The consumer protection section must hold a license applicant’s deposit for 60 days, may face claims against it during that time, and must return any remaining balance after claims are paid.
§51. Holding of deposit A. The deposit made by an applicant for licensure pursuant to R.S. 51:47(D) shall be held by the consumer protection section for a period of sixty days from the date of delivery of a returned license or from the date of acceptance of an affidavit in lieu of return. B. While in the hands of the consumer protection section, such deposit shall be subject to attachment or execution in behalf of creditors or consumers whose claim may arise in connection with business done pursuant to the license for which such deposit was made. The consumer protection section may also be held to answer as garnishee under process of foreign attachment in any civil action brought against the licensee. However, no such payment may be made or garnished from the deposit of a licensee until the expiration of the sixty-day period specified in Subsection A of this Section. C. While in the hands of the consumer protection section, such deposit shall also be subject to the payment of any fine or penalty imposed on the licensee for violation of any provision of this Part. However, such payment shall be made only if the clerk of the court imposing such fine or penalty notifies the section of the name of the licensee and the amount of the fine or penalty during the period in which the deposit is in the hands of the consumer protection section. D. After satisfying all claims made upon a licensee's deposit, the consumer protection section shall return the deposit, or such portion of the deposit as remains in its hands to the licensee or as directed by the licensee. E. Upon the failure of the licensee to return the license or an affidavit in lieu of such return within three hundred sixty-five calendar days from the expiration of the license, the deposit shall revert to the Unclaimed Property Division of the Department of the Treasury in the name of the licensee and the consumer protection section of the Department of Justice. F. While in the hands of the Unclaimed Property Division of the Department of the Treasury, the deposit shall be subject to the provisions of Subsections A through D of this Section. The deposit shall be released by the Department of Treasury to the licensee only upon verification by the Department of Justice that the licensee has complied with R.S. 51:50 and Subsection A of this Section. G. Any deposit remaining in the consumer protection section which was received more than three hundred sixty-five calendar days prior to July 1, 2018, shall revert to the unclaimed property division of the Department of the Treasury in the name of the licensee and the consumer protection section. The provisions of Subsections E and F of this Section shall apply to such deposit. Acts 1995, No. 669, §1; Acts 2018, No. 374, §1, eff. July 1, 2018; Acts 2019, No. 439, §2, eff. July 1, 2019.