§3143. Requirements for doing business

A. Home service contracts shall not be issued, sold, or offered for sale in this state unless the provider has done each of the following:

(1) Registered with the secretary of state and remains in good standing.

(2) Provided a receipt for, or other written evidence of, the purchase of the home service contract to the contract holder.

(3) Provided a copy of the home service contract to the service contract holder within a reasonable period of time from the date of purchase.

(4)-(5) Repealed by Acts 2016, No. 327, §1.

B. Each provider of a home service contract sold in this state shall file an application for an initial registration with the secretary of state consisting of his name, address, telephone number, and contact person, designating a person in this state for service of process, and providing a listing of all officers, all directors, and all owners of ten percent or more of the business. Additionally, the provider shall file a copy of its basic organizational documents, including articles of incorporation, articles of organization, articles of association, or a partnership agreement. Each application for registration shall be accompanied by a fee of six hundred dollars. All fees shall be paid to the secretary of state.

C. A registration shall be effective for two years, unless the registration is denied or revoked. Ninety days prior to the expiration of a registration, a provider shall submit a renewal application on a form prescribed by the secretary of state and a renewal fee of two hundred fifty dollars. All fees shall be paid to the secretary of state.

D. Each registrant shall notify the secretary of state of any material change in the registration information within sixty days of the effective date of such change. The notice shall be accompanied by supporting documentation.

E. In order to assure the faithful performance of a provider's obligations to its contract holders and to insure its outstanding obligations, each provider shall obtain and file with the secretary of state a surety bond issued by a company licensed to do business in Louisiana in the amount of fifty thousand dollars. The term of the surety bond shall coincide with the years the registration is effective as provided in Subsection C of this Section.

F. Except for the registration requirements of this Section, providers, administrators, and persons marketing, selling, or offering to sell home service contracts are exempt from any licensing requirements of this state and shall not be subject to other registration information or security requirements.

G. The marketing, sale, offering for sale, issuance, making, proposing to make, and administration of home service contracts by providers and related service contract sellers, administrators, and other persons is not insurance and shall be exempt from all provisions of the Louisiana Insurance Code.

Acts 2015, No. 161, §§1, 3(A), eff. Jan. 11, 2015; Acts 2015, No. 161, §§1, 3(B), eff. Jan. 15, 2016; Acts 2016, No. 243, §1, eff. May 26, 2016; Acts 2016, No. 327, §1; Acts 2018, No. 560, §5, eff. May 28, 2018.