zaiman14 Posted October 28, 2007 Report Share Posted October 28, 2007 Here is what the Florida statute says about collection agency licensing:"1) After January 1, 1994, no person shall engage in business in this state as a consumer collection agency or continue to do business in this state as a consumer collection agency without first registering in accordance with this part, and thereafter maintaining a valid registration. (2) Each consumer collection agency doing business in this state shall register with the office and renew such registration annually as set forth in s. 559.555. (3) A prospective registrant shall be entitled to be registered when registration information is complete on its face and the applicable registration fee has been paid; however, the office may reject a registration submitted by a prospective registrant if the registrant or any principal of the registrant previously has held any professional license or state registration which was the subject of any suspension or revocation which has not been explained by the prospective registrant to the satisfaction of the office either in the registration information submitted initially or upon the subsequent written request of the office. In the event that an attempted registration is rejected by the office the prospective registrant shall be informed of the basis for rejection. (4) This section shall not apply to: (a) Any original creditor. ( Any member of The Florida Bar. © Any financial institution authorized to do business in this state and any wholly owned subsidiary and affiliate thereof. (d) Any licensed real estate broker. (e) Any insurance company authorized to do business in this state. (f) Any consumer finance company and any wholly owned subsidiary and affiliate thereof. (g) Any person licensed pursuant to chapter 520. (h) Any out-of-state consumer debt collector who does not solicit consumer debt accounts for collection from credit grantors who have a business presence in this state. (i) Any FDIC-insured institution or subsidiary or affiliate thereof. (5) Any out-of-state consumer debt collector as defined in s. 559.55(8) who is not exempt from registration by application of subsection (4) and who fails to register in accordance with this part shall be subject to an enforcement action by the state as specified in s. 559.565." My mind just isn't interpreting anymore... Does this say that a collection agency doing business (i.e. solicits consumers to pay) has to have a license?The part that gets me is the exemption: (h) Any out-of-state consumer debt collector who does not solicit consumer debt accounts for collection from credit grantors who have a business presence in this state.I have a creditor - MCM - that is based in CA. Their licnese shows 'Registered Agent Revoked" and license "Withdrawn" as of 4/07 BUT I see them taking folks to court left and right in Duval County pulic records. I know that these slime balls would continue to do this until someone told them to stop. It makes a huge difference to me because if they are supposed to have a license then they are making several violations that are actionable. If they have to be licensed then even contacting me would be a violation, much less threatening Arbitration, which they couldn't do (I don't think) if they are not licensed to collect here because they would be engaging in collection activity.Anyway, if any of you great legal minds could deciper that would be great!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigwoodystyl Posted October 28, 2007 Report Share Posted October 28, 2007 I would venture a guess that it refers to JDBs. So, I think it depends how they got your account. If they solicited the OC, and bought the debt at a discount, yes they need a license to collect in your state. However, if they were assigned by the OC, they may not need licensing.*I'm not a lawyer and I've never been to court in Florida* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zaiman14 Posted October 28, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 28, 2007 The bought the debt after it was charged off from the company. It says in thier papers they "legally purchased the debt from Verizon". The bad news is Verizon can't even verify that I had a debt because they only keep records for 3 years - or so they say. These guys are tricky!!! Is there another way to find out? Is there a place on the web that talks about who assigns what to who etc..? I've looked and come up with zilch! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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