A. Each application for a license required by this act shall be accompanied by:

1. A filing fee of Seven Hundred Dollars ($700.00), a license fee of Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) and a supervision fee of Seven Hundred Dollars ($700.00). In the event of a denial of the application per Section 9 of this act, the license and supervision fees shall be returned to the applicant. The filing fee, the license fee and supervision fee shall be applicable to each location;

2. An audited financial statement including but not limited to a balance sheet, a statement of income or loss and a statement of changes in financial position for the immediately preceding fiscal year, prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles by a certified public accountant or public accounting firm, neither of which is affiliated with the applicant. For a newly created entity, the Administrator of the Department of Consumer Credit may accept only a balance sheet prepared by a certified public accountant or public accounting firm, neither of which is affiliated with the applicant, accompanied by a projected income statement demonstrating that the applicant will have adequate capital after payment of start-up costs. If the applicant does not have an audited financial statement meeting the above requirements, it may submit a financial statement of its company if the financial statement is audited in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles by a certified public accountant or public accounting firm neither of which is affiliated with the applicant; and

3. A surety bond, issued by an insurer regulated under the Insurance Commissioner of this state and not affiliated with the applicant, in the amount of Twenty-five Thousand Dollars ($25,000.00) for each location. However, the aggregate amount of the surety bond required for a single licensee shall not exceed Two Hundred Thousand Dollars ($200,000.00). In lieu of the surety bond, the applicant shall file an irrevocable letter of credit, in the amount of the surety bond, issued by any federally insured bank, savings bank or credit union, none of which is affiliated with the applicant. The surety bond or irrevocable letter of credit shall be in a form satisfactory to the Administrator and shall be payable to the Department of Consumer Credit for the benefit of any person who is injured pursuant to a small loan by the fraud, misrepresentation, breach of contract, financial failure or violation of any provision of this act by a licensee. In the case of a surety bond, the aggregate liability of the surety bond shall not exceed the principal sum of the surety bond. In the case of an irrevocable letter of credit, applicants shall obtain letters of credit for terms of not less than three (3) years and renew the letters of credit annually. If the licensee fails to pay a person or the Administrator, as required by this act, then a person may bring suit against the licensee directly on the surety bond or irrevocable letter of credit in any court of competent jurisdiction, or the Administrator may bring suit in the District Court of Oklahoma County or the county of the aggrieved, which shall have exclusive venue in all matters relating to this section on behalf of those persons, in either one or successive actions. The surety bond or irrevocable letter of credit shall be maintained by the licensee for not less than three (3) years following the expiration, revocation or surrender of the licensee's license.

B. 1. The Administrator is authorized to require an applicant for a license to consent to a criminal history records check and to provide fingerprints with the application in a form acceptable to the Administrator. The Administrator may require such consent and fingerprints from any individual who is a director, officer or ten percent (10%) or more shareholder of the applicant or who owns or controls the applicant, as well as from any other individual associated with the applicant as is reasonably necessary to meet the purposes of this act. Refusal of any person to consent to a criminal history records check or to provide fingerprints pursuant to this subsection constitutes grounds for the Administrator to deny the applicant a license.

2. Any criminal history records check conducted pursuant to this subsection shall be conducted by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, the Federal Bureau of Investigation or both, and the results of the criminal history records check shall be forwarded to the Administrator.

Added by Laws 2019, c. 89, § 7, eff. Nov. 1, 2019.