(a)  The director may act on its own initiative or in response to complaints; and may receive complaints; take action to obtain voluntary compliance with this chapter; refer cases to the attorney general; and seek or provide remedies as provided in this chapter.

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Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws 19-14.8-32

  • person: may be construed to extend to and include co-partnerships and bodies corporate and politic. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-6
  • Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
  • Trust account: A general term that covers all types of accounts in a trust department, such as estates, guardianships, and agencies. Source: OCC
  • United States: include the several states and the territories of the United States. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-8

(b)  The director may investigate and examine, in this state or elsewhere, by subpoena or otherwise, the activities, books, accounts, and records of a person who or that provides or offers to provide debt-management services, or a person to whom or to which a provider has delegated its obligations under an agreement or this chapter, to determine compliance with this chapter. Information that identifies individuals who have agreements with the provider shall not be disclosed to the public. In connection with the investigation, the director may:

(1)  Charge the person the reasonable expenses necessarily incurred to conduct the examination;

(2)  Require or permit a person to file a statement under oath as to all the facts and circumstances of a matter to be investigated; and

(3)  Seek a court order authorizing seizure from a bank at which the person maintains a trust account required by § 19-14.8-22, any or all money, books, records, accounts, and other property of the provider that is in the control of the bank and relates to individuals who reside in this state.

(c)  The director may adopt rules to implement the provisions of this chapter in accordance with chapter 35 of Title 42.

(d)  The director may enter into cooperative arrangements with any other federal or state agency having authority over providers and may exchange with any of those agencies information about a provider, including information obtained during an examination of the provider.

(e)  [Reserved].

(f)  The director, by rule, shall adopt dollar amounts instead of those specified in §§ 19-14.8-2, 19-14.8-5, 19-14.8-9, 19-14.8-13, 19-14.8-23, 19-14.8-33, and 19-14.8-35 to reflect inflation, as measured by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers or, if that index is not available, another index adopted by rule by the director. The director shall adopt a base year and adjust the dollar amounts, effective on July 1 of each year, if the change in the index from the base year, as of December 31 of the preceding year, is at least ten percent (10%). The dollar amount must be rounded to the nearest one hundred dollars ($100), except that the amounts in § 19-14.8-23 must be rounded to the nearest dollar.

(g)  The director shall notify registered providers of any change in dollar amounts made pursuant to subsection (f) and make that information available to the public.

History of Section.
P.L. 2006, ch. 243, § 3; P.L. 2006, ch. 291, § 3.