New Hampshire Revises Banking and Consumer Credit Laws

New Hampshire amended several provisions within its banking and consumer credit laws in order to make technical corrections and clarify existing provisions.

Among several substantive changes under the law, one change is the requirement that advertising files be “maintained by the licensee for 3 years following the advertisement’s publication date and be subject to review by the banking department during the course of any examination or investigation undertaken in accordance with this chapter.”  For loan processors or underwriters, “clerical or support duties” now includes either the “receipt…of information common for processing or underwriting…or [c]ommunicating with a customer to obtain the information necessary for the processing or underwriting of a loan.”  Any mortgage broker, mortgage banker, mortgage originator, or mortgage servicer is also now prohibited from conducting business without a license, or “aiding and abetting any person in the conduct business under the chapter or any other chapter without a valid license” as required by chapter 397-A.  The law also removes the exclusion for persons authorized to make loans or extensions of credit under the laws of New Hampshire or the United States from the definition of “Credit Services Organization” under N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 359-D:2, II(b)(7).

For those subject to New Hampshire laws governing small loans, title loans, and payday loans, the new law makes a number of changes.  The law strikes language outlining the measurement of a month or a day for purposes of computing.  A requirement that the payment book adhere to a certain format was also removed.  Additionally, a requirement that any note, agreement, or promise to pay, among other things, also contain the amount of the note in a closed end loan or the maximum credit line in an open end loan for those subject to regulations involving small loans, title loans, and payday loans is added under the law.

Finally, the law alters the definition of a retail seller under N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 361-A:1, XIII, among other technical changes.

The effective date for the provisions is August 7, 2018.

A copy of the law can be found here.