Rhode Island General Laws
Chapter 19-14.9 - Rhode Island Fair Debt Collection Practices Act
Section 19-14.9-12. - Registration required.

§ 19-14.9-12. Registration required.
(1) After July 1, 2008, no person shall engage within this state in the business of a debt collector, or engage in soliciting the right to collect or receive payment for another of an account, bill, or other indebtedness, or advertise for or solicit in print the right to collect or receive payment for another of an account, bill, or other indebtedness, without first registering with the director, or the director’s designee.
(2) The application for registration shall be in writing; shall contain information as the director may determine; and shall be accompanied by a registration fee of seven hundred fifty dollars ($750).
(3) The registration shall be for a period of one year. Each registration shall plainly state the name of the registrant and the city or town with the name of the street and number, if any, of the place where the business is to be carried on; provided that the business shall at all times be conducted in the name of the registrant as it appears on the registration.
(4) No person registered to act within this state as a debt collector shall do so under any other name or at any other place of business than that named in the registration. The registration shall be for a single location but may, with notification to the director, be moved to a different location. A registration shall not be transferable or assignable.
(5) This section shall not apply:
(a) To the servicer of a debt by a mortgage; or
(b) To any debt collector located out of this state, provided that the debt collector:
(1) Is collecting debts on behalf of an out-of-state creditor for a debt that was incurred out of state; and
(2) Only collects debts in this state using interstate communication methods, including telephone, facsimile, or mail.
(c) To any regulated institution as defined under § 19-1-1, national banking association, federal savings bank, federal savings and loan association, federal credit union, or any bank, trust company, savings bank, savings and loan association, or credit union organized under the laws of this state, or any other state of the United States, or any subsidiary of the above; but except as provided herein, this section shall apply to a subsidiary or affiliate, as defined by the director, of an exempted entity and of a bank holding company established in accordance with state or federal law.
History of Section.P.L. 2007, ch. 427, § 1; P.L. 2014, ch. 106, § 5; P.L. 2014, ch. 125, § 5; P.L. 2019, ch. 88, art. 5, § 2.

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