§3561. Single place of business; additional licenses

A. Each licensee making consumer loans to Louisiana residents shall maintain records of its consumer loans at the location stated on its license. Not more than one place of business shall be maintained under the same license, but the commissioner shall issue additional licenses to the same licensed lender upon his compliance with all the provisions of this Part governing issuance of a license.

B. A licensed lender may change the location of the business only after written approval of the commissioner. The application to change the location shall be filed at least thirty days prior to the proposed relocation date. Upon receipt of the application, the commissioner may cause a survey to be made to determine if the proposed location meets the requirements imposed for a new licensed location. If the requirements are met, the application shall be approved.

C. A license to make consumer loans may not be sold or otherwise transferred. However, all accounts and other assets may be sold or transferred to another licensed lender, upon prior written approval of the commissioner. After the sale or transfer of all accounts, the license of the selling or transferring licensee shall be surrendered to the commissioner as cancelled.

D.(1) No person shall acquire or control a consumer loan license through the acquisition or control of twenty-five percent or more of the ownership interest in a licensee without first having obtained written approval from the commissioner, pursuant to an application for a change of control in ownership of the licensee filed in the manner and on a form prescribed by the commissioner and accompanied by a fee of three hundred dollars. Any person who acquires controlling interest in a licensee without first having filed an application for change of control with the commissioner shall be deemed to be operating without proper authority under this Chapter and is subject to the penalties of R.S. 9:3554.1.

(2) For the purposes of this Section, a person acquires or controls the licensee when the person directly or acting through one or more other persons owns a twenty-five percent or more interest in the licensee, or exercises a controlling influence over the management or the policies of the licensee as determined by the commissioner after notice and an opportunity for an informal meeting, not subject to the Administrative Procedure Act, regardless of whether the acquisition or control occurs incrementally over a period of time or as one transaction.

E. A licensed lender may change its name only after written application to and approval by the commissioner.

F.(1) Unless prior written approval is obtained from the commissioner, a licensed lender may not assign or otherwise transfer ownership of consumer loans, including insurance premium financing agreements, to a person who is not a licensed lender, or who has not complied with R.S. 9:3557(B), or who is not exempt from the licensing requirements as provided in R.S. 9:3560.

(2) A licensee shall keep a record or list of all consumer loans which it has purchased, sold, assigned, or otherwise transferred or acquired. The records shall include the name and address of the persons from which the loans were acquired or to whom the notes were transferred, indicate any affiliation between the seller and buyer, the date and dollar amount of each such transaction, and account names and numbers.

Added by Acts 1972, No. 454, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1973. Amended by acts 1974, No. 466, §1; Acts 1985, No. 808, §1, eff. July 22, 1985; Acts 1991, No. 215, §1, eff. July 2, 1991; Acts 1991, No. 697, §1; Acts 1992, No. 370, §3; Acts 1993, No. 458, §1, eff. July 1, 1993; Acts 1995, No. 1184, §2; Acts 2003, No. 1233, §1; Acts 2006, No. 213, §1; Acts 2014, No. 636, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2015; Acts 2018, No. 235, §1, eff. May 15, 2018.