[Rev. 6/29/2024 4:38:14 PM--2023]
CHAPTER 604B - REFUND ANTICIPATION LOANS
GENERAL PROVISIONS
NRS 604B.010 Definitions.
NRS 604B.020 “Customer” defined.
NRS 604B.030 “Facilitator of a refund anticipation loan” or “facilitator” defined.
NRS 604B.040 “Internal Revenue Service” defined.
NRS 604B.050 “Lender” defined.
NRS 604B.060 “Refund anticipation loan” defined.
NRS 604B.070 “Refund anticipation loan fee” defined.
NRS 604B.080 “Refund anticipation loan fee schedule” defined.
NRS 604B.090 “Regulation Z” defined.
NRS 604B.100 “Tax preparer” defined.
NRS 604B.110 “Tax return” defined.
NRS 604B.120 “Truth in Lending Act” defined.
REGULATION OF BUSINESS PRACTICES
NRS 604B.200 Posting of fee schedule.
NRS 604B.210 Required disclosures.
NRS 604B.220 Prohibited practices by facilitator.
REMEDIES AND PENALTIES
NRS 604B.900 Penalty.
NRS 604B.910 Remedies, penalties, duties and prohibitions in chapter not exclusive; violation constitutes deceptive trade practice.
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GENERAL PROVISIONS
NRS 604B.010 Definitions. As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires, the words and terms defined in NRS 604B.020 to 604B.120, inclusive, have the meanings ascribed to them in those sections.
(Added to NRS by 2005, 1643)
NRS 604B.020 “Customer” defined. “Customer” means a person who, in connection with the preparation or filing of a tax return, applies for a refund anticipation loan or receives the proceeds of a refund anticipation loan.
(Added to NRS by 2005, 1643)
NRS 604B.030 “Facilitator of a refund anticipation loan” or “facilitator” defined.
1. “Facilitator of a refund anticipation loan” or “facilitator” means a person who:
(a) Receives or accepts for delivery an application for a refund anticipation loan;
(b) Delivers a check in payment of the proceeds of a refund anticipation loan; or
(c) In any other manner, acts to allow or facilitates the offering or making of a refund anticipation loan.
2. The term includes, without limitation, a tax preparer who engages in any of the acts described in subsection 1.
3. The term does not include:
(a) A bank, thrift, savings association, industrial bank or credit union operating under the laws of the United States or this State;
(b) An affiliate, other than a tax preparer, that is a servicer for such an entity; or
(c) Any person who acts solely as an intermediary and does not deal with a customer in the making of a refund anticipation loan.
(Added to NRS by 2005, 1643)
NRS 604B.040 “Internal Revenue Service” defined. “Internal Revenue Service” means the Internal Revenue Service of the United States Department of the Treasury.
(Added to NRS by 2005, 1643)
NRS 604B.050 “Lender” defined. “Lender” means a person who offers to extend or extends credit to a customer in the form of a refund anticipation loan.
(Added to NRS by 2005, 1643)
NRS 604B.060 “Refund anticipation loan” defined.
1. “Refund anticipation loan” means a loan offered or made to a customer by a lender or through a facilitator based on the customer’s anticipated federal income tax refund.
2. The term includes, without limitation, a refund anticipation loan offered or made using electronic commerce.
(Added to NRS by 2005, 1643)
NRS 604B.070 “Refund anticipation loan fee” defined.
1. “Refund anticipation loan fee” means any fee, charge or other consideration imposed by a lender or a facilitator for a refund anticipation loan.
2. The term does not include any fee, charge or other consideration usually imposed by a facilitator in the ordinary course of business for nonloan services, such as fees for preparing tax returns and fees for the electronic filing of tax returns.
(Added to NRS by 2005, 1643)
NRS 604B.080 “Refund anticipation loan fee schedule” defined.
1. “Refund anticipation loan fee schedule” means a listing or table of refund anticipation loan fees charged by a lender or a facilitator for three or more representative refund anticipation loan amounts.
2. A refund anticipation loan fee schedule must:
(a) List separately each fee or charge imposed and a total of all fees and charges imposed which are related to the making of refund anticipation loans; and
(b) Include, for each representative loan amount, the estimated annual percentage rate calculated under the guidelines established by the Truth in Lending Act and Regulation Z.
(Added to NRS by 2005, 1643)
NRS 604B.090 “Regulation Z” defined. “Regulation Z” means the federal regulations, as amended, 12 C.F.R. Part 226, adopted pursuant to the Truth in Lending Act and commonly known as Regulation Z.
(Added to NRS by 2005, 1644)
NRS 604B.100 “Tax preparer” defined. “Tax preparer” means a person who engages in the business of preparing or filing tax returns for any fee, charge or other consideration.
(Added to NRS by 2005, 1644)
NRS 604B.110 “Tax return” defined. “Tax return” means a federal income tax return.
(Added to NRS by 2005, 1644)
NRS 604B.120 “Truth in Lending Act” defined. “Truth in Lending Act” means the federal Truth in Lending Act, as amended, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1601 et seq.
(Added to NRS by 2005, 1644)
REGULATION OF BUSINESS PRACTICES
NRS 604B.200 Posting of fee schedule. A facilitator of a refund anticipation loan shall post the refund anticipation loan fee schedule used by the facilitator in a conspicuous place in every location at which the facilitator conducts business.
(Added to NRS by 2005, 1644)
NRS 604B.210 Required disclosures.
1. If a facilitator of a refund anticipation loan offers a customer an opportunity to apply for a refund anticipation loan, the facilitator shall provide to the customer, before the customer completes the application process, the following disclosures:
(a) The refund anticipation loan fee schedule used by the facilitator; and
(b) A written statement or, if the transaction is conducted using electronic commerce, an electronic statement, in at least 10-point type, containing the following information:
(1) A disclosure that the refund anticipation loan is a loan which creates a legally enforceable debt and that the loan is not the customer’s actual tax refund;
(2) A disclosure that the customer may file a tax return electronically without applying for the refund anticipation loan;
(3) A disclosure of the average times, according to the Internal Revenue Service, within which a person who does not obtain a refund anticipation loan can expect to receive a tax refund if the person:
(I) Files a tax return electronically and the person’s tax refund is directly deposited to the person’s account or mailed to the person; or
(II) Mails a tax return to the Internal Revenue Service and the person’s tax refund is directly deposited to the person’s account or mailed to the person;
(4) A disclosure that the Internal Revenue Service does not guarantee that a person will be paid the full amount of an anticipated tax refund and does not guarantee that an anticipated tax refund will be deposited into a person’s account or mailed to a person on a specific date;
(5) A disclosure that the customer is responsible for repayment of the refund anticipation loan and related fees and charges if the anticipated tax refund is not paid or paid in full;
(6) A disclosure of the estimated time within which the proceeds of the refund anticipation loan will be paid to the customer if the loan is approved; and
(7) A disclosure of the fee or charge that will be imposed, if any, if the refund anticipation loan is not approved.
2. In addition to the disclosures required pursuant to subsection 1, the facilitator shall provide to the customer, before the loan transaction is completed, the following additional disclosures:
(a) The estimated total fees and charges for obtaining the refund anticipation loan; and
(b) The estimated annual percentage rate for the refund anticipation loan calculated under the guidelines established by the Truth in Lending Act and Regulation Z.
(Added to NRS by 2005, 1644)
NRS 604B.220 Prohibited practices by facilitator. A facilitator of a refund anticipation loan shall not:
1. Misrepresent a material factor or condition of a refund anticipation loan;
2. Fail to process the application for a refund anticipation loan promptly after the customer applies for the loan;
3. Engage in any dishonest, fraudulent, unfair, unconscionable or unethical practice or conduct in connection with a refund anticipation loan;
4. Arrange for a lender to take a security interest in any property of the customer, other than the proceeds of the customer’s tax refund and the account into which that tax refund is deposited, to secure payment of the loan; or
5. Offer a refund anticipation loan to a customer in an amount that, when added to the refund anticipation loan fees and any other fees or charges related to the loan or the preparation of the tax return, exceeds the amount of the customer’s anticipated tax refund.
(Added to NRS by 2005, 1645)
REMEDIES AND PENALTIES
NRS 604B.900 Penalty. Any person who knowingly and willfully violates any provision of this chapter is guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished by a fine of not more than $500 for each violation.
(Added to NRS by 2005, 1645)
NRS 604B.910 Remedies, penalties, duties and prohibitions in chapter not exclusive; violation constitutes deceptive trade practice.
1. The remedies, penalties, duties and prohibitions set forth in this chapter are not exclusive and are in addition to any other remedies, penalties, duties and prohibitions provided by law.
2. Any violation of this chapter constitutes a deceptive trade practice for the purposes of the civil and administrative remedies and penalties set forth in NRS 598.0903 to 598.0999, inclusive.
(Added to NRS by 2005, 1645)