A New Hampshire Credit Services Organization bond is required by law if you propose to offer credit repair services in the state.  As per the Attorney General, in 1989, the New Hampshire Legislature enacted the Credit Service Organizations Act, RSA 359-D (CSO Act) in response to abuses in the consumer credit repair services field. The statute regulates these services in four ways. A credit service organization must:

  • Post a credit repair service surety bond with the New Hampshire Secretary of State
  • Make detailed disclosures to their customers about the services offered
  • Provide a five-day right to rescind any contract and refrain from engaging in several specifically prohibited practices

Requiring a New Hampshire credit repair service bond is intended to ensure that there will be an accessible pool of money available to compensate consumers injured by improper credit service practices. The surety bond or trust account must be equal to at least five of the company’s yearly income under credit service contracts, but not less than $5,000 or more than $25,000, adjusted annually. Any person injured by a credit service organization’s violation of the CSO Act may bring an action for damages against the credit repair service bond by suing the company.

The surety bond form can be generic and provided by the surety company for approval by the Secretary of State.  Obviously, we typically manuscript these to include non-cumulative liability, a cancellation provision, code compliance rather than financial guarantees, limit third party claims, attorney fees and costs and avoid any other onerous language that might prejudice the surety.

National surety leader, Surety One, Inc., issues credit counselor bonds and credit service organization bonds in ALL states where they are required by law. All legitimate applicants are bondable with us regardless of credit condition. Need a fidelity bond to cover employee dishonesty exposures?  We can help with that too!  Visit SuretyOne.com, call (787) 333-0222 or (800) 373-2804, or email us at Underwriting@SuretyOne.com for a New Hampshire credit service organization bond, or for information on bonding for any state where you wish to do business.