(1) The Director of the Department of Consumer and Business Services shall establish by rule a program for registration of persons operating as collection agencies that are required to register with the Department of Consumer and Business Services under ORS 697.015. The program shall include a requirement that persons registering with the department file and maintain with the department current information the department requires by rule. The department may require any information necessary to carry out the program, including but not limited to the following:
(a) The name and address of the person operating as a collection agency.
(b) The name and address of the collection agency.
(c) Any assumed names or business names used by the collection agency.
(d) Names of persons who perform the solicitation or collection of claims or who perform the solicitation of the right to repossess or the repossession of collateral security for the collection agency.
(e) Names of persons who are agents of the collection agency for purposes of service of legal process.
(2)(a) The director shall require any person who applies for registration as a collection agency, other than an out-of-state collection agency, to file with the director a bond or an irrevocable letter of credit in the sum of $10,000 executed by the applicant as obligor, together with one or more corporate sureties or financial institutions authorized to do business in this state. The bond or an irrevocable letter of credit shall be executed to the State of Oregon and for the use of the state and of any person who may have a cause of action against the obligor of the bond or an irrevocable letter of credit under ORS 697.005 to 697.095. The bond or an irrevocable letter of credit shall be conditioned that the obligor will faithfully conform to and abide by the provisions of ORS 697.005 to 697.095 and all rules lawfully made by the director under ORS 697.005 to 697.095, and will pay to the state and to any such person any and all moneys that may become due or owing to the state or to such person from the obligor under and by virtue of the provisions of ORS 697.005 to 697.095.
(b) If any person is aggrieved by the misconduct of a registrant required to file a bond or an irrevocable letter of credit under paragraph (a) of this subsection or by the registrant’s violation of any law or rule lawfully made by the director under ORS 697.005 to 697.095 and recovers judgment therefor, the person may, after the return unsatisfied either in whole or in part of any execution issued upon the judgment, maintain an action for the person’s own use upon the bond or irrevocable letter of credit of the registrant in any court having jurisdiction of the amount claimed.
(c) The bond or an irrevocable letter of credit required by this subsection shall be continuously maintained in the amount required by this subsection. The aggregate liability of the surety under the bond for claims against the bond shall not exceed the penal sum of the bond no matter how many years the bond is in force. No extension by continuation certificate, reinstatement, reissue or renewal of the bond shall increase the liability of the surety.
(3) The director may include any of the following in the program for registration established under this section:
(a) The director may require any filings with the department that the director determines to be necessary to maintain current the information required for registration. Filings required under this subsection may include renewal of registration at reasonable intervals, filings within a reasonable time after changes in a collection agency or other filings the director determines to be necessary. In requiring filings under this subsection, the director shall attempt to minimize burdens the filings might place on persons required to file.
(b) Except as provided in subsection (4) of this section, the director may establish and require persons filing with the department under this section to pay fees for any registration or filing made with the department. The director shall not establish fees for more than an amount necessary to cover the administrative costs of the filing or registration.
(c) The program may be established in any division of the department the director determines to be best able to administer the program.
(d) The director may issue, but may not require, certificates of registration or other indicia of registration that the director determines will be of assistance to persons operating as a collection agency in establishing that the persons are registered with the department.
(4) An out-of-state collection agency is exempt from the registration fee under this section if the out-of-state collection agency is registered in another state and that state does not require payment of an initial fee by a person who collects debts in that state only by means of interstate communications from the person’s location in another state.
(5) If an out-of-state collection agency is not exempt from payment of a registration fee under this section, the registration fee for the out-of-state collection agency shall be not less than the fee charged by the state in which the out-of-state collection agency is located to a person who collects debts in that state only by means of interstate communications from the person’s location in another state.
(6) If the director determines that the state where an out-of-state collection agency is located and registered, if required to be registered, exempts a collection agency located and registered in this state from registration requirements in that state, the director shall exempt out-of-state collection agencies located in that state from the registration requirements of ORS 697.005 to 697.095.
(7) The department shall maintain current records of the information required for registration under this section. [1981 c.85 §5; 1983 c.69 §1; 1991 c.627 §1; 1995 c.622 §3; 1997 c.249 §211]
Section: Previous 697.005 697.010 697.015 697.020 697.021 697.025 697.030 697.031 697.035 697.038 697.039 697.040 697.041 697.045 697.050 NextLast modified: August 7, 2008