§ 19-14.8-2 - Definitions.
SECTION 19-14.8-2
§ 19-14.8-2 Definitions. – In this chapter:
(1) "Director" means the director of the department ofbusiness regulation.
(2) "Affiliate":
(a) With respect to an individual, means:
(i) The spouse of the individual;
(ii) A sibling of the individual or the spouse of a sibling;
(iii) An individual or the spouse of an individual who is alineal ancestor or lineal descendant of the individual or the individual'sspouse;
(iv) An aunt, uncle, great aunt, great uncle, first cousin,niece, nephew, grandniece, or grandnephew, whether related by the whole or thehalf blood or adoption, or the spouse of any of them; or
(v) Any other individual occupying the residence of theindividual; and
(b) With respect to an entity, means:
(i) A person that directly or indirectly controls, iscontrolled by, or is under common control with the entity;
(ii) An officer of, or an individual performing similarfunctions with respect to, the entity;
(iii) A director of, or an individual performing similarfunctions with respect to, the entity;
(iv) Subject to adjustment of the dollar amount pursuant tothis chapter, a person that receives or received more than twenty-five thousanddollars ($25,000) from the entity in either the current year or the precedingyear or a person that owns more than ten percent (10%) of, or an individual whois employed by or is a director of, a person that receives or received morethan twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) from the entity in either thecurrent year or the preceding year;
(v) An officer or director of, or an individual performingsimilar functions with respect to, a person described in subsection (b)(i)above;
(vi) The spouse of, or an individual occupying the residenceof, an individual described in subsection (b)(i) – (b)(v) of this section;or
(vii) An individual who has the relationship specified insubsection (a)(iv) to an individual or the spouse of an individual described insubsection (b)(i) – (b)(v) of this section.
(3) "Agreement" means an agreement between a provider and anindividual for the performance of debt-management services.
(4) "Bank" means a financial institution, including acommercial bank, savings bank, savings and loan association, credit union, andtrust company, engaged in the business of banking, chartered under federal orstate law, and regulated by a federal or state banking regulatory authority.
(5) "Business address" means the physical location of abusiness, including the name and number of a street.
(6) "Certified counselor" means an individual certified by atraining program or certifying organization, approved by the director, thatauthenticates the competence of individuals providing education and assistanceto other individuals in connection with debt-management services.
(7) "Concessions" means assent to repayment of a debt onterms more favorable to an individual than the terms of the contract betweenthe individual and a creditor.
(8) "Day" means calendar day.
(9) "Debt-management services" means services as anintermediary between an individual and one or more creditors of the individualfor the purpose of obtaining concessions, but does not include:
(a) Legal services provided in an attorney-clientrelationship by an attorney licensed or otherwise authorized to practice law inthis state;
(b) Accounting services provided in an accountant-clientrelationship by a certified public accountant licensed to provide accountingservices in this state; or
(c) Financial-planning services provided in a financialplanner-client relationship by a member of a financial-planning professionwhose members the director, by rule, determines are
(i) Licensed by this state;
(ii) Subject to a disciplinary mechanism;
(iii) Subject to a code of professional responsibility; and
(iv) Subject to a continuing-education requirement.
(10) "Entity" means a person other than an individual.
(11) "Good faith" means honesty in fact and the observance ofreasonable standards of fair dealing.
(12) "Person" means an individual, corporation, businesstrust, estate, trust, partnership, limited liability company, association,joint venture, or any other legal or commercial entity. The term does notinclude a public corporation, government, or governmental subdivision, agency,or instrumentality.
(13) "Plan" means a program or strategy in which a providerfurnishes debt-management services to an individual and which includes aschedule of payments to be made by or on behalf of the individual and used topay debts owed by the individual.
(14) "Principal amount of the debt" means the amount of adebt at the time of an agreement.
(15) "Provider" means a person that provides, offers toprovide, or agrees to provide debt-management services directly or throughothers.
(16) "Record" means information that is inscribed on atangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and isretrievable in perceivable form.
(17) "Settlement fee" means a charge imposed on or paid by anindividual in connection with a creditor's assent to accept in fullsatisfaction of a debt an amount less than the principal amount of the debt.
(18) "Sign" means, with present intent to authenticate oradopt a record:
(a) To execute or adopt a tangible symbol; or
(b) To attach to or logically associate with the record anelectronic sound, symbol, or process.
(19) "State" means a state of the United States, the Districtof Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, or any territory orinsular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States.
(20) "Trust account" means an account held by a provider thatis:
(a) Established in an insured bank;
(b) Separate from other accounts of the provider or itsdesignee;
(c) Designated as a trust account or other account designatedto indicate that the money in the account is not the money of the provider orits designee; and
(d) Used to hold money of one or more individuals fordisbursement to creditors of the individuals.