Licensing requirement; exemptions

(a) No person shall engage in the business of making installment loans or acting as an installment lender in this state unless such person 634 7-3-4 is licensed in accordance with this chapter or exempt from licensure as provided in subsection (b) of this Code section. No person within the operation of this chapter shall charge, contract for, or receive directly or indirectly on or in connection with any loan, any interest, charge, fee, compensation, or consideration which is greater than the rates for same provided in this chapter. (b) This chapter shall not apply to: (1) Businesses chartered or licensed under the authority of any law of this state or of the United States as banks, trust companies, savings and loan associations, savings banks, or credit unions or to the transactions of such businesses; (2) Banks or credit unions chartered under the authority of any state which have deposits that are federally insured or to the transactions of such businesses; (3) Pawnbrokers, as defined in Code Section 44-12-130, or to the transactions of pawnbrokers; (4) The University System of Georgia or its educational units, private colleges and universities in this state and associations thereof, or student loan transactions of such educational entities; (5) An individual employed by a licensee or any person exempted from the licensing requirements of this chapter when acting within the scope of employment and under the supervision of the licensee or exempted person as an employee and not as an independent contractor; (6) Any agency, division, or instrumentality of the federal government of the United States of America; the government of the State of Georgia or the government of any other state; or any county or municipal government in the State of Georgia; and the transactions of all such governmental entities; (7) Retail installment transactions engaged in by retail installment sellers, as those terms are defined in Code Section 10-1-31; (8) Retail installment transactions engaged in by retail sellers, as those terms are defined in Code Section 10-1-2; (9) Transactions in which a lender offers a consumer a line of credit of more than $3,000.00 but the consumer utilizes $3,000.00 or less of such line of credit so long as there are no restrictions in place that would limit the consumer’s ability to utilize more than $3,000.00 of the line of credit at any one time; or (10) A tax exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 that does not impose any interest, 635 7-3-4 fees, or other charges in connection with installment loans or the servicing of such loans. History. Ga. L. 1904, p. 79, § 18; Ga. L. 1920, p. 215, § 19; Code 1933, §§ 25-221, 25-318; Ga. L. 1955, p. 431, § 5; Code 1981, § 73-6; Ga. L. 1985, p. 249, § 1; Ga. L. 1997, p. 143, § 7; Ga. L. 2016, p. 390, § 7-4/HB 811; Code 1981, § 7-3-4, as redesignated by Ga. L. 2020, p. 156, § 2/SB 462; Ga. L. 2022, p. 220, § 38/HB 891; Ga. L. 2023, p. 651, § 45/HB 55, effective July 1, 2023. Amendments. The 2022 amendment, effective July 1, 2022, inserted “or acting as an installment lender” in the first sentence in subsection (a); deleted “or” from the end of paragraph (b)(4), substituted a semicolon for a period at the end of paragraph (b)(5), and added paragraphs (b)(6) through (b)(9). The 2023 amendment, effective July 1, 2023, deleted “or” at the end of paragraph (b)(8), substituted “; or” for a period at the end of paragraph (b)(9), and added paragraph (b)(10). Editor’s notes. Former Code Section 7-3-4, concerning the applicability of the chapter and its effect on existing lenders, was repealed by Ga. L. 2020, p. 156, § 2/SB 462, effective June 30, 2020. This Code section was based on Ga. L. 1955, p. 431, § 3; Ga. L. 1975, p. 393, § 1; Ga. L. 1989, p. 14, § 7.