45-372.

Licensee; prohibited acts; cease and desist order; false statement; penalty.

(1) A licensee shall not refuse to enter into a loan or impose finance charges or other terms or conditions of credit more onerous than those regularly extended by that licensee to borrowers of similar economic backgrounds because of the age, color, creed, national origin, political affiliation, race, religion, sex, marital status, disability, or military or veteran status of the borrower or because the borrower receives public assistance, social security benefits, pension benefits, or the like.

(2) No licensee shall conduct the business of making loans under the Nebraska Installment Loan and Sales Act within any office, room, or place of business in which any other business is solicited or engaged in, or in association or conjunction with any other business, if the director finds that the other business is of such nature that the conducting of such other business tends to conceal evasion of the act or of the rules and regulations adopted and promulgated under the act. In such case, the director shall order such licensee in writing to cease and desist from such conduct.

(3) No licensee shall, directly or indirectly, require a borrower as a condition of granting a loan to such borrower to reaffirm or otherwise obligate the borrower to pay a former debt to the licensee which has been discharged in bankruptcy proceedings.

(4) Any person who makes a false statement to secure a loan is guilty of a Class III misdemeanor. The punishment shall not be exacted, however, when such a loan is made after the licensee is aware of the falsity of the statement.

(5) No licensee or other person subject to the Nebraska Installment Loan and Sales Act shall advertise, print, display, publish, distribute, or broadcast or cause or permit to be advertised, printed, displayed, published, distributed, or broadcast in any manner whatsoever any false, misleading, or deceptive statement or representation with regard to the rates, terms, or conditions for the lending of money, credit, goods, or things in action. The director may order any licensee to cease and desist from any conduct which he or she finds to be a violation of this section. The director may require that rates of charge, if stated by a licensee, be stated fully and clearly in such manner as the director deems necessary to prevent misunderstanding by prospective borrowers.

(6) No loan, made outside this state, in the amount or of the value of three thousand dollars or less, for which a greater rate of interest, consideration, or charges than is permitted by section 45-350 has been charged, contracted for, or received, shall be enforced in this state. Every person participating in such loan in this state is subject to the Nebraska Installment Loan and Sales Act, except that the act shall not apply to loans legally made in any state under and in accordance with a regulatory small loan law similar in principle to such act.

(7) In connection with the collection of any loan, a licensee may not:

(a) Use or threaten to use violence;

(b) Use obscene or profane language;

(c) Cause a telephone to ring or engage a person in telephone conversation at times known to be inconvenient to the borrower;

(d) Falsely represent the character, amount, or legal status of any debt;

(e) Falsely represent that an individual is an attorney when he or she is not;

(f) Falsely represent that nonpayment of any debt will result in the arrest or imprisonment of the borrower or any member of the borrower's household;

(g) Threaten to take any action that the licensee knows cannot legally be taken at the time the threat is made;

(h) Falsely represent that the borrower committed any crime when the borrower did not;

(i) Communicate or threaten to communicate to any person credit information which is known to be false;

(j) Use or distribute any written communication which falsely represents that it is a document authorized, issued, or approved by any court, official, or agency of the United States or any state;

(k) Charge or collect any fees, charges, or expenses, incidental to the collection of any loan, unless such amount is expressly authorized by the loan agreement or permitted by law;

(l) Accept from any person a check or other payment instrument postdated by more than five days unless such person is notified in writing of the licensee's intent to deposit such check or instrument not more than ten nor less than three business days prior to such deposit;

(m) Solicit any postdated check or other postdated payment instrument for the purpose of threatening or instituting criminal prosecution;

(n) Deposit or threaten to deposit any postdated check prior to the date on such check;

(o) Cause charges to be made to any person for communications by concealment of the true purpose of the communication, including, but not limited to, collect telephone calls and telegram fees;

(p) Communicate with a borrower regarding a debt by postcard; or

(q) Communicate with a borrower at the borrower's place of employment if the licensee has received actual notice that the borrower's employer prohibits the borrower from receiving such communication.