La. Admin. Code tit. 46 § V-7301

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 11, November 20, 2024

Section V-7301 - License Requirement and Exception

A.

1. No person unless exempt from licensing under R.S. 6.969.36 shall engage in the business of:

a. making consumer loans or the origination of consumer credit sales;

b. taking assignments of and undertake direct collection of payments from or enforcing rights against consumers under a consumer loan or consumer credit sale;

2. without first filing an application, paying a non-refundable application fee and obtaining a license from the commission. An assignee may, however, collect and enforce consumer obligations of which it has taken assignment for three months without a license if the assignee notifies the commission in writing, the assignee promptly applies for a license, and the application is not rejected.

B. A license is required whether or not the applicant has one or more offices in this state.

C. A license is required for each office maintained in this state. If a licensee makes direct consumer loans to consumers at a seller's location, that location is not deemed to be a branch office of the lender.

D. All of the following shall be exempt from the licensing requirements of this Chapter:

1. supervised financial organizations;

2. trusts and trustee, including without limitation securitization trusts and trustees;

3. assignees with no offices in this state holding motor vehicle contracts on an interim basis for a period of 90 days or less;

4. governmental agencies, instrumentalities, or public entities organized by Act of Congress or the Legislature of Louisiana;

5. qualified pension plans when entering into an extension of credit to a plan participant;

6. bona fide pledgees of motor vehicle credit contracts;

7. persons holding motor vehicle contracts for servicing or collection on behalf of the actual owner of such obligations;

8. licensed new motor vehicle dealers to the extent that they regularly sell, assign, and transfer contracts originated by them to third party assignees within 60 days following origination. A licensed new motor vehicle dealer may retain at any one time, and from time to time thereafter, a maximum of 12 contracts for its own account without being subject to the licensing requirements of this Chapter.

E. The commission may waive the licensing and examination requirements for a subsidiary of an entity as described in Paragraph D.1.

F. The application shall be in writing, under oath, and in the form prescribed by the commission. The application shall contain: the name of the applicant; date of incorporation, if incorporated, date of formation if a partnership or limited liability company or other entity; the address where the business is to be conducted and similar information as to any branch office of the applicant in this state; the name and resident address of the owner, members or partners or, if a corporation or association, of the directors, trustees, and principal officers; and such other pertinent information as the commission may require to make an evaluation of the applicant.

G. No license shall be issued unless the commission, upon investigation, finds that the financial responsibility, business integrity and ability to properly conduct the business by the applicant's owner, partners if the applicant is a partnership, members if the applicant is a limited liability company, officers and directors if the applicant is a corporation, and the applicant if a sole proprietorship are such to warrant a belief that the business shall be conducted honestly and fairly within the purposes of this Chapter and they each meet the following requirements:

1. be 18 years of age or older and a citizen of the United States or a resident alien holding proper documentation to work in the United States;

2. be of good character and fitness; and

3. not been convicted of a felony in the previous ten years, notwithstanding that the conviction was expunged, set aside, or received a first offense pardon. The only felony conviction which shall not be considered for purposes of this Chapter is one which received a governor's or presidential pardon.

H. No license shall be issued in any name other than its legal name or assumed name properly filed in accordance with the statutes of this state and set forth in the license application. No license shall be issued in any name which may be confused with or which is similar to any federal, state, parish, or municipal governmental function or agency, or in any name which may tend to describe any business function or enterprise not actually engaged in by the applicant, or in any name which is the same as or so similar to that of any existing license as would tend to deceive the public, or in any name which would otherwise tend to be deceptive or misleading.

I. Each license expires December 31 and must be renewed annually by the licensee.

J. No license shall be sold or otherwise transferred.

K. A licensee shall give the commission 30 days prior written notice of any location change.

L. A licensee shall notify the commission in writing within 30 days after ceasing to do business in this state.

La. Admin. Code tit. 46, § V-7301

Promulgated by the Office of the Governor, Motor Vehicle Commission, LR 31:922 (April 2005).

AUTHORITY NOTE: Promulgated in accordance with R.S. 6:969.40(D).