§ 14-425. Enjoining practice of debt adjusting; appointment of receiver for money and property employed.

§ 14‑425.  Enjoiningpractice of debt adjusting; appointment of receiver for money and propertyemployed.

The superior court shall havejurisdiction, in an action brought in the name of the State by the AttorneyGeneral or the district attorney of the prosecutorial district as defined inG.S. 7A‑60, to enjoin, as an unfair or deceptive trade practice, thecontinuation of any debt adjusting business or the offering of any debtadjusting services. The Attorney General or the district attorney who brings anaction under this section may appoint a receiver for the property and moneyemployed in the transaction of business by such person as a debt adjuster, toensure, so far as may be possible, the return to debtors of so much of theirmoney and property as has been received by the debt adjuster, and has not beenpaid to the creditors of the debtors. The court may also assess civil penaltiesunder G.S. 75‑15.2 and award attorneys' fees to the State under G.S. 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.)