§ 19-14.8-32. Powers of director or director's designee.
(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.
(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.