§ 53-166. Scope of Article; evasions; penalties; loans in violation of Article void.
§ 53‑166. Scope ofArticle; evasions; penalties; loans in violation of Article void.
(a) Scope. No personshall engage in the business of lending in amounts of ten thousand dollars($10,000) or less and contract for, exact, or receive, directly or indirectly,on or in connection with any such loan, any charges whether for interest,compensation, consideration, or expense, or any other purpose whatsoever, whichin the aggregate are greater than permitted by Chapter 24 of the GeneralStatutes, except as provided in and authorized by this Article, and withoutfirst having obtained a license from the Commissioner. The word"lending" as used in this section, shall include, but shall not belimited to, endorsing or otherwise securing loans or contracts for the repaymentof loans.
(b) Evasions. Theprovisions of subsection (a) of this section apply to any person who seeks toavoid its application by any device, subterfuge, or pretense whatsoever.Devices, subterfuges, and pretenses include any transaction in which a cashrebate or other advance of funds is offered and all of the following apply:
(1) The cash advance ismade contemporaneously with the transaction or soon thereafter.
(2) The amount of thecash advance is required to be repaid at a later date.
(3) The selling orproviding of any item, service, or commodity with the transaction is incidentalto, or a pretext for, the advance of funds.
(c) Penalties;Commissioner to Provide and Testify as to Facts in His Possession. Any personnot exempt from this Article, or any officer, agent, employee, orrepresentative thereof, who fails to comply with or who otherwise violates anyof the provisions of this Article, or any regulation of the Banking Commissionadopted pursuant to this Article, shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.Each violation shall be considered a separate offense. It is the duty of theCommissioner of Banks to provide the district attorney of the court havingjurisdiction of any offense under this subsection with all facts and evidencein the Commissioner's actual or constructive possession, and to testify as tothese facts upon the trial of any person for the offense.
(d) AdditionalPenalties. Any contract of loan, the making or collecting of which violatesany provision of this Article, or regulation thereunder, except as a result ofaccidental or bona fide error of computation is void, and the licensee or anyother party in violation shall not collect, receive, or retain any principal orcharges whatsoever with respect to the loan. If an affiliate operating in thesame office or subsidiary operating in the same office of a licensee makes aloan in violation of G.S. 53‑180(i), the affiliate or subsidiary mayrecover only its principal on the loan. (1955, c. 1279; 1957, c. 1429, s. 8; 1961, c. 1053, s.1; 1969, c. 1303, ss. 13, 14; 1973, c. 47, s. 2; c. 1042, s. 1; 1979, c. 33, s.1; 1985, c. 154, ss. 6, 13; 1987, c. 444, s. 3; 1989, c. 17, ss. 1, 13; 1989(Reg. Sess., 1990), c. 881, s. 1; 1993, c. 539, s. 425; 1994, Ex. Sess., c. 24,s. 14(c); 2006‑243, s. 2.)