Nev. Rev. Stat. §676A.010 et seq.
NRS 676A.010 Short title.
This chapter may be cited as the Uniform Debt-Management Services Act. (Added to NRS by 2009, 1970)
NRS 676A.020 Definitions.
As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires, the words and terms defined in NRS 676A.030 to 676A.260, inclusive, have the meanings ascribed to them in those sections.
(Added to NRS by 2009, 1970; A 2021, 2042)
NRS 676A.030 “Affiliate” defined.
“Affiliate” means:
1. With respect to an individual:
(a) The spouse of the individual;
(b) A sibling of the individual or the spouse of a sibling;
(c) An individual or the spouse of an individual who is a lineal ancestor or lineal descendant of the individual or the individual’s spouse;
(d) An aunt, uncle, great aunt, great uncle, first cousin, niece, nephew, grandniece or grandnephew, whether related by the whole or the half blood or adoption, or the spouse of any of them; or
(e) Any other individual occupying the residence of the individual; and
2. With respect to an entity:
(a) A person that directly or indirectly controls, is controlled by or is under common control with the entity;
(b) An officer of, or an individual performing similar functions with respect to, the entity;
(c) A director of, or an individual performing similar functions with respect to, the entity;
(d) Subject to adjustment of the dollar amount pursuant to subsection 6 of NRS 676A.730, a person that receives or received more than $25,000 from the entity in either the current year or the preceding year or a person that owns more than 10 percent of, or an individual who is employed by or is a director of, a person that receives or received more than $25,000 from the entity in either the current year or the preceding year;
(e) An officer or director of, or an individual performing similar functions with respect to, a person described in paragraph (a);
(f) The spouse of, or an individual occupying the residence of, an individual described in paragraphs (a) to (e), inclusive; or
(g) An individual who has the relationship specified in paragraph (d) of subsection 1 to an individual or the spouse of an individual described in paragraphs (a) to (e), inclusive.
(Added to NRS by 2009, 1970)
NRS 676A.040 “Agreement” defined.
“Agreement” means an agreement between a provider and an individual for the performance of debt-management services.
(Added to NRS by 2009, 1971)
NRS 676A.050 “Bank” defined.
“Bank” means a financial institution, including, without limitation, a commercial bank, savings bank, savings and loan association, credit union and trust company, engaged in the business of banking, chartered under federal or state law and regulated by a federal or state banking regulatory authority.
(Added to NRS by 2009, 1971)
NRS 676A.060 “Business address” defined.
“Business address” means the physical location of a business, including, without limitation, the name and number of a street.
(Added to NRS by 2009, 1971)
NRS 676A.070 “Certified counselor” defined.
“Certified counselor” means an individual certified by a training program or certifying organization, approved by the Commissioner, that authenticates the competence of individuals providing education and assistance to other individuals in connection with debt-management services in which an agreement contemplates that creditors will reduce finance charges or fees for late payment, default or delinquency.
(Added to NRS by 2009, 1971)
NRS 676A.080 “Certified debt specialist” defined.
“Certified debt specialist” means an individual certified by a training program or certifying organization, approved by the Commissioner, that authenticates the competence of individuals providing education and assistance to other individuals in connection with debt settlement services.
(Added to NRS by 2009, 1971)
NRS 676A.090 “Commissioner” defined.
“Commissioner” means the Commissioner of Financial Institutions.
(Added to NRS by 2009, 1971)
NRS 676A.100 “Concessions” defined.
“Concessions” means assent to repayment of a debt on terms more favorable to an individual than the terms of the contract between the individual and a creditor.
(Added to NRS by 2009, 1971)
NRS 676A.110 “Credit counseling” defined.
“Credit counseling” means providing education and assistance to an individual concerning debts owed by the individual which may include, without limitation, the development and implementation of a debt-management plan.
(Added to NRS by 2009, 1971)
NRS 676A.120 “Day” defined.
“Day” means calendar day.
(Added to NRS by 2009, 1971)
NRS 676A.130 “Debt-management plan” defined.
“Debt-management plan” means a plan which contemplates that:
1. Regular, periodic payments will be made to a provider by or on behalf of an individual to whom debt-management services are being provided; and
2. The individual’s creditors will reduce financing charges or fees for late payment, default or delinquency.
The term does not include a plan which contemplates that creditors of the individual will settle debts for less than the principal amount of the debt.
(Added to NRS by 2009, 1971)
NRS 676A.140 “Debt-management services” defined.
“Debt-management services” means services as an intermediary between an individual and one or more creditors of the individual for the purpose of obtaining concessions and includes credit counseling, the development and implementation of debt-management plans and debt settlement services. The term does not include:
1. Legal services provided in an attorney-client relationship by an attorney licensed or otherwise authorized to practice law in this State;
2. Accounting services provided in an accountant-client relationship by a certified public accountant licensed to provide accounting services in this State; or
3. Financial-planning services provided in a financial planner-client relationship by a member of a financial-planning profession whose members the Commissioner, by regulation, determines are:
(a) Licensed by this State;
(b) Subject to a disciplinary mechanism;
(c) Subject to a code of professional responsibility; and
(d) Subject to a continuing education requirement.
(Added to NRS by 2009, 1971)
NRS 676A.150 “Debt settlement services” defined.
“Debt settlement services” means debt-management services which contemplate that:
1. Regular, periodic payments will be made by or on behalf of the individual to whom the services are being provided;
2. The individual will accumulate such payments in a bank account which is insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, owned by the individual and not controlled by the provider; and
3. The individual will use the accumulated amount of the payments made pursuant to subsection 1 to make payments to:
(a) The provider for any fees charged by the provider pursuant to NRS 676A.580; and
(b) Creditors in order to settle the debts of the individual for less than the principal amount of the debt.
(Added to NRS by 2009, 1972)
NRS 676A.160 “Entity” defined.
“Entity” means a person other than an individual.
(Added to NRS by 2009, 1972)
NRS 676A.170 “Good faith” defined.
“Good faith” means honesty in fact and the observance of reasonable standards of fair dealing.
(Added to NRS by 2009, 1972)
NRS 676A.175 “Nationwide Multistate Licensing System and Registry” or “Registry” defined.
[Effective on the date on which the Commissioner of Financial Institutions notifies the Governor and the Director of the Legislative Counsel Bureau that the Nationwide Multistate Licensing System and Registry has sufficient capabilities to allow the Commissioner to carry out the provisions of chapter 347, Statutes of Nevada 2021, at page 2030.] “Nationwide Multistate Licensing System and Registry” or “Registry” has the meaning ascribed to it in NRS 604A.083.
(Added to NRS by 2021, 2039, effective on the date on which the Commissioner of Financial Institutions notifies the Governor and the Director of the Legislative Counsel Bureau that the Nationwide Multistate Licensing System and Registry has sufficient capabilities to allow the Commissioner to carry out the provisions of chapter 347, Statutes of Nevada 2021, at page 2030)
NRS 676A.180 “Person” defined.
“Person” means an individual, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, limited-liability company, association, joint venture or any other legal or commercial entity. The term does not include a public corporation, government or governmental subdivision, agency or instrumentality.
(Added to NRS by 2009, 1972)
NRS 676A.190 “Plan” defined.
“Plan” means a program or strategy in which a provider furnishes debt-management services to an individual and which includes a schedule of payments to be made by or on behalf of the individual and used to pay debts owed by the individual.
(Added to NRS by 2009, 1972)
NRS 676A.200 “Principal amount of the debt” defined.
“Principal amount of the debt” means the amount of a debt at the time of an agreement.
(Added to NRS by 2009, 1972)
NRS 676A.210 “Provider” defined.
“Provider” means a person that provides, offers to provide or agrees to provide debt-management services directly or through others.
(Added to NRS by 2009, 1972)
NRS 676A.220 “Record” defined.
“Record” means information which is inscribed on a tangible medium or which is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in perceivable form.
(Added to NRS by 2009, 1972)
NRS 676A.230 “Settlement fee” defined.
“Settlement fee” means a charge imposed on or paid by an individual in connection with a creditor’s assent to accept in full satisfaction of a debt an amount less than the principal amount of the debt.
(Added to NRS by 2009, 1972)
NRS 676A.240 “Sign” defined.
“Sign” means, with present intent to authenticate or adopt a record:
1. To execute or adopt a tangible symbol; or
2. To attach to or logically associate with the record an electronic sound, symbol or process.
(Added to NRS by 2009, 1972)
NRS 676A.250 “State” defined.
“State” means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, or any territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States.
(Added to NRS by 2009, 1972)
NRS 676A.260 “Trust account” defined.
“Trust account” means an account held by a provider that is:
1. Established in an insured bank;
2. Separate from other accounts of the provider or its designee;
3. Designated as a trust account or other account designated to indicate that the money in the account is not the money of the provider or its designee; and
4. Used to hold money of one or more individuals for disbursement to creditors of the individuals.
(Added to NRS by 2009, 1973)
NRS 676A.270 Applicability.
- This chapter does not apply to an agreement with an individual who the provider has no reason to know resides in this State at the time of the agreement.
- This chapter does not apply to a provider to the extent that the provider:
(a) Provides or agrees to provide debt-management, educational or counseling services to an individual who the provider has no reason to know resides in this State at the time the provider agrees to provide the services; or
(b) Receives no compensation for debt-management services from or on behalf of the individuals to whom it provides the services or from their creditors.
- This chapter does not apply to the following persons or their employees when the person or the employee is engaged in the regular course of the person’s business or profession:
(a) A judicial officer, a person acting under an order of a court or an administrative agency or an assignee for the benefit of creditors;
(b) A bank;
(c) An affiliate, as defined in paragraph (a) of subsection 2 of NRS 676A.030, of a bank if the affiliate is regulated by a federal or state banking regulatory authority; or
(d) A title insurer, escrow company or other person that provides bill-paying services if the provision of debt-management services is incidental to the bill-paying services.
- Except as otherwise required by the Director of the Department of Business and Industry pursuant to NRS 657A.430 or 657A.620, this chapter does not apply to a participant in the Regulatory Experimentation Program for Product Innovation established and administered pursuant to chapter 657A of NRS.
(Added to NRS by 2009, 1973; A 2019, 3999, effective January 1, 2020)
NRS 676A.280 Uniformity of application and construction.
In applying and construing the Uniform Debt-Management Services Act, consideration must be given to the need to promote uniformity of the law with respect to its subject matter among states that enact it.
(Added to NRS by 2009, 1997)
NRS 676A.290 Relation to Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act.
This chapter modifies, limits and supersedes the federal Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 7001 et seq., but does not modify, limit or supersede section 101(c) of that act, 15 U.S.C. § 7001(c), or authorize electronic delivery of any of the notices described in section 103(b) of that act, 15 U.S.C. § 7003(b).
(Added to NRS by 2009, 1998)