Sec. 5. (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.