Section 100. Other business in payday lending offices

A. This section governs the conduct of any business other than payday lending where a licensed payday lending business is conducted. As used in this section, the term "other business operator" refers to a licensed payday lender or third party, including an affiliate of the licensed payday lender, who conducts or wants to conduct other business from one or more payday lending offices.

1. Pursuant to § 6.2-1820 of the Code of Virginia, a licensee shall not conduct the business of making payday loans at any office, suite, room, or place of business where any other business is solicited or conducted, except a registered check cashing business or such other business as the commission determines should be permitted, and subject to such conditions as the commission deems necessary and in the public interest.

2. Notwithstanding any provision of this section or order entered by the commission prior to October 1, 2010, the following other businesses shall not be conducted from any office, suite, room, or place of business where a licensed payday lending business is conducted:

a. Selling insurance or enrolling borrowers under group insurance policies.

b. Making loans under an open-end credit plan as described in § 6.2-312 of the Code of Virginia. However, if prior to October 1, 2010, a licensee received commission authority for an other business operator to conduct open-end credit business or open-end auto title lending business from the licensee's payday lending offices, the other business operator may continue collecting payments on any outstanding open-end loans (i) in accordance with the terms of its existing open-end credit agreements and (ii) subject to the conditions imposed by this section.

3. Pursuant to § 6.2-2107 of the Code of Virginia, no person registered or required to be registered as a check casher under Chapter 21 (§ 6.2-2100 et seq.) of Title 6.2 of the Code of Virginia shall make loans from any location, including an office, suite, room, or place of business where a licensed payday lending business is conducted, unless the person is licensed under the Act and the loans are made in accordance with the Act.

B. No other business shall be conducted in a location where a licensee conducts a payday lending business unless the proposed other business is financial in nature and the licensee obtains prior approval from the commission. Applications for approval shall be made in writing on a form provided by the Commissioner of Financial Institutions, and shall be accompanied by payment of the fee required by law and any information relating to the application that the Commissioner of Financial Institutions may require. In acting upon an application, the commission shall consider (i) whether the other business operator has the general fitness to warrant belief that the business will be operated in accordance with law; (ii) whether the applicant has been operating its payday lending business in accordance with the Act and this chapter; and (iii) any other factors that the commission deems relevant. The commission shall in its discretion determine whether a proposed other business is "financial in nature," and shall not be obliged to consider the meaning of this term under federal law. A business is financial in nature if it primarily deals with the offering of debt, money or credit, or services directly related thereto.

C. Nonfinancial other business may be conducted pursuant to any order of the commission entered on or before June 15, 2004. However, this subsection shall not be construed to authorize any person to begin engaging in such other business at payday lending locations where such other business was not conducted as of June 15, 2004.

D. Written evidence of commission approval of each other business conducted by an other business operator should be maintained at each location where such other business is conducted.

E. Except as otherwise provided in subsection O of this section, all approved other businesses in payday lending offices shall be conducted in accordance with the following conditions:

1. The licensee shall not make a payday loan to a borrower to enable the borrower to purchase or pay any amount owed in connection with the (i) goods or services sold, or (ii) loans offered, facilitated, or made, by the other business operator at the licensee's payday lending offices.

2. The other business operator shall comply with all federal and state laws and regulations applicable to its other business, including any applicable licensing requirements.

3. The other business operator shall not use or cause to be published any advertisement or other information that contains any false, misleading, or deceptive statement or representation concerning its other business, including the rates, terms, or conditions of the products, services, or loans that it offers. The other business operator shall not make or cause to be made any misrepresentation as to (i) its being licensed to conduct the other business, or (ii) the extent to which it is subject to supervision or regulation.

4. The licensee shall not make a payday loan or vary the terms of a payday loan on the condition or requirement that a person also (i) purchase a good or service from, or (ii) obtain a loan from or through, the other business operator. The other business operator shall not (a) sell its goods or services, (b) offer, facilitate, or make loans, or (c) vary the terms of its goods, services, or loans, on the condition or requirement that a person also obtain a payday loan from the licensee.

5. The other business operator shall maintain books and records for its other business separate and apart from the licensee's payday lending business and in a different location within the licensee's payday lending offices. The bureau shall be given access to all such books and records and be furnished with any information and records that it may require in order to determine compliance with all applicable conditions, laws, and regulations.

F. If a licensee received commission authority for an other business operator to conduct open-end credit business or open-end auto title lending business from the licensee's payday lending offices, the following additional conditions shall be applicable:

1. The other business operator shall not (i) enter into any new open-end credit agreements or (ii) make any new loans pursuant to its existing open-end credit agreements.

2. The licensee shall not make a payday loan to a person if (i) the person has an outstanding open-end loan from the other business operator, or (ii) on the same day the person repaid or satisfied in full an open-end loan from the other business operator.

G. If a licensee received or receives commission authority for an other business operator to conduct a motor vehicle title lending business from the licensee's payday lending offices, the following additional conditions shall be applicable:

1. The other business operator shall be licensed or exempt from licensing under Chapter 22 (§ 6.2-2200 et seq.) of Title 6.2 of the Code of Virginia.

2. The licensee shall not make a payday loan to a person if (i) the person has an outstanding motor vehicle title loan from the other business operator, or (ii) on the same day the person repaid or satisfied in full a motor vehicle title loan from the other business operator.

3. The other business operator shall not make a motor vehicle title loan to a person if (i) the person has an outstanding payday loan from the licensee, or (ii) on the same day the person repaid or satisfied in full a payday loan from the licensee.

4. The other business operator and the licensee shall not make a motor vehicle title loan and a payday loan contemporaneously or in response to a single request for a loan or credit.

5. The licensee and other business operator shall provide each applicant for a payday loan or motor vehicle title loan with a separate disclosure, signed by the applicant, that clearly identifies all of the loan products available in the licensee's payday lending offices along with the corresponding Annual Percentage Rate, interest rate, and other costs associated with each loan product. The disclosure shall also identify the collateral, if any, that will be used to secure repayment of each loan product.

H. If a licensee received or receives commission authority for an other business operator to conduct business as an authorized delegate or agent of a money order seller or money transmitter from the licensee's payday lending offices, the other business operator shall be and remain a party to a written agreement to act as an authorized delegate or agent of a person licensed or exempt from licensing as a money order seller or money transmitter under Chapter 19 (§ 6.2-1900 et seq.) of Title 6.2 of the Code of Virginia. The other business operator shall not engage in money order sales or money transmission services on its own behalf or on behalf of any person other than a licensed or exempt money order seller or money transmitter with whom it has a written agreement.

I. If a licensee received or receives commission authority for an other business operator to conduct the business of (i) tax preparation and electronic tax filing services, or (ii) facilitating third party tax preparation and electronic tax filing services, from the licensee's payday lending offices, the following additional conditions shall be applicable:

1. The licensee shall not make, arrange, or broker a payday loan that is secured by an interest in a borrower's tax refund, or in whole or in part by (i) any other assignment of income payable to a borrower, or (ii) any assignment of an interest in a borrower's account at a depository institution. This condition shall not be construed to prohibit the licensee from making a payday loan that is secured solely by a check payable to the licensee drawn on a borrower's account at a depository institution.

2. The other business operator shall not engage in the business of (i) accepting funds for transmission to the Internal Revenue Service or other government instrumentalities, or (ii) receiving tax refunds for delivery to individuals, unless licensed or exempt from licensing under Chapter 19 (§ 6.2-1900 et seq.) of Title 6.2 of the Code of Virginia.

J. If a licensee received or receives commission authority for an other business operator to conduct the business of facilitating or arranging tax refund anticipation loans or tax refund payments from the licensee's payday lending offices, the following additional conditions shall be applicable:

1. The other business operator shall not facilitate or arrange a tax refund anticipation loan or tax refund payment to enable a person to pay any amount owed to the licensee as a result of a payday loan transaction.

2. The other business operator and the licensee shall not facilitate or arrange a tax refund anticipation loan or tax refund payment and make a payday loan contemporaneously or in response to a single request for a loan or credit.

3. The licensee shall not make, arrange, or broker a payday loan that is secured by an interest in a borrower's tax refund, or in whole or in part by (i) any other assignment of income payable to a borrower, or (ii) any assignment of an interest in a borrower's account at a depository institution. This condition shall not be construed to prohibit the licensee from making a payday loan that is secured solely by a check payable to the licensee drawn on a borrower's account at a depository institution.

4. The other business operator shall not engage in the business of receiving tax refunds or tax refund payments for delivery to individuals unless licensed or exempt from licensing under Chapter 19 (§ 6.2-1900 et seq.) of Title 6.2 of the Code of Virginia.

5. The licensee and other business operator shall provide each applicant for a payday loan or tax refund anticipation loan with a separate disclosure, signed by the applicant, that clearly identifies all of the loan products available in the licensee's payday lending offices along with the corresponding Annual Percentage Rate, interest rate, and other costs associated with each loan product. The disclosure shall also identify the collateral, if any, that will be used to secure repayment of each loan product.

K. If a licensee received or receives commission authority for an other business operator to conduct a consumer finance business from the licensee's payday lending offices, the following additional conditions shall be applicable:

1. The licensee shall not make a payday loan to a person if (i) the person has an outstanding consumer finance loan from the other business operator, or (ii) on the same day the person repaid or satisfied in full a consumer finance loan from the other business operator.

2. The other business operator shall not make a consumer finance loan to a person if (i) the person has an outstanding payday loan from the licensee, or (ii) on the same day the person repaid or satisfied in full a payday loan from the licensee.

3. The licensee and other business operator shall not make a payday loan and a consumer finance loan contemporaneously or in response to a single request for a loan or credit.

4. The licensee and other business operator shall provide each applicant for a payday loan or consumer finance loan with a separate disclosure, signed by the applicant, that clearly identifies all of the loan products available in the licensee's payday lending offices along with the corresponding Annual Percentage Rate, interest rate, and other costs associated with each loan product. The disclosure shall also identify the collateral, if any, that will be used to secure repayment of each loan product.

L. If a licensee received or receives commission authority for an other business operator to conduct the business of operating an automated teller machine from the licensee's payday lending offices, the other business operator shall not charge a fee or receive other compensation in connection with the use of its automated teller machine by a person when the person is withdrawing funds in order to make a payment on a payday loan from the licensee.

M. The commission may impose any additional conditions upon the conduct of other business in payday lending offices that it deems necessary and in the public interest.

N. Except as otherwise provided in subsection O of this section, the conditions set forth or referred to in subsections E through M of this section shall supersede the conditions set forth in the commission's approval orders entered prior to January 1, 2011.

O. If prior to January 1, 2011, a licensee received commission authority for an other business operator to conduct a business not identified in subsections F through L of this section, the conditions that were imposed by the commission at the time of the approval shall remain in full force and effect.

P. Failure by a licensee or other business operator to comply with any provision of this section or any condition imposed by the commission, or failure by a licensee to comply with the Act, this chapter, or any other law or regulation applicable to the conduct of the licensee's business, may result in revocation of the authority to conduct other business or any form of enforcement action specified in 10VAC5-200-120.

Historical Notes

Derived from Volume 20, Issue 22, eff. June 15, 2004; amended, Virginia Register Volume 26, Issue 11, eff. February 1, 2010; Volume 27, Issue 10, eff. January 1, 2011.

Statutory Authority

§§ 6.2-1815 and 12.1-13 of the Code of Virginia.