Title 13 — Debtor and Creditor Relationship

The department of financial institutions shall use its facilities to administer and enforce this chapter. Any person or persons delegated to administer this chapter may not have financial interests directly or indirectly in any business which is subject to this chapter.

As used in this chapter, unless the context or subject matter otherwise requires: 1. "Collection agency" means a person that, in the ordinary course of business, engages in debt collection. 2. "Commissioner" means the commissioner of financial institutions. 3. "Communication" mea…

Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, no person, other than a collection agency licensed and authorized under this chapter, may engage in debt collection in the state of North Dakota without a collection agency license issued by the commissioner. A person engages in debt …

The commissioner may grant approval for each branch office which must be submitted by an application. When used in this chapter, "branch office" means a physical location where collection activity is carried out, other than the location where the collection agency license was gra…

1. Notwithstanding sections 13-05-02 and 13-05-02.3, a collection agency attempting in any manner to collect child support as defined in section 14-09-09.10 must be licensed under this chapter if either the child support debtor or creditor reside within this state, if the child s…

This chapter does not apply to: 1. Attorneys at law who are licensed to practice in the state of North Dakota. This exemption is limited to the actions of the licensed attorney and does not extend to persons either employed by the attorney or acting on behalf of the attorney; 2. …

1. Each application for a collection agency license, or for a renewal thereof, must be in the form prescribed by the commissioner and must contain the following information: a. The full name and proposed business name of the applicant. b. The address where the business is to be c…

1. Each licensee shall maintain a surety bond in the amount of fifty thousand dollars. 2. The surety bond must be in a form as prescribed by the commissioner. 3. When an action is commenced on a licensee's bond, the commissioner may require the filing of a new bond. 4. Immediatel…

A minimum net worth must be continuously maintained by every licensee in accordance with this section. 1. Minimum net worth must be maintained in the amount of twenty-five thousand dollars. 2. If the net worth of a licensee falls below the minimum net worth as set forth in subsec…

All licenses required herein expire on December thirty-first of each year and may be renewed. Applications for renewal must be submitted thirty days before the expiration of the license and must be accompanied by the required annual fees, which are not subject to refund. The form…

A licensee is required to submit within twenty business days of the date of change, notification of a change of name or change of address. The notification must be in the form prescribed by the commissioner.

Repealed by S.L. 2019, ch. 123, § 10.

Insofar as consistent with other provisions of law, the department of financial institutions has the power to: 1. Determine the qualifications of all applicants based on financial responsibility, financial condition, business experience, character, and general fitness which must …

1. The commissioner of financial institutions may issue and serve upon any current or former collection agency officer or employee and upon the collection agency involved an order stating: a. That the current or former officer or employee is willfully engaging or has willfully en…

1. The department of financial institutions may: a. Make such public or private investigation within or outside this state as it deems necessary to determine whether a person has violated or is about to violate a provision of this chapter or a rule or order under this chapter, or…

It is a violation of this chapter for a person or individual subject to this chapter to: 1. Negligently make any false statement or knowingly make any omission of material fact in connection with any information, reports, or applications filed with the department or another gover…

To promote more effective regulation and reduce regulatory burden through supervisory information sharing, the commissioner or commissioner's designee may furnish information to or receive information from a nationwide multistate licensing system for the purpose of regulation of …

A collection agency may collect or attempt to collect, in addition to the principal amount of a claim, a transaction fee for processing a credit card payment in an amount that does not exceed two and one-half percent of the payment amount if: 1. The transaction fee is not prohibi…

1. Every collection agency licensed under this chapter shall keep a record of all sums collected by it and of all disbursements made by it for a period of six years from the date of last entry thereon. The records of a licensee may be maintained electronically provided they can b…

An applicant, licensee, or other person subject to the provisions of this chapter shall comply with requests for information, documents, or other requests from the department of financial institutions within the time specified in the request, which must be a minimum of ten days, …

The commissioner of financial institutions shall submit a biennial report to the governor and the secretary of state in accordance with section 54-06-04.

The remedies provided for in this chapter are in addition to and not exclusive of any other remedies provided by law.

Any person violating any of the provisions of this chapter is guilty of a class C felony. The commissioner may impose a civil money penalty not to exceed five thousand dollars per violation upon a person or agency who willfully violates a law, rule, written agreement, or order un…