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S. 76
STATUS INFORMATION
General Bill
Sponsors: Senator Short
Document Path: l:\council\bills\agm\18649mm07.doc
Introduced in the Senate on January 9, 2007
Currently residing in the Senate Committee on Banking and Insurance
Summary: Pay day lending services
HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS
Date Body Action Description with journal page number
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11/29/2006 Senate Prefiled
11/29/2006 Senate Referred to Committee on Banking and Insurance
1/9/2007 Senate Introduced and read first time SJ-58
1/9/2007 Senate Referred to Committee on Banking and Insurance SJ-58
View the latest legislative information at the LPITS web site
VERSIONS OF THIS BILL
TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, BY ADDING SECTION 34-39-175 SO AS TO PROVIDE FOR A COMMON DATABASE OF DEFERRED PRESENTMENT TRANSACTIONS, IMPLEMENTED BY THE CONSUMER FINANCE DIVISION OF THE BOARD OF FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS AND ACCESSIBLE TO DEFERRED PRESENTMENT PROVIDERS TO VERIFY IF AN APPLICANT HAS AN EXISTING OR RECENTLY TERMINATED DEFERRED PRESENTMENT TRANSACTION, TO PROVIDE FOR THE INFORMATION REQUIRED, AND TO ALLOW A FEE UP TO ONE DOLLAR FOR SUBMITTED DATA; TO AMEND SECTION 34-39-130, RELATING TO ENGAGING IN THE BUSINESS OF DEFERRED PRESENTMENT SERVICES, SO AS TO REQUIRE COMPLIANCE BY BOTH RESIDENT AND NONRESIDENT PROVIDERS OF DEFERRED PRESENTMENT SERVICES; AND TO AMEND SECTION 34-39-180, RELATING TO REQUIREMENTS OF A LICENSED PROVIDER OF DEFERRED PRESENTMENT SERVICES, SO AS TO INCLUDE THE REQUIREMENTS THAT THE LICENSEE VERIFY EXISTING OR RECENTLY TERMINATED TRANSACTIONS BY WAY OF THE ESTABLISHED DATABASE AND THAT THE PROVIDER GIVE A GRACE PERIOD TO A CONSUMER WHO CANNOT REPAY IN A TIMELY MANNER, INCLUDING WRITTEN NOTICE OF THE GRACE PERIOD, INFORMATION ABOUT CONSUMER CREDIT COUNSELING, AND CONSPICUOUS NOTICE THAT THE CONSUMER CANNOT BE ARRESTED FOR FAILURE TO REPAY THE LOAN, AND TO PROVIDE THAT THE LICENSEE PAY ONE-HALF THE COST OF THE CONSUMER'S COUNSELING.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1. Chapter 39 of Title 34 is amended by adding:
"Section 34-39-175. (A) The Consumer Finance Division of the Board of Financial Institutions shall implement a common database with real-time access through an Internet connection for deferred presentment providers, as provided in this subsection. The database must be accessible to the board and the deferred presentment providers to verify if deferred presentment transactions are outstanding for a particular person. Deferred presentment providers shall submit that data before entering into a deferred presentment transaction in a format the board requires by rule including the drawer's name, social security number or employment authorization alien number, address, driver's license number, amount of the transaction, date of transaction, the date that the transaction is closed, and additional information required by the board. The board may impose a fee not to exceed one dollar for each transaction for data required to be submitted by a licensee. A licensee may rely on the information contained in the database as accurate and is not subject to any administrative penalty or civil liability as a result of relying on inaccurate information contained in the database. The board may adopt rules to administer and enforce the provisions of this section and to assure that the database is used by licensees in accordance with this section."
SECTION 2. Section 34-39-130 of the 1976 Code, as added by Act 433 of 1998, is amended by adding at the end:
"(C) A person may not engage in the business of deferred presentment services to a consumer residing in the State, whether or not the person has a location in South Carolina, except in compliance with the provisions of this chapter and without having first obtained a license pursuant to this chapter.
(D) A person may not engage in the business of arranging or brokering deferred presentment services for a consumer residing in the State, whether or not the person has a location in South Carolina."
SECTION 3. Section 34-39-180(G) of the 1976 Code, as added by Act 433 of 1998, is amended to read:
"(G) A licensee may not enter into a deferred presentment transaction with a person who has an outstanding deferred presentment transaction with that licensee or with another licensee, or with a person whose previous deferred presentment transaction with that provider or with another provider has been terminated for less than twenty-four hours. The deferred presentment provider must verify that information as follows:
(1) The licensee shall maintain a common database pursuant to Section 34-39-175 and shall verify whether that deferred presentment licensee or an affiliate has an outstanding deferred presentment transaction with a particular person or has terminated a transaction with that person within the previous twenty-four hours.
(2) The licensee shall access the board's database established pursuant to Section 34-39-175 and shall verify whether another licensee has an outstanding deferred presentment transaction with a particular person or has terminated a transaction with that person within the previous twenty-four hours. Before the board has implemented the database, the licensee may rely upon the written verification of the drawer.
(H)(1) If, by the end of the deferment period, the drawer informs the deferred presentment provider in person that the drawer is unable to redeem or pay in full in cash the amount due and owing the deferred presentment provider, the deferred presentment provider shall provide a grace period extending the term of the agreement for an additional sixty days after the original termination date, without additional charge. The provider shall require as a condition of providing this grace period that, within the first seven days of the grace period, the drawer make an appointment with a consumer credit counseling agency within seven days after the end of the deferment period and complete the counseling by the end of the grace period. The drawer may agree to, comply with, and adhere to a repayment plan approved by the counseling agency. If the drawer agrees to comply with and adhere to a repayment plan approved by the counseling agency, the provider is required also to comply with and adhere to that repayment plan. The deferred presentment provider may not deposit or present the drawer's check for payment before the end of the sixty-day grace period unless the drawer fails to comply with the conditions or the drawer fails to notify the provider of the compliance. Before each deferred presentment transaction, the provider verbally may advise the drawer of the availability of the grace period consistent with the provisions of the written notice in subitem (c), and may not discourage the drawer from using the grace period.
(2) At the commencement of the grace period, the licensee shall provide the drawer:
(a) verbal notice of the availability of the grace period consistent with the written notice in subitem (c);
(b) a list of approved consumer credit counseling agencies prepared by the South Carolina Department of Consumer Affairs. This list must include nonprofit consumer credit counseling agencies affiliated with the National Foundation for Credit Counseling which provide credit counseling services to South Carolina residents in person, by telephone, or through the Internet. The office list must include phone numbers for the agencies, the counties served by the agencies, and indicate the agencies that provide telephone counseling and those that provide Internet counseling. The South Carolina Department of Consumer Affairs shall update the list at least once each year;
(c) the following notice in at least 14-point type in substantially the following form:
We will give you a grace period of sixty days to pay your loan with us. You have until [date], to go through consumer credit counseling given to you by an agency that is on the list we have provided. You may also agree to follow a repayment plan developed by the agency. The counseling may be in person or by telephone. You must tell us within seven days, by [date], that you have made an appointment with a consumer credit counseling agency. You must also tell us within sixty days, by [date], that you have completed the consumer credit counseling. We may check with the agency to make sure you have done this. If you do not give us either the seven-day or sixty-day notice, or if you have not made the appointment or finished the counseling within the time required, we may deposit or present your check for payment. We also may pursue all legally available civil means to enforce the debt. We cannot have you arrested for a payday loan.
(3) If a drawer completes an approved payment plan, the deferred presentment provider shall pay one-half of the drawer's fee for the deferred presentment agreement to the consumer credit counseling agency.
(I) 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 4. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.
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