28-8. Notification and Fees Summary Procedures - Licensing.

A. Notification. Pursuant to the authority contained in Sections 37-6-201, 37-6-202, 37-6-203 and 37-6-204 of the Code, the following rules are adopted for notification to this Department of a person engaged in this State in making consumer credit sales, consumer leases, consumer rental-purchase agreements or consumer loans and to a person having an office or place of business in this State who takes assignments of and undertakes direct collection of payments from or enforcement of rights against debtors arising from these sales, leases, rental-purchase agreements or loans.

B. Forms. Persons subject to the section as in A above shall file a notification form with the Administrator within thirty (30) days after commencing business in this State and thereafter on or before January thirty-first of each year on the prescribed form which shall state:

(1) Name of person;

(2) Name in which business is transacted if different from (1) above;

(3) Address of principal office giving street number, city, state and zip- code (This may be outside the State of South Carolina);

(4) Addresses of all offices or retail stores, if any, in this State at which consumer credit sales, consumer leases, consumer rental-purchase agreements or consumer loans are made, or in case of a person taking assignments of obligations, the offices or places of business within this State at which business is transacted;

(5) If consumer credit sales, consumer leases, consumer rental-purchase agreements or consumer loans are made otherwise than at an office or retail store in this State, a brief description of the manner in which they are made;

(6) Type of business conducted;

(7) If consumer rental-purchase transactions are made at any location listed pursuant to (3) and (4) and cash or credit sales of merchandise are also made at those locations, an indication of that fact;

(8) Address of designated agent upon whom service of process may be made in this State.

C. Fees. A person required to file notification shall on or before January thirty-first of each year pay to the Administrator an annual fee of ninety dollars for that year, for each address in this State listed in the notification; provided, however, that the fee for any one person shall not be less than ninety dollars; provided, further, that a person who does not extend credit pursuant to written contracts and a person whose annual gross volume of business does not exceed one hundred fifty thousand dollars shall be exempt from any fee and from the notification requirements of the section as in A above.

D. Application for License to Make Supervised Loans: Applications for licenses to make supervised loans shall be made to the South Carolina Board of Financial Institutions on a form pre-scribed by the Board and shall contain the following:

(1) name and address of applicant;

(2) name in which and address for which the license is to be issued;

(3) name and address in South Carolina of agent upon whom process may be served;

(4) business, if any, other than making supervised loans, which will be conducted at the licensed address;

(5) all organizations related to the applicant and the character of business conducted by each;

(6) name, address and telephone number of person to be contacted for further information about this application;

(7) name, business address, residence address, official title and other business or occupation, if any, of the applicant, the manager and, as applicable, each partner, officer and director;

(8) name and address of any person(s) listed under the subsection D(7) above and of any person(s) related to the applicant who have engaged in the business of making consumer loans in any state during the last five years (give details for each person so engaged);

(9) a statement of whether any person listed under the subsection D(7) above has been convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude during the last ten years (if so give details);

(10) a statement of whether any person listed under the subsection D(8) above has been the subject of any proceeding either to cancel, suspend or revoke a lending license or in which a regulatory authority or law enforcement agency alleged a violation of state or federal law (if so give details);

(11) a current accurate statement of the financial condition of the applicant showing that he has available for operation of business in this State assets of at least $25,000 for each license issued to him;

(12) an investigation fee of $100 plus a license fee of $200, paid separately (the license fee will be returned if the application is denied; the investigation fee will not be refunded in any event);

(13) a copy of any corporate charter and certificate of authority to do business in South Carolina, if applicable;

(14) the signature of the applicant which must be notarized.

E. Investigation of Application for License: Upon receipt of the completed application with appropriate fees, the Board will conduct an investigation as it deems appropriate to enable it to determine whether:

(1) the character and fitness of the applicant, the members and the partners, officers and directors, where applicable, are such as to warrant belief that the business will be operated honestly and fairly;

(2) the applicant has available for operation of his business in this State assets of at least $25,000 for each license issued in this State.

F. Issuance or Denial of License: The Board shall within sixty (60) days after the application for license has been filed either grant the license or notify the applicant in writing by mail that the application has been denied and stating, in substance, the Board's findings in such a concise and explicit manner as to reasonably inform the applicant of the underlying facts supporting its findings and denial of the application.

G. Request for Hearing Upon Denial of License: Upon written request, the applicant is entitled to a hearing on his application if the Board has notified the applicant in writing that his application has been denied, or the Board has not issued a license within sixty (60) days after the application for the license was filed. The request for hearing must be in writing and must be made not later than fifteen (15) days after denial of the application, as provided in Section 37-3-503(3) of the Code.

H. Hearing Procedure: If the applicant timely requests a hearing to which he is entitled such hearing shall be scheduled and conducted in accordance with the provisions of the Administrative Procedures Act, S.C. Code Ann. Sections 1-23-310 through 1-23-400 (as amended). For purposes of this Rule the term "Administrator" as used in R.28-10 through R.28-23 shall be deemed to include the Board of Financial Institutions, where the context so requires.

I. Annual License Fees: Each licensee shall on or before February 1 of each year pay to the Board an annual license fee for each licensed office based upon outstanding loan balances in such office as of December 21 of the preceding year according to the schedule published in South Carolina Board of Financial Institutions R.15-62.

J. Revocation, Suspension or Relinquishment of License: After a supervised lender's license has been issued, the Administrator may revoke or suspend the license pursuant to S.C. Code Ann. Section 37-3-504 on the grounds listed in that section, although the Administrator will comply with the notice and procedure requirements of the Administrative Procedures Act, (as amended).