The superior court shall have jurisdiction, in an action brought in the name of the State by the Attorney General or the district attorney of the prosecutorial district as defined in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 7A-60, to enjoin, as an unfair or deceptive trade practice, the continuation of any debt adjusting business or the offering of any debt adjusting services. The Attorney General or the district attorney who brings an action under this section may appoint a receiver for the property and money employed in the transaction of business by such person as a debt adjuster, to ensure, so far as may be possible, the return to debtors of so much of their money and property as has been received by the debt adjuster, and has not been paid to the creditors of the debtors. The court may also assess civil penalties under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 75-15.2 and award attorneys’ fees to the State under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 75-16.1 (1963, c. 394, s. 3; 1973, c. 47, s. 2; 1987 (Reg. Sess., 1998), c. 1037, s. 49; 2005-408, s. 3; 2007-79, s. 1.)

Terms Used In North Carolina General Statutes 14-425

  • Debt adjuster: means a person who engages in, attempts to engage in, or offers to engage in the practice or business of debt adjusting. See North Carolina General Statutes 14-423
  • Debt adjusting: means entering into or making a contract, express or implied, with a particular debtor whereby the debtor agrees to pay a certain amount of money periodically to the person engaged in the debt adjusting business and that person, for consideration, agrees to distribute, or distributes the same among certain specified creditors in accordance with a plan agreed upon. See North Carolina General Statutes 14-423
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • Person: means an individual, firm, partnership, limited partnership, corporation, or association. See North Carolina General Statutes 14-423
  • property: shall include all property, both real and personal. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
  • state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, shall be construed to extend to and include the District of Columbia and the several territories, so called; and the words "United States" shall be construed to include the said district and territories and all dependencies. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
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