South Carolina General Assembly
113th Session, 1999-2000

Download This Bill in Microsoft Word format

Bill 537


Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter


                    Current Status

Bill Number:                      537
Type of Legislation:              General Bill GB
Introducing Body:                 Senate
Introduced Date:                  19990225
Primary Sponsor:                  Moore
All Sponsors:                     Moore
Drafted Document Number:          l:\s-res\tlm\00724ho.jjj.doc
Residing Body:                    Senate
Current Committee:                Banking and Insurance Committee 02 SBI
Subject:                          Deferred presentment services, twenty-
                                  four hour delay required before customer may 
                                  enter contract, Banks, Checks


                        History

Body    Date      Action Description                     Com     Leg Involved
______  ________  ______________________________________ _______ ____________
Senate  19990225  Introduced, read first time,           02 SBI
                  referred to Committee


                             Versions of This Bill

View additional legislative information at the LPITS web site.


(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

A BILL

TO AMEND SECTION 34-39-180 CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO DEFERRED PRESENTMENT OF CHECKS, SO AS TO REQUIRE A TWENTY-FOUR HOUR DELAY AFTER A CUSTOMER OF A LICENSEE PAYS IN FULL A CONTRACT BEFORE THAT LICENSEE MAY ENTER INTO ANOTHER CONTRACT WITH THAT SAME CUSTOMER.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION 1. Section 34-39-180 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 34-39-180. (A) A licensee may defer the presentment or deposit of a check for up to thirty-one days pursuant to the provisions of this section.

(B) The face amount of a check taken for deferred presentment or deposit may not exceed three hundred dollars, exclusive of the fees allowed in Section 34-39-180(E).

(C) Each check must be documented by a written agreement signed by both the customer and the licensee. The written agreement must contain the name or trade name of the licensee, the transaction date, the amount of the check, and a statement of the total amount of fees charged, expressed both as a dollar amount and as an effective annual percentage rate (APR). The written agreement must authorize expressly the licensee to defer presentment or deposit of the check until a specific date, not later than thirty-one days from the date the check is accepted by the licensee.

(D) The board shall require each licensee to issue a standardized consumer notification and disclosure form in compliance with state and federal truth-in-lending laws before entering into a deferred presentment agreement.

(E) A licensee shall not charge, directly or indirectly, a fee or other consideration in excess of fifteen percent of the face amount of the check for accepting a check for deferred presentment or deposit. The fee or other consideration authorized by this subsection may be imposed only once for each written agreement. Records must be kept by each licensee with sufficient detail to ensure that the fee or other consideration authorized by this subsection may be imposed only once for each written agreement.

(F) A check accepted for deferred presentment or deposit pursuant to this chapter may not be repaid from the proceeds of another check accepted for deferred presentment or deposit by the same licensee or an affiliate of the licensee. A licensee shall not renew or otherwise extend presentment of a check or withhold the check from deposit, for old or new consideration, for a period beyond the time set forth in the written agreement with the customer.

(G) A licensee shall not, for a period of at least twenty-four hours after a customer has paid in full the existing written agreement or contract with the licensee, enter into a new written agreement for deferred presentment or deposit of a check with that customer.

(G) (H) If a check is returned to the licensee from a payer financial institution due to insufficient funds, closed account, or stop payment order, the licensee may pursue all legally available civil means to collect the check including, but not limited to, the imposition of a returned check charge as provided in Section 34-11-70(a), except that the service charge imposed by the licensee shall not exceed the lesser of ten dollars or the fee imposed by the financial institution on the licensee for the returned check. An individual who issues a personal check to a licensee under a deferred presentment agreement is not subject to criminal penalty."

SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.

----XX----


This web page was last updated on Wednesday, December 9, 2009 at 9:06 A.M.