45-346. License; application; contents; issuance; bond; fee; term; director; duties.

(1) A license issued under the Nebraska Installment Sales Act is nontransferable and nonassignable. The same person may obtain additional licenses for each place of business operating as a sales finance company in this state upon compliance with the act as to each license, except that on or after January 1, 2020, a person is no longer required to obtain a new license for each place of business and may maintain a branch office or offices upon compliance with the act.

(2) Application for a license shall be on a form prescribed and furnished by the director and shall include, but not be limited to, (a) the applicant's name and any trade name or doing business as designation which the applicant intends to use in this state, (b) the applicant's main office address, (c) all branch office addresses at which business is to be conducted, (d) the names and titles of each director and principal officer of the applicant, (e) the names of all shareholders, partners, or members of the applicant, (f) a description of the activities of the applicant in such detail as the department may require, (g) if the applicant is an individual, his or her social security number, and (h) audited financial statements showing a minimum net worth of one hundred thousand dollars.

(3) An applicant for a license shall file with the department a surety bond in the amount of fifty thousand dollars, furnished by a surety company authorized to do business in this state. The bond shall be for the use of the State of Nebraska and any Nebraska resident who may have claims or causes of action against the applicant. The surety may cancel the bond only upon thirty days' written notice to the director.

(4) A license fee of one hundred fifty dollars, and, if applicable, a one-hundred-dollar fee for each branch office listed in the application, and any processing fee allowed under subsection (2) of section 45-354 shall be submitted along with each application.

(5) An initial license shall remain in full force and effect until the next succeeding December 31. Each license shall remain in force until revoked, suspended, canceled, expired, or surrendered.

(6) The director shall, after an application has been filed for a license under the act, investigate the facts, and if he or she finds that the experience, character, and general fitness of the applicant, of the members thereof if the applicant is a corporation or association, and of the officers and directors thereof if the applicant is a corporation, are such as to warrant belief that the business will be operated honestly, fairly, and efficiently within the purpose of the act, the director shall issue and deliver a license to the applicant to do business as a sales finance company in accordance with the license and the act. The director shall have the power to reject for cause any application for a license.

(7) The director shall, within his or her discretion, make an examination and inspection concerning the propriety of the issuance of a license to any applicant. The cost of such examination and inspection shall be borne by the applicant.

(8) If an applicant for a license under the act does not complete the license application and fails to respond to a notice or notices from the department to correct the deficiency or deficiencies for a period of one hundred twenty days or more after the date the department sends the initial notice to correct the deficiency or deficiencies, the department may deem the application as abandoned and may issue a notice of abandonment of the application to the applicant in lieu of proceedings to deny the application.

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