Date Published: June 5, 2019
On March 28th, 2019 the North Dakota Department of Financial Institutions announced that all companies currently licensed as collection agencies would be subject to a surety bond increase.
How and when does this change take effect?
Effective August 1, 2019, Senate Bill 2093 will raise this amount to $50,000. Each existing licensee will have until no later than December 31, 2019, to increase their North Dakota bond amount to $50,000 within NMLS. The December 31, 2019, date corresponds with the annual license renewal within NMLS. For a full description of Senate Bill 2093, follow the link below.
https://www.legis.nd.gov/assembly/66-2019/documents/19-8053-02000.pdf
Additional changes made in House Bill 1204
House Bill 1204 adds a definition for “credit card payment” which means a payment made by a payment card which incurs a credit card interchange fee to the collection agency. Regardless of the type of payment card used. It also adds a new section to chapter 13-05 of the North Dakota Century Code stating “a collection agency may collect or attempt to collect. In addition to the principal amount of a claim, a transaction fee for processing a credit card payment in an amount that does not exceed two and one-half percent (2.5%) of the payment amount if:
- The transaction fee is not prohibited under section 13-05-02.2;
- A no-cost payment option is available to the debtor; and
- The collection agency discloses the no-cost option to the debtor at the same time and in the same manner as the debtor’s credit card information is taken.
Additional information can be found here,
https://www.legis.nd.gov/assembly/66-2019/documents/19-0543-03000.pdf
How to get ahead of the December 31st deadline.
Contact your surety bond agent and let them know about the change so they can initiate the Surety Bond Rider Process in NMLS. Surety Solutions (Surety 1) can provide you with a free consultation for your surety needs. Give us a call at 877-654-2327. Surety Solutions has been providing surety bonds nationwide since 2003. The company maintains an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau and is licensed in all 50 states.
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