Page 1 of 1 Regular Session, 2012 ENROLLED SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTI ON NO. 146 BY SENATOR APPEL A CONCURRENT RESOLUTI ON To urge and request the Senate Committee on Commerce, Consumer Protection, and International Affairs and the House Committee on Commerce to meet and function as a joint committee to study the regulation of debt settlement services in the state of Louisiana. WHEREAS, there are tens of thousands of Louisiana residents who struggle to satisfy the debts they owe; and WHEREAS, there are companies and individuals providing important and necessary services to assist those who have unmanageable debts; and WHEREAS, these companies that assist financially challenged debtors in negotiating their debts with creditors are called debt settlement companies; and WHEREAS, debt settlement services are provided to debtors at a critical point in their life, and it is important that these services be provided in an honest, ethical, and efficient manner; and WHEREAS, debt settlement services are not presently regulated by the state of Louisiana and it is prudent that a study of the regulation of debt settlement services be conducted to protect those citizens who utilize such services. THEREFORE, the Legislature of Louisiana requests that the Senate Committee on Commerce, Consumer Protection, and International Affairs and the House Committee on Commerce study the regulation of debt settlement services. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES