§ 584-B — Prohibited activities

§ 584-b. Prohibited activities. 1. No person, partnership,\nassociation, corporation, or other entity, except a licensee, may make\nany representation, directly or indirectly, orally or in writing that\nhe, she, or it is licensed under this article.\n 2. No licensee shall advertise its services in any media, whether\nprint or electronic, in any manner that may be false or deceptive. All\nsuch advertisements shall contain the name and office address of such\nentity, which shall conform to a name and address on record with the\ndepartment and which shall indicate that the licensee is licensed by the\ndepartment. Any advertisements in any media, print or electronic,\ncontracted for or placed prior to the effective date of this section,\nshall not be subject to the provisions of this section.\n 3. No person or any other entity, other than a licensee, shall use the\ntitle "budget planner" or "licensed budget planner" or the term "budget\nplanning" in any public advertisement, business card, or letterhead.\n 4. No licensee shall commingle monies received from debtors with any\nother funds associated with the operation of its business or with any\nfunds associated with any other type of business, provided, however,\nthat for the sole purpose of making a single payment to a creditor, a\nlicensee may commingle monies received from debtors under contract with\none or more of its affiliates authorized to engage in budget planning in\nanother state.\n 5. Licensees shall make payments to creditors in a timely manner, in\naccordance with the contract between the licensee and the debtor,\nprovided, however, that a licensee may contract with a person or entity\nthat distributes, or supervises, coordinates, or controls the\ndistribution of, such payments to the creditors, pursuant to such terms\nor conditions that the superintendent may prescribe by regulation.\nPayments made pursuant to such contract with the licensee shall not\nrequire such person or entity to be licensed pursuant to article\nthirteen-b of this chapter.\n 6. No licensee shall purchase any obligation of a debtor.\n 7. No licensee shall operate as a person or entity seeking payment of\nobligations on behalf of any creditors that are not receiving payments\npursuant to a contract between a debtor and a licensee.\n 8. No licensee shall execute any contract or agreement to be signed by\nthe debtor unless the contract or agreement is fully completed, and the\nduration of any such contract shall be in conformance with any\nlimitations specified pursuant to regulations of the superintendent.\n 9. No licensee shall pay any bonus or other consideration to any\nperson or entity for the referral of a debtor to its business, or accept\nor receive any bonus, commission or other consideration for referring\nany debtor to any person or entity for any reason; provided, however,\nthat nothing herein shall prohibit the payment of rebates from creditors\nto licensees.\n 10. No licensee shall disclose or threaten to disclose information\nconcerning the existence of a debt, or any other conduct, which could\ncoerce payment of the debt of a debtor with whom it has a contract.\n 11. No licensee shall use a communication which simulates in any\nmanner a legal or judicial process, or which gives the false appearance\nof being authorized, issued, or approved by a government, governmental\nagency, or attorney-at-law.\n 12. No licensee, or a director, manager or officer of such licensee,\nor any immediate family member of such individual, or a controlling\nparty of such licensee as defined in section five hundred eighty-three-a\nof this article, shall be a director, manager, officer, owner, or\ncontrolling party of any creditor or a subsidiary of any such creditor,\nthat is receiving or will receive payments from the licensee on behalf\nof a debtor with whom the licensee has contracted.\n 13. No licensee, or a director, manager or officer of such licensee,\nor any immediate family member of such individual, or a controlling\nparty of such licensee as defined in section five hundred eighty-three-a\nof this article, shall disclose by any means, directly or indirectly,\nthe name, address, or any other identifying information of a debtor,\nexcept as required by subpoena or other process from a court of\ncompetent jurisdiction or a law enforcement agency, or in order to\nestablish an account with a creditor. "Identifying information of a\ndebtor" as used herein shall include, but not be limited to, a debtor's\nname, photograph, address, telephone number, social security number,\ndate of birth, drivers identification number, credit card number, bank\naccount number, mother's maiden name, medical or disability information,\nif any, as well as any other identification number which a licensee may\npossess.\n