On February 11, 2021, North Carolina State Representatives Julia Howard, Jason Saine, Michael 

Wray, and John Skoza introduced House Bill 76 (“H.B. 76” or “Bill”), which recodifies Article 56 of Chapter 14 of the General Statutes as an Act to Modernize and Expand the Prohibition of Debt Settlement (“Act”). The Bill has moved quickly through the NC legislative process. As of March 3, 2021, H.B. 76 was unanimously approved by the House, and the Bill has now been delivered to the state Senate, which has referred it to the Senate Committee on Rules and Operations of the Senate. The Senate Committee must now consider the Bill and recommend if further action should be taken. If the Senate Committee votes favorably upon the Bill, it will move to the full Senate for approval or amendment. If amended, it will be returned to the House and begin the process anew. If approved, the Bill will be sent to the NC Governor for ratification. Please note that a bill can stall or stop at any point in the NC legislative process.As it stands, H.B. 76 would require debt settlement companies to follow specific parameters, as summarized in our previous update, if they wish to operate in the state. We will continue to monitor H.B. 76 and update you on its trajectory through the North Carolina Legislature. If you would like to read the text of the entire proposed legislation, please click on the following link: https://www.ncleg.gov/Sessions/2021/Bills/House/PDF/H76v1.pdf.