The type and location of your financial institution determines what regulatory authority you should contact. IF the name of your financial institution includes NA, National or Federal, then see the responses to questions 4, 5, and 6 of the list below to determine which federal agency is the regulatory authority for your financial institution and where to lodge your complaint. You will also find references to the federal regulatory authorities in the RESOURCES page of our website.

National banks are chartered, regulated and supervised by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). Banks whose names contain the word "national" or are followed by the initials NA are national banks. The OCC has six (6) district offices throughout the United States.

If you have a complaint against a national bank in West Virginia, you may call the OCC at 1-800-613-6743 or send a written complaint to the Comptroller’s Office at the following address:

Federal Credit Unions are chartered, regulated and supervised by the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA). If you have a complaint against a federal credit union in the state of West Virginia, you may call the NCUA at (703) 838-0401 OR send a written complaint to:

Federal savings and loan companies and federal savings banks are chartered, regulated and supervised by the Office of Thrift Supervision. Banks whose names are followed by the initials FSB are federal savings banks. If you have a complaint against a federal savings and loan company or federal savings bank, you may call them toll free at 1-800-253-2181 OR send a written complaint to:

No, Pawnshops and  Pawnbrokers are not supervised and/or regulated by the State of West Virginia. Instead, they are required to have a license from the municipality or other local area government in which they operate. They are required to obtain a business license from the Secretary of State and register with the State Tax Division.

Yes, the Division of Banking actively examines and regulates finance companies referred to as 'Regulated Consumer Lenders" through Chapter 46A, Article 4 of the State Code.

Yes, merchants in West Virginia may charge up to $25 for dishonored checks, drafts or orders. West Virginia State Code Chapter 61, Article 3, Section 39e allows the payee or holder to charge up to $25 for each check, draft or order that has been dishonored due to insufficient funds.

There is a delinquency charge limit on installment loans made in West Virginia by West Virginia headquartered institutions.

For Installment Loans, the amount of the late charge is determined by whether or not your loan is a precomputed or nonprecomputed loan.

PRECOMPUTED LOANS - A loan is considered to be a precomputed installment loan if the payments are a scheduled, fixed amount that includes principal and interest AND the amount of interest payments will not vary as a result of the actual dates payments are made.

Traditional mortgage loans are a good example of a precomputed loan. No matter when your payment is made, the amount of interest does not vary from a pre-determined schedule.

Financial institutions may contract for a delinquency fee charge on precomputed loans in an amount of which is five (5) percent of the unpaid installment, not to exceed $15.

NONPRECOMPUTED LOANS – Nonprecomputed consumer loans are those loans that have installment payments that include interest and principal, AND have interest calculated according to the number of days since the last payment. All revolving loans, like credit cards, are nonprecomputed loans

State law provides for maximum finance charges to be charged consumers in West Virginia by credit extending entities headquartered here. If a credit extending entity is located in another state, you may often be charged the rate legal in the other state. For instance, if a merchant is offering credit to you, please carefully read the loan documents to determine who the actual lender is and where the lender is headquartered.

In comparing your rate to those prescribed below, keep in mind that origination fees, investigation fees and other pre-paid finance charges MUST be included in the calculation of your total finance charges along with interest. Typically the addition of pre-paid finance charges has the affect of raising the cost of your loan.

Thus, the stated interest rate of your loan may be lower than the true cost of your loan, referred to as the annual percentage rate (APR).

Below is a recap of maximum finance charges OR Annual Percentage Rates (APR) allowed on loans issued in the State of West Virginia, by lenders in West Virginia.

Banks:

18% on all types of loans, i.e. car loans, personal loans, credit cards, lines of credit, etc. But note: Banks can claim parity with Regulated Consumer Lender rates discussed below and charge those rates.

Credit Unions:

18% on all types of loans, i.e. car loans, personal loans, credit cards, lines of credit, etc.

Regulated Consumer Lenders (finance companies):

Loans of $2000 or less – 31% + fees

(Unless secured by real estate)

in which case - 27%

Loans from $2000 - $10,000 – 27%

Loans of $10,001 or more – 18%

Merchants:

25%

ALL OTHER LENDERS:

18% on all types of loans, i.e. car loans, personal loans, credit cards, lines of credit, etc.

Exceptions:

The type of funds deposited determines when a bank/credit union must make your money available for use. Federal Reserve Board Regulation CC identifies when various deposits must be made available for use.

Reg. CC defines business days as Mondays through Fridays except for federal holidays. A banking day is any business day (up to the bank’s cut-off hour) when your institution is open for substantially all transactions.

In general the following types of deposits must be made available on the first business day following the banking day of deposit ("next-day availability"):

Cash deposited in person to an employee of the institution.

Electronic payments received by the institution.

United States Treasury checks in your account.

U.S. Postal Service money orders deposited in person to your account.

State and local government checks deposited in person to your account.

Cashier’s, certified or teller’s checks deposited in person to an employee of the institution and into the account of the payee.

Checks drawn on an account at your institution (on-us checks).

Institutions may hold funds and delay availability of deposits containing all other types of checks for up to eleven (11) days.

Note: For deposits of checks that contain non-"next-day" checks, the first $100 must receive next-day availability.

Enforcement of the West Virginia Consumer Credit and Protection Act is the responsibility of the West Virginia State Attorney General’s Office. Contact that agency at (304) 558-8986 in order to file a complaint.

No, but refer to your mortgage contract or agreement. It usually defines when foreclosure proceedings may begin.

West Virginia Code Chapter 36, Article 8, Section 2 defines the time frames required for funds to be declared abandoned. There are different time frames for different types of funds.

The West Virginia State Treasurer’s Unclaimed Property Office is responsible for receiving and maintaining morgaged personal property and properties that have been declared abandoned to the state.

You may contact them by calling on their toll free Unclaimed Property Number at 1-800-642-8687.

Report the incident to your financial institution immediately. The institution may agree and make restitution. However, the Uniform Commercial Code does place limits on the amount of time that a consumer has to notify the bank of a forgery, so it is important you open your bank or credit union statement as quickly as possible after receipt and reconcile the statement to your own records! Further the Uniform Commercial Code places a burden of due course on both the bank and its customer. Thus, even if there is clearly forgery on your account, the bank may refuse restitution if you didn't fufill your responsibility to take care of your checkbook and supplies of checks.

If the financial institution does not agree that the signature on your check is a forgery, you must resolve this issue through the court system. In this event, we suggest you seek the advice of legal counsel.

The West Virginia Division of Banking has no legal authority to resolve forgery and fraud issues.