CA Licensing in Pennsylvania

[sleety_girl]

I was trying to look up some information online whether or not collectors need to be licensed in PA, and have found a few things, but am not sure how to read them. I found this on one of Kristy's suggested links for finding out if CAs need to be licensed, and this is what it says:(for Pennsylvania)

COLLECTION AGENCY BOND & LICENSE

Bond: No

License: No

Fee: No

Also, I went to the PA Dept of Banking site and did a search on "non-depository licensees", which according to them is CAs, and I was given this huge list that did have some of my OCs on it, but none of the CAs. Does this mean that they do not have a legal right to try to obtain money from me?

I'm really not sure how this all works. If anyone has experience with Pennsylvania and CAs, I'd appreciate some assistance.

Thanks.

[Swede]

You might wanna check with ALF (member) he's in PA too.

[Swede]

Collection Agency Licensing Requirements:

The State of Pennsylvania does not require the licensing of collection agencies

http://www.lawdog.com/states/pa/st1c.htm

Fair Debt Collection Practices:

The Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law under 73 P.S. § 201-1 et seq., and the Debt Collection Trade Practices under 37 P.S. § 303.1 et. seq., establish prohibitions for certain unlawful and deceptive acts or practices in consumer transactions and debt collection activities for a creditor or debt collector in the State of Pennsylvania. The provisions contained in 37 P.S. § 303.1 et. seq., include communications and contacts with debtors, locator information, mandatory disclosure, disputed debts, and bona fide errors. In all other respect, the State of Pennsylvania generally adopts the Federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act under 15 U.S.C. §§ 1692-1692(o).

The Office of Attorney General and the Bureau of Consumer Protection division of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania are the agencies involved in the enforcement activities concerning the consumer protection and debt collection practices laws. The address and telephone number of the Attorney General of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is: Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General Bureau of Consumer Protection 14th Floor, Strawberry Square Harrisburg, PA 17120 Tel: (717) 787-9707 Fax: (717) 787-1190

http://www.lawdog.com/states/pa/st1d.htm

For all PA information, check this

http://www.lawdog.com/states/pa/st1.htm

[ALF]

Sleety_girl,

Swede is right that they do not have to be licensed but they do have to registered with the state of PA to coduct business. You can search at this site: http://corps.state.pa.us/gnsearch.php.

The general site is www.dos.state.pa.us I have also spoken with a representative on the phone about this same subject at the Department of State in PA. A couple of my CAs are registered with PA which is unfortunate.

I hope that this helps you as much as it did me.

A

[sleety_girl]

Thanks so much for the information! I will be sure to check it out. I was at my wit's end.

So, if they ARE NOT registered, what would you suggest I do? Send them a letter saying they have no right to contact me?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Edit by sleety_girl on Thursday, September 19, 2002 @ 12:12 PM]

[ALF]

Sleety,

I have been trying to figure that out myself. Kristy had one time suggested composing a letter to incorporate this information (kind of like a violation) to get them to remove the info from the credit report. But the first thing that I would do is to check the site and see if they are registered, then go from there. Maybe we can help each other to compose a letter and post on this site for others to use as needed.

Hope this helps,

A

[ALF]

I guess that I should ask what the problem is...are they actively pursuing you for a debt or are they just listed on your CR or both?

A

[sleety_girl]

So far I have been lucky in that all of the one's that I was referring to are not (according to the website) registered to do business in PA.

One is on my CR and I have NO IDEA what that is for, but I am already in validation and not concerned with that, but a few of the others ones are pursuing me for debts that were sent to them by OCs. I have sent my first validation letters in to these clowns but it seems to not mean a thing to them.

Knowing whether or not a company needs to be registered in your state is probably very good info. I am going to try to pursue it further (by trying to call someone at one of the State agencies) to see exactly what it means if they are not registered to do business. Once I know that, I am fairly sure we can come up with a letter to send to them. I will keep you posted. Any additional suggestions you have would be great.

I saw last week on my Credit Expert report that a new CA did an inquiry. I had never received anything from them in the mail, and now I am getting phone calls. One more validation letter to send!

[ALF]

Sleety_girl,

Thanks for your response. That is a good idea about contacting PA Department of State. I think that if they are not registered, a complaint can be filed with the Department because they are conducting business within this state without being registered first. However, confirmation of this needs to be made first. Definitely keep me posted and I will do the same.

Thanks,

A

[life]

I'm in Pa too lets see if we can help each other .. I'm still having problems reading and understanding the f.cr.a.a and the fdcpa and i'm at a lose as whta to do .Bit i shall say that debt valadation and the bbb has helped me wit some items...But there are some collection agencies i need help with.....If you donot mind me asking what part of Pa ? Im about 25 miles northwest(?) of philly...

[sleety_girl]

I'm in Pittsburgh.

[life]

Sleety-girl

How do you know if a collection agtency can collect in Pa......