North Carolina General Statutes 14-426. Certain persons and transactions not deemed debt adjusters or debt adjustment
The following individuals or transactions shall not be deemed debt adjusters or as being engaged in the business or practice of debt adjusting:
(1) Any person or individual who is a regular full-time employee of a debtor, and who acts as an adjuster of his employer’s debts.
Terms Used In North Carolina General Statutes 14-426
- Attorney-at-law: A person who is legally qualified and licensed to practice law, and to represent and act for clients in legal proceedings.
- Debt adjuster: means a person who engages in, attempts to engage in, or offers to engage in the practice or business of debt adjusting. See North Carolina General Statutes 14-423
- Debt adjusting: means entering into or making a contract, express or implied, with a particular debtor whereby the debtor agrees to pay a certain amount of money periodically to the person engaged in the debt adjusting business and that person, for consideration, agrees to distribute, or distributes the same among certain specified creditors in accordance with a plan agreed upon. See North Carolina General Statutes 14-423
- Debtor: means an individual who resides in North Carolina, and includes two or more individuals who are jointly and severally, or jointly or severally, indebted to a creditor or creditors. See North Carolina General Statutes 14-423
- following: when used by way of reference to any section of a statute, shall be construed to mean the section next preceding or next following that in which such reference is made; unless when some other section is expressly designated in such reference. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
- in writing: may be construed to include printing, engraving, lithographing, and any other mode of representing words and letters: Provided, that in all cases where a written signature is required by law, the same shall be in a proper handwriting, or in a proper mark. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
- Nominal consideration: means a fee or a contribution to cover the cost of administering a debt management plan not to exceed forty dollars ($40. See North Carolina General Statutes 14-423
- Person: means an individual, firm, partnership, limited partnership, corporation, or association. See North Carolina General Statutes 14-423
- state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, shall be construed to extend to and include the District of Columbia and the several territories, so called; and the words "United States" shall be construed to include the said district and territories and all dependencies. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
- United States: shall be construed to include the said district and territories and all dependencies. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
(2) Any person or individual acting pursuant to any order or judgment of a court, or pursuant to authority conferred by any law of this State or of the United States.
(3) Any person who is a creditor of the debtor, or an agent of one or more creditors of the debtor, and whose services in adjusting the debtor’s debts are rendered without cost to the debtor.
(4) Any person who at the request of a debtor, arranges for or makes a loan to the debtor, and who, at the authorization of the debtor, acts as an adjuster of the debtor’s debts in the disbursement of the proceeds of the loan, without compensation for the services rendered in adjusting such debts.
(5) An intermittent or casual adjustment of a debtor’s debts, for compensation, by an individual or person who is not a debt adjuster or who is not engaged in the business or practice of debt adjusting, and who does not hold himself out as being regularly engaged in debt adjusting.
(6) An attorney-at-law licensed to practice in this State who is not employed by a debt adjuster.
(7) An organization that provides credit counseling, education, and debt management services to debtors if the organization also does all of the following:
a. Provides individualized credit counseling and budgeting assistance to the debtor without charge prior to the debtor’s enrollment in a debt management plan provided by the organization.
b. Determines that the debtor has the financial ability to make payments to complete the debt management plan and that the plan is suitable for the debtor.
c. Disburses the debtor’s funds to creditors pursuant to a debt management plan that the debtor has paid for with no more than nominal consideration and has agreed to in writing.
d. Provides to the debtor, periodically and on no less than a quarterly basis, an individualized accounting for the most recent period of all of the debtor’s payments and disbursements under the debt management plan and all charges paid by the debtor.
e. Does not directly or indirectly require the debtor to purchase other services or materials as a condition to participating in the debt management plan.
f. Does not receive a payment, commission, or other benefit for referring the debtor to a provider of services.
g. Is accredited by an accrediting organization that the Commissioner of Banks approves as being independent and nationally recognized for providing accreditation to organizations that provide credit counseling and debt management services. (1963, c. 394, s. 4; 2005-408, s. 1; 2007-79, s. 1.)