§ 70 — License application form

(a) An application for a consumer legal funding company license must be made in accordance with Section 65 and, if applicable, in accordance with requirements of the Nationwide Multistate Licensing System and Registry. The application shall be in writing, under oath, and on a form obtained from and prescribed by the Secretary, or may be submitted electronically with attestation to the Nationwide Multistate Licensing System and Registry. (b) The application shall contain the name and complete business and residential address or addresses of the license applicant. If the license applicant is a partnership, association, corporation, or other form of business organization, the application shall contain the names and complete business and residential addresses of each member, director, and principal officer of the business. The application shall also include a description of the activities of the license applicant in such detail and for such periods as the Secretary may require, including all of the following: (1) an affirmation of financial solvency noting such capitalization requirements as may be required by the Secretary and access to such credit as may be required by the Secretary; (2) an applicant shall prove in a form satisfactory to the Secretary that the applicant has and will maintain a positive net worth of a minimum of $30,000; (3) an applicant shall submit to the Secretary with the application for a license and every licensee shall maintain a bond to be approved by the Secretary in which the applicant shall be the obligor, in the sum of $50,000 or such additional amount as required by the Secretary based on the amount of consumer legal fundings made, purchased, or serviced by the licensee in the previous year, and in which an insurance company that is duly authorized by this State to transact the business of fidelity and surety insurance shall be a surety. The surety bond shall run to the Secretary and shall be for the benefit of the Department and of any consumer who incurs damages as a result of any violation of this Act or rules adopted pursuant to this Act by a licensee; (4) an affirmation that the license applicant or its members, directors, or principals, as may be appropriate, are at least 18 years of age; (5) information as to the character, fitness, financial and business responsibility, background, experience, and criminal record of any: (i) person, entity, or ultimate equitable owner that owns or controls, directly or indirectly, 10% or more of any class of stock of the license applicant; (ii) person, entity, or ultimate equitable owner that is not a depository institution, as defined in Section 1007.50 of the Savings Bank Act, that lends, provides, or infuses, directly or indirectly, in any way, funds to or into a license applicant in an amount equal to or more than 10% of the license applicant's net worth; (iii) person, entity, or ultimate equitable owner that controls, directly or indirectly, the election of 25% or more of the members of the board of directors of a license applicant; or (iv) person, entity, or ultimate equitable owner that the Secretary finds influences management of the license applicant; the provisions of this subparagraph shall not apply to a public official serving on the board of directors of a State guaranty agency; (6) upon written request by the licensee and notwithstanding the provisions of paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) of this subsection, the Secretary may permit the licensee to omit all or part of the information required by those paragraphs if instead of the omitted information, the licensee submits an affidavit stating that the information submitted on the licensee's previous renewal application is still true and accurate; the Department may adopt rules prescribing the form and content of the affidavit that are necessary to accomplish the purposes of this paragraph; and (7) any other information as required by rule.

Legislative History

(Source: P.A. 102-987, eff. 5-27-22.)