The Vermont Statutes Online

Title 9 : Commerce and Trade

Chapter 063 : Consumer Protection

Subchapter 007 : UNLICENSED LOAN TRANSACTIONS

• § 2481w. Unlicensed loan transactions

  (a) In this subchapter:

  (1) “Financial account” means a checking, savings, share, stored value, prepaid, payroll card, or other depository account.

  (2) “Lender” means a person engaged in the business of making loans of money, credit, goods, or things in action and charging, contracting for, or receiving on any such loan interest, a finance charge, a discount, or consideration.

  (3) “Process” or “processing” includes printing a check, draft, or other form of negotiable instrument drawn on or debited against a consumer’s financial account, formatting or transferring data for use in connection with the debiting of a consumer’s financial account by means of such an instrument or an electronic funds transfer, or arranging for such services to be provided to a lender.

  (4) “Processor” means a person who engages in processing, as defined in subdivision (3) of this subsection. In this section, “processor” does not include an interbank clearinghouse.

  (5) “Interbank clearinghouse” means a person that operates an exchange of automated clearinghouse items, checks, or check images solely between insured depository institutions.

  (b) It is an unfair and deceptive act and practice in commerce for a lender directly or through an agent to solicit or make a loan to a consumer by any means unless the lender is in compliance with all provisions of 8 V.S.A. chapter 73 or is otherwise exempt from the requirements of 8 V.S.A. chapter 73.

  (c) It is an unfair and deceptive act and practice in commerce for a processor, other than a federally insured depository institution, to process a check, draft, other form of negotiable instrument, or an electronic funds transfer from a consumer’s financial account in connection with a loan solicited or made by any means to a consumer unless the lender is in compliance with all provisions of 8 V.S.A. chapter 73 or is otherwise exempt from the requirements of 8 V.S.A. chapter 73.

  (d) It is an unfair and deceptive act and practice in commerce for any person, including the lender’s financial institution as defined in 8 V.S.A. § 10202(5), but not including the consumer’s financial institution as defined in 8 V.S.A. § 10202(5) or an interbank clearinghouse as defined in subsection (a) of this section, to provide substantial assistance to a lender or processor when the person or the person’s authorized agent receives notice from a regulatory, law enforcement, or similar governmental authority, or knows from its normal monitoring and compliance systems, or consciously avoids knowing that the lender or processor is in violation of subsection (b) or (c) of this section, or is engaging in an unfair or deceptive act or practice in commerce. (Added 2011, No. 136 (Adj. Sess.), § 8, eff. May 18, 2012; amended 2013, No. 199 (Adj. Sess.), § 26; 2019, No. 131 (Adj. Sess.), § 10.)