secured by a first lien or
subordinate lien on the consumer's principal dwelling or primary
residence; and
(2) If the:
(A) Postmark date falls on or before the prescribed date for
making the payment; and
(B) Payment was deposited on or before that date in the mail
in the United States in an envelope or under other appropriate
cover, postage prepaid, properly addressed to the payee.
(d) Subsection (b) of this section does not apply:
(1) With respect to any payment that is:
(A)Required by law, rule, regulation or contract to be
delivered by any method other than mail; or
(B) Subject to any other provision of this code or federal law
specifying how a postmark date must be used in determining the date
on which the payment is considered to have been delivered or made;
and
(2) In the case of a postmark not made by the United States
postal service.
(e) For purposes of this section, the term "payee," as used
with respect to a payment, includes any person authorized to
receive the payment.
(f) The provisions of this section apply:
(1) With respect to loans, accounts, credit cards,
transactions, and agreements transacted, opened, entered into,
renewed, reissued or refinanced on or after the effective date of
this section; and
(2) With respect to any mailing postmarked after the end of
the ninety-day period beginning on the effective date of this
section.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide
that the date a
payment is postmarked is the date the payment is considered to be
received, for certain consumer credit and lending transactions.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.