§155-13 Repayment; refinancing. (a) Loans made under this chapter shall be repaid in accordance with a payment plan specified by the lender, with payments applied first to interest and then to principal.

(b) Additional payments in any sums, or the payment of the entire principal, may be made at any date within the time period of the loan.

(c) The lender may, for satisfactory cause and at its discretion, extend the time within which the installments of principal may be paid for a period not to exceed two years; provided that the lender may further extend the time beyond the said two years for an additional period not to exceed three years if the borrower is in a state of extreme financial hardship which is caused by factors beyond the borrower's control, which factors include, but not limited to, the following: depressed prices, extended poor weather conditions, persistent crop failures, and rapidly increasing production costs not accompanied by a corresponding increase in the crop price.

(d) For loans in class "C" which are made to plant and cultivate land used for crops requiring eighteen months or more before first maturing, the department of agriculture may defer the first payment of principal and interest until the crop first matures; provided that:

(1) The chairperson shall determine the commencement date for payment of the first installment. The chairperson may defer the initial payment on the principal of a loan, not to exceed five years from the date of issuance of the loan; and

(2) The chairperson may defer the interest on the principal of a loan, not to exceed two years from the date of issuance of the loan.

For purposes of this subsection, "chairperson" means the chairperson of the board of agriculture.

(e) The borrower will be expected to refinance the balance owed on any direct loan as soon as the borrower is able to obtain credit from other sources at reasonable rates and terms. [L 1959, c 278, pt of §1; am L Sp 1959 2d, c 1, §25; am L 1961, c 104, §1(o), (p) and c 132, §2; Supp, §102-13; HRS §155-13; am L 1978, c 190, §1; gen ch 1985; am L 1995, c 78, §1; am L 1997, c 162, §1]