[Rev. 6/29/2024 2:55:49 PM--2023]
CHAPTER 97A - DEBT EVIDENCED BY CREDIT CARD
NRS 97A.010 Definitions.
NRS 97A.020 “Authorized user” defined.
NRS 97A.030 “Beneficial use” defined.
NRS 97A.040 “Cardholder” defined.
NRS 97A.050 “Credit card” defined.
NRS 97A.060 “Credit card account” defined.
NRS 97A.070 “False or fraudulent application” defined.
NRS 97A.080 “Financial institution” defined.
NRS 97A.090 “Interest” defined.
NRS 97A.100 “Issuer” defined.
NRS 97A.110 “Joint account” defined.
NRS 97A.120 “Secondary cardholder” defined.
NRS 97A.130 “Service provider” defined.
NRS 97A.140 Requirements for issuance of credit card; provision and change of terms and conditions for use of credit card; applicable state law.
NRS 97A.142 Verification of identity of person accepting firm offer of credit: When required; actions deemed to be verification of identity.
NRS 97A.145 Issuer to provide cardholder with written notice concerning unlawful use of personal identifying information and credit information of cardholder; compliance with federal law deemed compliance with section.
NRS 97A.150 Liability for charges incurred on credit card account.
NRS 97A.160 Records required in action to collect debt: Establishment of liability and amount; authentication; retention.
NRS 97A.165 Contents of complaint; limitations.
NRS 97A.170 Rights of issuer or service provider; action to determine liability for unauthorized negotiable instrument used to make payment.
NRS 97A.180 Transfer of information if issuer is subsidiary.
NRS 97A.200 Prohibited acts by issuer: Increase of interest rate based upon late payment to another creditor; universal default clauses; exception.
NRS 97A.210 Prohibited acts by issuer: Prohibiting merchant from offering certain discounts.
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NRS 97A.010 Definitions. As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires, the words and terms defined in NRS 97A.020 to 97A.130, inclusive, have the meanings ascribed to them in those sections.
(Added to NRS by 1995, 2597)
NRS 97A.020 “Authorized user” defined. “Authorized user” means any person granted express, implied or apparent authority to use the credit card or credit card account of a cardholder. The term includes a secondary cardholder.
(Added to NRS by 1995, 2597)
NRS 97A.030 “Beneficial use” defined. “Beneficial use” means any use made of the credit card or credit card account of a cardholder by a person other than the cardholder that results in a direct or indirect benefit to the cardholder or any member of the cardholder’s immediate family.
(Added to NRS by 1995, 2597)
NRS 97A.040 “Cardholder” defined. “Cardholder” means a person:
1. Who establishes a credit card account;
2. Whose name appears on the credit card issued on that account; and
3. Who is liable for the payment of all charges incurred on that account.
(Added to NRS by 1995, 2597)
NRS 97A.050 “Credit card” defined. “Credit card” means any instrument or device, whether known as a credit card, credit plate, or by any other name, issued with or without fee by an issuer for the use of the cardholder in obtaining money, property, goods, services or anything else of value on credit.
(Added to NRS by 1995, 2597)
NRS 97A.060 “Credit card account” defined. “Credit card account” means an open line of credit offered by an issuer to a cardholder which is accessed by obtaining money, property, goods, services or anything of value by the use of a credit card.
(Added to NRS by 1995, 2598)
NRS 97A.070 “False or fraudulent application” defined. “False or fraudulent application” means any written request for the issuance of a credit card, whether or not on a form prescribed by an issuer, that contains an intentional error or mistake regarding any material fact.
(Added to NRS by 1995, 2598)
NRS 97A.080 “Financial institution” defined. “Financial institution” means:
1. A bank, commercial bank or banking corporation as defined in NRS 657.016;
2. A banking institution which is authorized to issue credit cards pursuant to federal or state law;
3. A banking subsidiary owned by a bank holding company pursuant to 12 U.S.C. § 1841, or by a savings and loan holding company pursuant to 12 U.S.C. § 1467a(a)(1)(D); and
4. Any other federally regulated banking institution.
(Added to NRS by 1995, 2598)
NRS 97A.090 “Interest” defined.
1. “Interest,” however denominated or expressed, means the amount which is paid or payable for the privilege of purchasing goods or services with a credit card to be paid for in installments over a period that is longer than the grace period allowed by the issuer during which no payment is due.
2. The term includes:
(a) Annual membership fees;
(b) Charges for the delinquent payment of an installment;
(c) Charges for a check or other negotiable instrument that is submitted for the payment of an installment and is drawn on an account with insufficient money to pay the installment;
(d) Charges for the extension of credit in excess of the limit prescribed by the issuer; and
(e) Any other charge or fee to which the issuer and cardholder agree.
3. The term does not include premiums paid for insurance, attorney’s fees, court costs or fees required to file any civil action.
(Added to NRS by 1995, 2598)
NRS 97A.100 “Issuer” defined. “Issuer” means a financial institution, or an authorized agent of a financial institution, that issues a credit card.
(Added to NRS by 1995, 2598)
NRS 97A.110 “Joint account” defined. “Joint account” means a credit card account for which two or more persons agree in writing to be jointly and severally liable for all authorized charges incurred on the account.
(Added to NRS by 1995, 2598)
NRS 97A.120 “Secondary cardholder” defined. “Secondary cardholder” means a person whose name appears on a credit card at the request of the cardholder for the purpose of authorizing that person to use the credit card account of the cardholder.
(Added to NRS by 1995, 2598)
NRS 97A.130 “Service provider” defined. “Service provider” means any financial institution or organization retained by an issuer pursuant to a written agreement to provide services related to the administration of credit card accounts.
(Added to NRS by 1995, 2598)
NRS 97A.140 Requirements for issuance of credit card; provision and change of terms and conditions for use of credit card; applicable state law.
1. An issuer located in this State shall not issue a credit card to a cardholder unless the issuer first:
(a) Provides the written notice required pursuant to NRS 97A.145 to the cardholder; and
(b) Receives a written or oral request from the cardholder for the issuance of the credit card.
2. An issuer shall provide the cardholder with the terms and conditions that govern the use of the credit card, in writing, before or at the time of the receipt of the credit card. A cardholder shall be deemed to have accepted the written terms and conditions provided by the issuer upon subsequent actual use of the credit card.
3. The rate of interest charged, and any other fees or charges imposed for the use of the credit card, must be in an amount agreed upon by the issuer and cardholder.
4. An issuer may unilaterally change any term or condition for the use of a credit card without prior written notice to the cardholder unless the change will adversely affect or increase the costs to the cardholder for the use of the credit card. If the change will increase such costs, the issuer shall provide to the cardholder:
(a) An identifiable notice of the change at least 30 days before the change becomes effective; and
(b) An opportunity to avoid the change, including, without limitation, by voluntarily closing the credit card account after providing notice to the issuer. If the cardholder closes the credit card account and the issuer provides any information about the account to a credit reporting agency, the issuer must notify the agency that the cardholder voluntarily closed the credit card account.
5. Unless otherwise stated as a term or condition, the law of this State governs all transactions relating to the use of a credit card if an issuer, or the service provider of an issuer, is located in this State.
(Added to NRS by 1995, 2598; A 2005, 2502; 2007, 655)
NRS 97A.142 Verification of identity of person accepting firm offer of credit: When required; actions deemed to be verification of identity.
1. If a solicitor makes a firm offer of credit for a credit card to a person by mail and receives an acceptance of that offer which has a substantially different address listed for the person than the address to which the solicitor sent the offer, the solicitor shall verify that the person accepting the offer is the same person to whom the offer was made before sending the person the credit card.
2. A solicitor shall be deemed to have verified the address of a person pursuant to subsection 1 if the solicitor:
(a) Telephones the person at a telephone number appearing in a publicly available directory or database as the telephone number of the person to whom the solicitation was made and the person acknowledges his or her acceptance of the solicitation;
(b) Receives from the person accepting the offer of credit proof of identity in the form of an identification document, including, without limitation, a driver’s license, passport, permanent resident card or tribal identification card which confirms that the person accepting the solicitation is the person to whom the solicitation was made; or
(c) Uses any other commercially reasonable means to confirm that the person accepting the solicitation is the person to whom the solicitation was made, including, without limitation, any means adopted in federal regulations.
3. For the purposes of this section:
(a) “Firm offer of credit” has the meaning ascribed to it in 15 U.S.C. § 1681a(l).
(b) “Permanent resident card” means a Permanent Resident Card issued by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services of the Department of Homeland Security.
(c) “Solicitor” means a person who makes a firm offer of credit for a credit card by mail solicitation, but does not include an issuer or other creditor when that issuer or creditor relies on an independent third party to provide the solicitation services.
(d) “Tribal identification card” means an identification card issued by a tribal government which satisfies the requirements of subsection 3 of NRS 232.006.
(Added to NRS by 2007, 47; A 2017, 88, 1620, 2269)
NRS 97A.145 Issuer to provide cardholder with written notice concerning unlawful use of personal identifying information and credit information of cardholder; compliance with federal law deemed compliance with section.
1. When issuing a credit card to a cardholder in this State, an issuer shall provide the cardholder with the written notice in the form prescribed by the Commissioner of Financial Institutions pursuant to this section.
2. The Commissioner of Financial Institutions shall adopt regulations prescribing the form of the written notice required pursuant to this section. The regulations must provide that the written notice must:
(a) Include, without limitation, the following information:
(1) The policies and procedures adopted by the issuer to protect the personal identifying information and credit information of the cardholder from any unlawful use by another person; and
(2) The legal rights and responsibilities of the cardholder if another person unlawfully uses the personal identifying information and credit information of the cardholder; and
(b) Be printed in a separate box created by bold lines that includes:
(1) A heading indicating the general subject matter of the notice that is printed in at least 12-point type; and
(2) The text of the notice that is printed in at least 10-point type.
3. An issuer that is subject to and complies with the privacy and security provisions of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 6801 et seq., shall be deemed to be in compliance with the notification requirements of this section.
4. As used in this section:
(a) “Credit information” means any information that is related to credit and derived from a consumer credit report, found on a consumer credit report or provided on an application for a credit card.
(b) “Personal identifying information” has the meaning ascribed to it in NRS 205.4617.
(Added to NRS by 2005, 2502)
NRS 97A.150 Liability for charges incurred on credit card account.
1. A cardholder is personally liable for all charges incurred on his or her credit card account by:
(a) The cardholder or an authorized user; and
(b) Any other person if the charges result in a beneficial use to the cardholder.
2. An authorized user is jointly and severally liable for the actual charges the authorized user incurs on the credit card account of the cardholder.
3. Any person, other than the cardholder or an authorized user, is liable for all charges the person incurs on the credit card account of the cardholder, except for the amount for which the cardholder is liable pursuant to 15 U.S.C. § 1643.
4. Any person who causes an issuer to open a credit card account based on a false or fraudulent application is liable to the issuer for all charges incurred on the account, without regard to whether the charges were authorized by the person responsible for opening the account.
(Added to NRS by 1995, 2599)
NRS 97A.160 Records required in action to collect debt: Establishment of liability and amount; authentication; retention.
1. Notwithstanding the provisions of chapter 52 of NRS, in any action brought to collect a debt owed to an issuer:
(a) The issuer may establish that the cardholder is contractually liable for the debt owed by submitting the written application for a credit card account submitted to the issuer by the cardholder or evidence that the cardholder incurred charges on the account and made payments thereon.
(b) The amount owed may be established by photocopies of:
(1) The periodic billing statements provided by the issuer; or
(2) Information stored by the issuer on a computer, microfilm, microfiche or optical disc which indicate the amount of the debt owed.
2. The content of such records must be authenticated:
(a) Pursuant to the procedures set forth in NRS 52.450 to 52.480, inclusive; or
(b) By the submission of a written affidavit sufficient to establish:
(1) The affiant as the custodian of the written records offered as evidence;
(2) That the written records offered as evidence were made in the ordinary course of the issuer’s business; and
(3) That the written records are true and correct copies of the records retained by the issuer.
3. The liability of a person other than the cardholder for the amount of any debt owed to an issuer may be established by evidence indicating that the person caused the charge to be incurred on the credit card account.
4. An issuer shall retain any record necessary to establish the existence and amount of any debt owed to the issuer for at least 24 months after the record is first published, issued or filed.
(Added to NRS by 1995, 2599)
NRS 97A.165 Contents of complaint; limitations.
1. In an action brought to collect a credit card debt owed to a purchaser of credit card debt:
(a) The complaint must include, without limitation:
(1) The name of the issuer;
(2) The last four digits of the account number originally assigned by the issuer;
(3) All subsequent account numbers assigned to the credit card debt by all assignees of the credit card debt; and
(4) The date of the default on the credit card debt.
(b) No judgment in favor of the purchaser of credit card debt, including, without limitation, a default judgment, may be entered unless:
(1) The complaint includes the information required by paragraph (a) of subsection 1; and
(2) The purchaser of credit card debt has satisfied the standards of proof set forth in subsections 1 and 2 of NRS 97A.160.
2. As used in this section, “purchaser of credit card debt” means a person, other than a financial institution, that purchases any outstanding credit card debt.
(Added to NRS by 2009, 481)
NRS 97A.170 Rights of issuer or service provider; action to determine liability for unauthorized negotiable instrument used to make payment.
1. An issuer or service provider shall be deemed to be a payee with respect to any payment made on a credit card account of a cardholder by a check or other negotiable instrument.
2. Upon the posting of a payment on a credit card account of a cardholder by the issuer or service provider, an issuer has changed its position in reliance thereon if the payment was made by check or other negotiable instrument.
3. A payment made on a credit card account of a cardholder by a check or other negotiable instrument is received by the issuer in good faith if the issuer did not have actual knowledge that the check or other negotiable instrument was forged, altered or unauthorized when it was posted to the account.
4. An action or proceeding brought to determine liability for an allegedly forged, altered or unauthorized check or other negotiable instrument used to make a payment on a credit card account of a cardholder must be determined pursuant to the provisions of chapters 104 to 104C, inclusive, of NRS.
(Added to NRS by 1995, 2600)
NRS 97A.180 Transfer of information if issuer is subsidiary.
1. If an issuer is a subsidiary directly or indirectly owned by a bank holding company as defined in 12 U.S.C. § 1841, a savings and loan holding company as defined in 12 U.S.C. § 1467a(a)(1)(D) or a holding company of any other financial institution, information relating to the credit card account of a cardholder may be transferred to and used by other subsidiaries owned by the same bank holding company, savings and loan holding company or holding company of any other financial institution. For the purposes of this subsection, any bank holding company, savings and loan holding company or holding company of any other financial institution shall be deemed the owner of a subsidiary if it or a subsidiary corporation owns 80 percent or more of the stock of a subsidiary or 80 percent or more of the stock of the corporation that owns a subsidiary.
2. An issuer may transfer information relating to the credit card account of a cardholder to any person, other than a secondary cardholder, whose name appears on the face of the credit card of the cardholder.
(Added to NRS by 1995, 2600)
NRS 97A.200 Prohibited acts by issuer: Increase of interest rate based upon late payment to another creditor; universal default clauses; exception.
1. An issuer shall not:
(a) Increase the interest rate it charges a cardholder for the use of the card based upon the late payment by the cardholder to another issuer or a creditor of the cardholder that is not an affiliate or subsidiary of the issuer; or
(b) Include a universal default clause in a contract or other agreement relating to a credit card account.
2. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection 1, an issuer may increase the interest rate it charges a cardholder for the use of the card based on a change in the credit rating of the cardholder.
3. As used in this section:
(a) “Affiliate or subsidiary of the issuer” means an affiliate or subsidiary that conducts business under a name that is:
(1) The same as the name of the issuer; or
(2) Sufficiently similar to the name of the issuer that a cardholder could reasonably believe that the cardholder is conducting business with the issuer.
(b) “Universal default clause” means a clause or provision that allows an issuer to increase the interest rate it charges a cardholder for the use of the card based upon the late payment by the cardholder to another issuer or a creditor of the cardholder that is not an affiliate or subsidiary of the issuer.
(Added to NRS by 2007, 404, 655)
NRS 97A.210 Prohibited acts by issuer: Prohibiting merchant from offering certain discounts. No issuer may, by contract or otherwise, prohibit a merchant from offering a discount to a customer to induce the customer to pay by cash, check or similar means rather than by use of a credit card or a credit card account for the purchase of goods or services.