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FO R LICENSEES

CONSUMER CREDITCOUNSELING

§ 37-7-101 et. seq.

LicensingCredit Counseling Organizations must complete theapplication for a license and pay $100 per location inSouth Carolina and per location outside the state whenthe organization is soliciting or contracting withconsumers located within South Carolina.Organizations must also include a $50 investigation (one-time)fee in their initial application for licensure, obtain a surety bondin an amount equal to or in excess of the South Carolinaclients’ funds in the trust account, but the bond cannotbe less than $25,000.A criminal background check and other informationrelating to the applicant’s general fitness and characterare also required.Credit Counselors must complete the application for alicense and pay a fee of $40. A criminal backgroundcheck and other information relating to the applicant’sgeneral fitness and character are also required.Application Period begins September 1st and runs throughDecember 2nd. (Will run through December 1st

beginning in 2006). New licenses are valid on receiptand expire December 31st. Applications must besubmitted 30 days prior to the license’s expiration.Application forms can be downloaded from theConsumer Afffairs Website beginning September 1st

2005.

Fees the credit counseling organization can charge toconsumers will be set by the Department via Regulation.

South Carolina Department of Consumer Affairslllll 3600 Forest Drive Suite, 300 Columbia, SC 29204P.O. Box 5757 Columbia, SC 29250lllll E -mail: scdca@dca.state.sc.us lllll 803.734.4200lllll W e b s i t e : w w w . s c c o n s u m e r . g o v

Courses will be offered free of charge by theDepartment. Other courses can be approved by the CPEpanel, which will consist of a Department representativeand two counselors (who serve 2 year terms). If anorganization or counselor fails to obtain the requiredCPE hours, the license will expire and the applicant mustpay an additional $100 to renew.

Organization RequirementsCredit Counseling Organizations have additionalrequirements which include performing written budgetanalyses l providing basic consumer educationprogramsl limiting contracts to 5 years l allows theconsumer to cancel a contract with 10 days writtennoticel maintaining separate trust accountsl renderingan accounting to debtors every three monthsl submittingan annual report of the past year’s business on April15thl maintaining proper books, records, and accounts.

Credit Counselors , like organizations, have a continuingduty to update the application and to inform theDepartment within ten days of specific events, such asfiling for bankruptcy or a felony conviction or indictmentinvolving breach of trust, moral turpitude, fraud, ordishonest dealing.

Prohibitions include deceptive advertising or otherdeceptive acts or practices lllll making loans todebtorslllll paying referral feeslllll asking a consumer towaive rights given by the statute.

Contact Information

Legal Division803-734-4236

E-mail: scdca@dca.state.sc.us

Carri Grube, Program Coordinator803-734-4297

This includes owners of a sole proprietorship, partners,and if the applicant is a limited liability company or acorporation, a designated representative.

Continuing Professional EducationRequirements Organizations and counselors arerequired to obtain 12 hours of Continuing ProfessionalEducation (CPE) every 2 years. (6 of the 12 must bein-person).