SB261 Alabama 2017 Session

This bill would provide for the regulation of consumer lawsuit lenders and consumer lawsuit lending agreements. This bill would define a consumer lawsuit lender as a person who provides money or extends credit to a consumer based on the consumer's potential recovery of money in a legal dispute and in which the consumer may use the money or credit for a purpose other than prosecuting the legal dispute on which the extension money or credit is conditioned and in which the consumer lawsuit lender's recourse against the consumer is limited primarily to the amount recovered

This bill would require consumer lawsuit lenders to obtain a license from the State Banking Department to make consumer lawsuit loans and extensions of credit and would make consumer lawsuit lenders and consumer lawsuit lending agreements subject to certain provisions of the Mini Code. This bill would require a consumer lawsuit lender to obtain the license regardless of the number of loans or extensions of credit the consumer lawsuit lender made in the preceding calendar year

This bill would establish the maximum finance charge a consumer lawsuit lender could charge on a loan or an extension or credit made pursuant to a consumer lawsuit lending agreement

This bill would specify that the maximum finance charge would apply regardless of the amount of the loan or extension of credit provided

This bill would allow the Superintendent of Banks to adopt rules and would allow the rules to provide for the superintendent or a designee of the State Banking Department to issue interpretations of the rules and the act

Relating to consumer lawsuit lenders and consumer lawsuit lending agreements; to define consumer lawsuit lending; to require a person engaging in consumer lawsuit lending to obtain a license to make consumer lawsuit loans and extensions of credit from the State Banking Department; to specify requirements for consumer lawsuit lending agreements and loans or extensions of credit made in conjunction with the agreement; to establish the maximum finance charge for a consumer lawsuit loan or extension of credit made pursuant to a consumer lawsuit lending agreement; to specify that certain provisions of Chapter 19 of Title 5 of the Code of Alabama 1975, apply to consumer lawsuit lenders and consumer lawsuit lending agreements; and to allow the Superintendent of Banks to promulgate rules and allow the superintendent or a designee of the State Banking Department to issue interpretations.