Section 41.4. Accounting records

(a) Accounting records shall be maintained in English and shall be retained for a period of 2 years after the date of final payment of or the final entry on a contract. Licensees shall make books and records available to the Administrator for examination, with or without prior notice, on weekdays at some time between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., except holidays normally observed by local, national or religious custom. The accounting records of a licensee will be considered satisfactory if they are maintained in compliance with generally accepted accounting principles. Licensees purchasing installment sale contracts shall maintain separate general ledger controls for motor vehicle sales finance contracts and other sales finance and home improvement contracts purchased. At least the following controls shall be maintained:

(1) Direct loans.

(2) Motor vehicle sales finance contracts.

(3) Other sales finance and home improvement contracts.

(b) Licensees operating licensed offices other than their home office are permitted to maintain the general ledger of each licensed office at their home office providing each licensed office is furnished with a statement showing assets, liabilities and the income and expenses of that licensed office. These statements shall be filed in licensed offices within 30 days of the close of each accounting cycle and shall be retained in each licensed office and be available to the Administrator for a period of 2 years immediately preceding the date of each examination. The Administrator, however, reserves the right to demand that the general ledger maintained at the home office under these conditions be made available upon proper notice to the licensee. Except for licensed office general ledgers, other books, records and papers may be maintained in a licensed office of the licensee and shall be made available to the Administrator for examination at any time without prior notice. When notes or other instruments evidencing loan contracts are deposited with a financial institution in connection with a commercial loan or line of credit, access thereto shall be provided for the Administrator when the institution holding these notes or other instruments is situated in close proximity to the office of the licensee. When the institution holding these documents is not so situated, the licensee shall obtain from the institution a certified current list of documents held showing the date of the contract, the original amount of the contract, the name of the consumer and the number of the contract.

(c) Each individual account ledger shall contain a complete and detailed record of all items pertaining to the account. Interest or discount and service charges shall be shown separately. This ledger shall reflect the date of the contract, the date of each payment, the balance remaining due after each payment, the contractual delinquency status, the default charges, the extension charges, and whether the loan was closed by payment in full, by renewal or by sale of collateral or was charged off as a loss. The individual account ledger shall show detailed records of dates and amounts of special items that may have been paid by or charged to the consumer. When collateral is repossessed other than by due process of law, the date of repossession and the name and address of the person making the repossession shall appear on the individual account ledger. The date of the sale of the collateral, the selling price, the name and address of the purchaser and the date and amount of an insurance refund or of a surplus from the sale of the collateral that shall be paid to the consumer shall be set forth on the individual account records. When individual ledger cards are not available, the information required in this subsection shall be included in records produced by a data processing system.

(d) A licensee shall maintain in a separate file or record an accurate chronological account of law suits, foreclosures and sales of real property, personal property or both real and personal property.