2023 Vermont Statutes › Title 8 - Banking and Insurance › Chapter 83 - Debt Adjusters › § 2760b. Prohibited activities

§ 2760b. Prohibited activities
(a) No person, partnership, association, corporation, or other entity, except a licensee, may make any representation, directly or indirectly, orally or in writing that he, she, or it is licensed under this chapter.
(b) No licensee shall advertise its services in any media, whether print or electronic, in any manner that may be false or deceptive. All such advertisements shall contain the name and office address of such entity, which shall conform to a name and address on record with the Department and that shall indicate that the licensee is licensed by the Department.
(c) No person or any other entity, other than a licensee, shall use the titles “debt adjuster,” “budget planner,” “licensed debt adjuster,” or “licensed budget planner” or the terms “debt adjuster,” “debt reduction,” “budget planning,” or, in each case, words of similar import in any public advertisement, business card, or letterhead.
(d) No licensee shall commingle monies received from debtors with any other funds associated with the operation of its business or with any funds associated with any other type of business; provided, however, that for the sole purpose of making a single payment to a creditor, a licensee may commingle monies received from debtors under contract with one or more of its affiliates authorized to engage in debt adjustment in another state.
(e) No licensee shall structure an agreement for the debtor that, at the conclusion of the agreement, would result in negative amortization of any of the debtor’s obligations to any creditor.
(f) No licensee, or a director, manager, or officer of such licensee, or any immediate family member of such individual, or a controlling party of such licensee, shall purchase any obligation of a debtor.
(g) No licensee, or a director, manager, or officer of such licensee, or any immediate family member of such individual, or a controlling party of such licensee, shall lend money or provide credit to the debtor.
(h) No licensee, or a director, manager, or officer of such licensee, or any immediate family member of such individual, or a controlling party of such licensee shall obtain a mortgage or other security interest in property of the debtor.
(i) No licensee shall operate as a person or entity seeking payment of obligations on behalf of any creditors that are not receiving payments pursuant to a contract between a debtor and a licensee.
(j) No licensee shall execute any contract or agreement to be signed by the debtor unless the contract or agreement is fully completed, and the duration of any such contract shall be in conformance with any limitations specified pursuant to rules adopted by the Commissioner.
(k) No licensee shall pay any bonus or other consideration to any person or entity for the referral of a debtor to its business, or accept or receive any bonus, commission, or other consideration for referring any debtor to any person or entity for any reason; provided, however, that nothing herein shall prohibit the payment of rebates from creditors to licensees.
(l) No licensee shall disclose or threaten to disclose information concerning the existence of a debt or any other conduct that could coerce payment of the debt of a debtor with whom it has a contract.
(m) No licensee shall use a communication that simulates in any manner a legal or judicial process, or that gives the false appearance of being authorized, issued, or approved by a government, a governmental agency, or an attorney-at-law.
(n) No licensee, or a director, a manager, or an officer of such licensee, or any immediate family member of such individual, or a controlling party of such licensee, shall be a director, a manager, an officer, an owner, or a controlling party of any creditor or a subsidiary of any such creditor, that is receiving or will receive payments from the licensee on behalf of a debtor with whom the licensee has contracted, without the express written consent of the Commissioner. (Added 2003, No. 81 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; amended 2009, No. 137 (Adj. Sess.), § 3; 2015, No. 97 (Adj. Sess.), § 12; 2021, No. 25, § 1, eff. May 12, 2021.)