Title 37, Consumer Protection Code

(A) Licensees must complete at least twelve hours of continuing professional education every two years. At least six of the twelve hours must be earned in a live instructional setting as opposed to a correspondence course or similar instructional method. If the organization is a …

The department may refuse to license an applicant or suspend or revoke a license or refuse to renew a license issued pursuant to this chapter if it finds, after notice and a hearing pursuant to the Administrative Procedures Act, that the applicant or his agent has: (1) been convi…

(A) Upon the filing of a complete application for a license, accompanied by the fee required, if the department finds that the financial responsibility and condition, character, qualifications, and general fitness of the applicant, and of the members if the applicant is a co-part…

A credit counseling organization, through its credit counselors, may not engage in credit counseling services or a debt management plan unless: (1) the licensee provides the consumer with a credit education program designed to improve the financial literacy of the consumer; (2) a…

(A) Upon establishing a debt management plan for a debtor, a licensee may charge and receive a setup fee as established by the department by regulation. If, within forty-five days of establishing the debt management plan, the lack of consent from the debtor's creditors causes the…

(A) A written contract is required. A service that requires any payment, fee, or other consideration may not be provided by a credit counseling organization for a consumer unless a written and dated contract for the purchase of those services, which meets the requirements of subs…

(A) Funds paid to the licensee by or on behalf of a consumer for disbursement to the consumer's creditors must be deposited in a trust account established by the licensee for the benefit of debtors. (B) A credit counseling organization shall: (1) maintain separate records of acco…

A licensee may not charge a consumer a fee except as established by the department by regulation.

A licensee shall provide the consumer with an individualized counseling and education session that at a minimum addresses the following topics: managing household finances, managing credit and debt, budgeting, and personal savings strategies.

(A) Each credit counseling organization shall maintain and preserve in its licensed offices complete and accurate books, accounts, and records as the department may reasonably require to determine if the credit counseling organization is complying with the provisions of this chap…

(A) Each credit counseling organization licensed pursuant to this chapter annually, on or before April fifteenth, shall file a written report with the department relating to the credit counseling organization business conducted during the preceding calendar year. The report shall…

(A) A licensee may not: (1) obtain an agreement from a consumer waiving a right the consumer has pursuant to this chapter; (2) charge a fee to a consumer if the consumer enters into a debt management plan with the licensee to rescind a DMP contract; (3) advertise in a statement o…

(A) A person who violates this chapter is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined not more than five hundred dollars or imprisoned not more than six months, or both. If it is determined by a court of competent jurisdiction that a violation is wilful, the court…

A violation of a provision of this chapter is considered a violation of Section 39-5-20 of the South Carolina Unfair Trade Practices Act. A remedy pursuant to Section 39-5-20 of the South Carolina Unfair Trade Practices Act is cumulative of and in addition to those available purs…

(A) Upon the finding that an action of a licensee may be in violation of this chapter, or of a law or regulation of this State or of the federal government or an agency of them, the department, after reasonable notice to the licensee and an opportunity for the licensee to be hear…

Within thirty days after the final decision of the department and by written notice to the department, an aggrieved party may appeal the decision pursuant to Article 3, Chapter 23, Title 1, the Administrative Procedures Act.

The department may promulgate regulations necessary to effectuate the purposes of this chapter.

All application and renewal fees collected by the department may be retained by the department and used to implement the provision of this chapter.