Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 18, September 16, 2024
(a) Prior to acting
as a debt adjuster, a nonprofit social services or nonprofit consumer
counseling agency shall obtain a license from the Department. The license
application shall be on a form approved by the Commissioner and shall include
the following information:
1. A Certificate
of Incorporation bearing the New Jersey Division of Revenue's dated filing
stamp or its equivalent. For non-New Jersey state nonprofit corporations, a
copy of the Certificate of Authority to do business in New Jersey bearing the
New Jersey Division of Revenue's dated filing stamp or its
equivalent;
2. If the corporation
uses a doing business as name, a copy of the registration of alternate
corporate name bearing the New Jersey Division of Revenue's dated filing stamp
or its equivalent;
3. A completed
certified consent certificate authorizing a criminal record check for each
corporate director or trustee;
4. A
completed biographical information form and personal financial statement for
each director or trustee;
5.
Information on whether any director, trustee or member of an advisory or other
similar committee has ever had a license, permit or other authorization, other
than a driver's license, been suspended or revoked by this or any other state
or has been affiliated directly or indirectly with any other organization that
has had such a license suspended or revoked;
6. An unqualified financial statement
prepared by a certified public accountant or a public accountant demonstrating
the financial condition of the corporation;
7. A copy of the annual report of the
nonprofit agency most recently filed with the New Jersey Division of Revenue
pursuant to
15A:4-5, or an equivalent report
for non-New Jersey state nonprofit corporations;
8. The applicant's balance sheet and profit
and loss statement for the last fiscal period, if available;
9. If the primary source of operating funds
is obtained from outside sources such as financial institutions, retail
merchants, industrial concerns, labor unions, trade associations, religious
organizations, foundations, etc., a schedule citing the names and addresses of
all such individual contributors and the amount contributed and the amount
anticipated for the current fiscal period;
10. A list of salaries or compensation paid
to individual directors, trustees, officers, members of the advisory council or
other persons in managerial positions during the last fiscal period or if the
applicant is recently incorporated, the estimated amounts to be paid to all
such individuals during the current fiscal period;
11. A schedule citing the types and amounts
of insurable risks including:
i. Fidelity
bonds covering every director, trustee, officer, employee or anyone who will
have authority to act on the licensee's behalf;
ii. Indemnity insurance covering robbery,
burglary, holdup, embezzlement or fraud by insiders, outsiders, forgery, errors
and omissions, misplacement, etc.; and
iii. Fire and extended coverage on the
office(s), furniture, fixtures and equipment, etc.;
12. Proof of the surety bond required by
3:25-2.5;
13. The address of all offices conducting
debt adjustment activities on behalf of debtors residing in New
Jersey;
14. The license application
fee required by
3:23-2.1; and
15. Additional information, which may be
specifically requested by the Commissioner from a particular
applicant.
(b) Upon
determination that an applicant is qualified for licensure under the Debt
Adjuster Act, the Commissioner shall issue a license for each location where
the licensee may conduct debt adjustment activities on behalf of debtors
residing in New Jersey.
(c) A
licensee shall advise the Department of a change of any legal name, business
name or a change of the address that appears on the license by noting the
change on the current original license and returning it to the Department for
cancellation and reissuance of a new license containing updated information. No
fee shall be required for such changes. If the notice is to change a legal or
business name, the request shall be accompanied by a copy of the document filed
in the office of the Division of Revenue or other authority evidencing that the
change has been properly recorded.
(d) Applicants for registration as a
high-cost home loan credit counseling service shall not be affiliated with any
lender of high-cost home loans and shall furnish acceptable proof of approval
by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development as a Housing
Counseling Agency.
(e) Prior to
providing high-cost home loan credit counseling services, a nonprofit social
service or nonprofit credit counseling agency shall be registered by the
Department. The registration application shall be on a form approved by the
Commissioner and shall include the following information:
1. A Certificate of Incorporation bearing the
New Jersey Division of Revenue's dated filing stamp or its equivalent or, for
non-New Jersey state corporations, a copy of the Certificate of Authority to do
business in New Jersey bearing the New Jersey Division of Revenue's dated
filing stamp or its equivalent;
2.
If the corporation uses a doing business as name, a copy of the registration of
alternate corporate name bearing the New Jersey Division of Revenue's dated
filing stamp or its equivalent;
3.
Information on whether any director, trustee or member of an advisory or other
similar committee has ever had a license, permit or other authorization, other
than a driver's license, suspended or revoked by this or any other state or has
been affiliated, directly or indirectly, with any organization that has had
such a license suspended or revoked;
4. An unqualified financial statement
prepared by a certified public accountant or a public accountant demonstrating
the financial condition of the corporation;
5. A copy of the annual report of the
nonprofit agency most recently filed with the New Jersey Division of Revenue
pursuant to
15A:4-5, or an equivalent report
for non-New Jersey state nonprofit corporations;
6. The applicant's balance sheet and profit
and loss statement for the fiscal period preceding the filing of the
application, if available;
7. The
registration application fee required by N.J.A.C. 3:23-2.1; and
8. A copy of the current HUD Certificate of
Approval of the agency as a Housing Counseling Agency and a certified statement
affirming that, as of the date of the application, the agency's approval by HUD
as a Housing Counseling Agency remains in full force and effect.
(f) The Commissioner may request
from a particular applicant any additional information that is necessary to
determine an applicant's eligibility for registration.
(g) Upon determination that an applicant is
qualified for registration as a high-cost home loan credit counselor, the
Commissioner shall register each office location from which the high-cost home
loan credit counselor provides credit counseling to debtors residing in New
Jersey. Such registration shall be deemed approval pursuant to N.J.S.A.
46:10B-26g.
(h) The Department
shall post on the Department's website at
http://www.state.nj.us/dobi/,
a list of the office locations of all registered credit counseling agencies
approved to counsel borrowers on high-cost home loans.
(i) A registrant shall advise the Department
of a change of business address. No fee shall be required for such
changes.
