Debt Collectors

A collection agency is anyone engaged directly or indirectly in soliciting or collecting claims owed to another, and also a business collecting its own debts under a name that suggests a third party is collecting. Running a collection agency in Arizona without a license is unlawful.

• §A.R.S. 32-1001
• §A.R.S. 32-1055

A licensee may not engage in any unfair or misleading practice or resort to oppressive, vindictive or illegal means or methods of collection. Except for licensed attorneys, a licensee may not try to collect a collection fee, attorney fee, court cost or expense unless it is justly due and legally chargeable against the debtor or has been judicially determined.

• §A.R.S. 32-1051

Except for licensed attorneys, a licensee may not send a debtor any notice, letter, message or form that does any of these:

• §A.R.S. 32-1051

• Simulating legal process.
• Misrepresenting, or being ambiguous about, the character, extent or amount of the debt.
• Implying that fees or charges may be added to the debt when they legally may not.
• Threatening to sell the debt to any person, firm or group.
• Using the name of, or purporting to come from, an attorney or law firm.

• §A.R.S. 32-1051

Nor may a licensee use letterhead or literature implying that it practices law or has a legal department, convey that it is vouched for by or part of the state or a political subdivision, or advertise or threaten to advertise a claim for sale as a way to force payment.

• §A.R.S. 32-1051
• §A.R.S. 32-1055

The federal debt collection law, and the time limits on old debts, are not covered here.

• §A.R.S. 32-1051