Does my active or passive debt-buying business need to be licensed?  Yes. Arkansas law does not distinguish between debt buyers and traditional collection agencies.

Does my collection agency need an Arkansas license if we only collect commercial or B2B accounts?  Yes. For the purpose of licensure, Arkansas law doesn’t distinguish between consumer versus commercial collection agencies. If you are going to attempt to collect from an Arkansas resident, you must first obtain a license.

My company only uses our “in-house” collections department, not an outside agency. Do we need a license?  That depends. You must obtain a license if your in-house collector or collections department uses a different name than your main business.

Does Arkansas require individual debt collectors to be licensed?  Generally, no (* exception below). We only issue licenses to collection agencies, but each individual collector and solicitor must be registered, along with any aliases used.

Does my collection agency need to register all its collectors, even the ones that don’t collect any Arkansas accounts?  Yes. Arkansas law does not distinguish between which collectors might or might not contact an Arkansas resident based on internal work assignments. You must register all collectors and solicitors employed at the licensed location. 

My collection agency has a main office and a branch site; which one should be licensed?  Both. You should obtain a separate license for any location from which Arkansas residents will be contacted. Arkansas law does not distinguish between main and branch offices.

* Wait! So do remote workers have to be licensed separately?  Generally, no. Remote work arrangements are not prohibited, but collection agencies allowing employees to work remotely should ensure that any work-from-home (or other remote) collection activities remain fully compliant. For example, any telephone conversations that were recorded in an office setting should continue to be recorded for remote workers. Or any managers who routinely supervised collectors at a central location should use technology to continue such supervision in a remote setting. If this sort of remote oversight is not feasible or available, then the individual(s) working remotely should apply for a new license as a separate collection agency location.