§ 25-11-1-5 — Issuance of license by secretary of state; expiration; reciprocal licensing; provisional license; nonresident collection agencies

(a) The secretary of state shall investigate the
qualifications of the applicant and if the applicant meets the
qualifications of this chapter the secretary of state shall approve the
application. If the application is approved the license shall be issued
forthwith to the applicant. A license expires on the thirty-first day of
December of the year in which the license was issued. If the application
for a license is denied, the application fees shall be retained by the
secretary of state.
(b) The secretary of state shall issue a license to any person who
holds and presents with the application a valid and subsisting license
to operate a collection agency issued by another state or state agency
if:
(1) the requirements for the securing of such license were, at the
time of issuance, substantially the same or equal to the
requirements imposed by this chapter;
(2) the state concerned extends reciprocity under similar
circumstances to licensed collection agencies of this state; and
(3) the application is accompanied by the fees and financial
bonding requirements as provided in this chapter.
(c) In the event of the death of an individual licensee, the dissolution
of a licensee partnership by death or operation of law, or the
termination of employment of the active manager if the licensee is a
firm, partnership, limited liability company, or corporation, upon a
showing that the bonding requirements provided for in this chapter are
complied with, the secretary of state shall issue, without a fee, a
provisional license to the personal representative of the deceased, the
personal representative's appointee, the surviving partner, the firm, the
limited liability company, or the corporation, as the case may be, which
shall be for the following purposes only and shall expire at the
following times:
(1) A provisional license issued to a personal representative or a
personal representative's appointee expires one (1) year from the
date of the issuance and shall not be subject to renewal. The
authority of the provisional license so issued shall be limited to
such activities as may be necessary to terminate the business of
the former licensee.
(2) All other provisional licenses expire three (3) months from the
date of issuance unless the provisional licensee, within this
period, can meet the requirements for a full license as provided in
this chapter.
(d) A nonresident collection agency that has only incidental contact
with a debtor is not required to be licensed under this chapter. As used
in this subsection, "incidental contact" means contact on behalf of
nonresident creditors using interstate communications, including
telephone, mail service, or facsimile transmissions.
Formerly: Acts 1937, c.92, s.5; Acts 1955, c.304, s.5. As
amended by Acts 1982, P.L.154, SEC.41; P.L.8-1993, SEC.379;
P.L.240-1995, SEC.1; P.L.178-1996, SEC.4; P.L.85-2012,
SEC.9.