CHAPTER 1

ORGANIZATION, LICENSING, RECORDS

 

Section 1. Authority.

 

(a) Generally, these Rules and Regulations (herein after referred to as the "Rules") are promulgated pursuant to W.S. 16-3-102(a)(i). Some Chapters are also promulgated pursuant to other, more specific statutory authority, as specified in such Chapter.

 

(b) The Administrator may employ a Deputy Administrator. If the Office of the Administrator is vacant or if the Administrator is absent or unable to act, the Deputy Administrator shall be the Acting Administrator.

 

Section 2. Definitions.

 

(a) For the purposes of the Code and Chapter 1 and 4 of these Rules, the following definitions apply:

 

(i)"Actuarial method" means the allocating of payments made on a debt between principal and loan finance charge or credit service charge pursuant to which:

 

(A)With respect to transactions other than precomputed, payment is applied first to the accumulated loan finance charge or credit service charge and the balance is applied to the unpaid principal.

 

(B)With respect to precomputed transactions entered into on or after May 25, 1979, and payable according to their original terms in more than sixty-one (61) monthly installments, the unearned portion of the loan finance charge or credit service charge is, at the option of the creditor, either:

 

(I)That portion which is applicable to all fully unexpired computational periods as originally scheduled, or if deferred, as deferred, which follow the date of prepayment. For this purpose the applicable charge is the total of that which would have been made for each such period, had the consumer loan or consumer credit sale not been precomputed, by applying to unpaid balances of principal the annual percentage rate previously stated to the debtor pursuant to the provisions of the Code on disclosure based on the assumption that all payments were made as originally scheduled, or if deferred, as deferred. The creditor, at his option, may round the annual percentage rate to the nearest one quarter of one percent (.25%) if such procedure is not consistently used to obtain greater yield than would otherwise be permitted; or

 

(II) The total loan finance charge or credit service charge minus the earned loan finance charge or credit service charge. The earned loan finance charge or credit service charge shall be determined by applying the annual percentage rate previously stated to the debtor pursuant to the provisions of the Code on disclosure to the actual unpaid balances for the actual time the balances were unpaid up to the date of prepayment. If a delinquency or deferral charge was collected, it shall be treated as a payment.

 

(C)The option referred to in paragraph (i)(B)(I) above must be taken and disclosed to the debtor at the time the transaction is entered into. If disclosure is not clearly given as to the option to be used, the creditor will be deemed to have chosen that option discussed in paragraph (i)(B)(II) above.

 

(ii)"Administrator" means the State of Banking Commissioner of the state of Wyoming.

 

(iii)"Change of ownership" means:

 

(A)A transfer of all or substantially all of the assets of the business conducted at any license location; or

 

(B)In all cases other than individuals, a transfer that results in one (1) or more persons, directly or indirectly, owning or controlling greater than fifty percent (50%) of the controlling interests of the licensee, unless such person(s) owned or controlled greater than fifty percent (50%) of such controlling interests as of the date of the most recent filed application.

 

(iv)"Change of effective ownership interest" means:

 

(A)A transfer that results in one (1) or more persons, directly or indirectly owning or controlling ten percent (10%) or more of the controlling interests of the licensee; or

 

(B)A transfer that results in one (1) or more persons becoming entitled or permitted to vote for or against a manager with ten percent (10%) or more of the controlling interests of the licensee.

 

(v)"Code" refers to the Wyoming Uniform Consumer Credit Code Act

as cited in W.S. 40-14-101 et seq.

 

(vi)"Consumer" means a cardholder or a natural person to whom consumer credit is offered or extended. Unless the context indicates otherwise, credit shall be construed to mean "consumer credit," loan to mean "consumer loan," lease to mean "consumer lease," and transaction to mean "consumer credit transaction."

 

(vii)"Consumer Lender" means a person who has obtained a license pursuant to W.S. 40-14-302(b).

 

(viii)"Division" means the Department of Audit, Division of Banking.

 

(ix)"Lessee" means a natural person who leases under, or who is offered, a consumer lease.

 

(x)"Lessor" means a person who in the ordinary course of business regularly leases, offers to lease or arranges for the leasing of personal property under a consumer lease.

 

(xi)"Manager" means, for purposes of Section 2(a)(iv)(B) of this Chapter, the following:

 

(A)For corporations, the board of directors or, if the corporation has elected not to have a board of directors, the holders of the capital stock of the corporation;

 

(B)For limited partnerships, general partnerships or joint ventures, the general partners or joint adventurers; or

 

(C)For limited liability companies, statutory or other trusts, and any other business organization, the persons in whom the management of the company, trust, or organization is vested.

 

(xii)"Month" means, for purposes of W.S. 40-14-363, one (1) calendar month. The period shall expire on the same date in the succeeding month if there is such a date, otherwise on the last day of the succeeding month.

 

(xiii)"Multiple of the federal minimum wage" means, for purposes of the limitation on garnishment in W.S. 40-14-505(b)(iii), the multiple of the federal minimum hourly wage for pay periods other than a week shall be determined as follows:

 

(A)Where the employee is paid by the day, the multiple shall be six (6), for two (2) days the multiple shall be twelve (12), for three (3) days the multiple shall be eighteen (18), and for four (4) days the multiple shall be twenty-four (24) or six (6) times the number of days;

 

(B)Where the employee is paid either every two (2) weeks or semimonthly, then the multiple shall be two and one-sixth (2 1/6) x thirty (30) x current federal minimum wage;

 

(C)Where the employee is paid monthly, then the calendar month shall be considered to consist of four and one-third (4 1/3) work weeks and the formula shall be four and one-third (4 1/3) x thirty (30) x current federal minimum wage; or

 

(D)Where the employee is paid once every two months, then the multiple shall be eight and two-thirds (8 2/3) x thirty (30) x current federal minimum wage.

 

(xiv)"Transfer" means to change in any manner legal or equitable claims of ownership or any rights or obligations relating to any such claim, whether by act or inaction, whether directly or indirectly, whether intentional or not. Without limiting the foregoing, for any lien, "transfer" includes the foreclosure of any rights of redemption as to the lien, but does not include the granting or imposition of the lien, whether on an ownership interest or any of the assets of the licensee.

Section 3. Computation of Time.

 

Unless otherwise stated, in computing any time period prescribed by these Rules, the day of the act or event from which the time period begins to run shall not be included. The last day of the period so computed shall be included, unless it is a Saturday, a Sunday, or a legal holiday, in which event the period runs until the end of the next day which is not a Saturday, a Sunday, or a legal holiday. When the period is less than eleven (11) days, Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays shall be excluded in the computation.

 

Section 4. Application/Licensing.

 

(a)An application to obtain a license shall be filed with the Administrator through the registry. This includes applications seeking licenses as consumer lenders, pawnbrokers, post-dated check cashers and sales finance companies. An application shall be considered "filed" only after all information and appropriate processing fees required by the Administrator have been received from the applicant.

 

(b)Each applicant shall provide all of the information prescribed by the Administrator, as applicable.

 

(c)Pursuant to W.S. 40-14-634 (c), each filed application for one (1) or more licenses shall be accompanied by:

 

(i)A three hundred dollar ($300.00) processing fee for the first license (principal license) for each license type; and

 

(ii)An additional processing fee of one hundred fifty dollars ($150.00) for each additional license (branch license) for each license type.

 

(d)Pursuant to W.S. 40-14-634(d), a fifty dollar ($50.00) initial license fee shall be paid for each license obtained.

 

(e)An application is a continuing obligation up until approval and issuing of the license applied for. If information in an application becomes inaccurate after filing, the applicant shall promptly notify the Administrator.

 

Section 5. Change of Ownership.

 

(a)Change of effective ownership interest. A licensee shall notify the administrator in writing at least thirty (30) days prior to the effective date of any change of effective ownership interest that is not a change of ownership under Section 2(a)(iii) of this Chapter. The Administrator may require the licensee to provide additional information or apply for a new license in the manner prescribed under Section 4 of this Chapter.

 

(b)Change of ownership. A licensee shall notify the administrator in writing at least sixty (60) days prior to the effective date of a change of ownership. The new owners shall apply for a new license in the manner prescribed under Section 4 of this Chapter.

 

Section 6. Modification.

 

Pursuant to W.S. 40-14-634(g)(ii), a license modification fee of fifty dollars ($50.00) shall be assessed to any licensee who wishes to move his office to another location.

 

Section 7. Annual Renewal.

 

Pursuant to W.S. 40-14-634(h), the annual license renewal fee shall be fifty dollars

($50.00) plus any fees assessed by the registry.

 

Section 8. Records.

 

If any book, log, journal, document, record or information relevant and necessary to the examination or investigation is kept or maintained electronically, the business examined or investigated shall provide such data or access to data in an electronic format when requested by the Administrator.

 

Section 9.Transition of Licensees Under W.S. 40-14-342.

 

(a)                Any person licensed pursuant to W.S. 40-14-342 as of June 30, 2021, is considered licensed as a consumer lender effective July 1, 2021.

 

(b)               For any person licensed as a consumer lender under subsection (a) of this section, any surety bond maintained pursuant to W.S. 40-14-637 shall remain a continuing obligation and remain effective after June 30, 2021.

 

(c)                No license is surrendered, revoked or expired for purposes of W.S. 40-14-637(d) in connection with any person becoming licensed as a consumer lender pursuant to subsection (a) of this section.