reglab/housing_qa huggingface dataset:
AR Code § 17-24-303 (2020)
2020 Arkansas Code|Title 17 - Professions, Occupations, and Businesses|Subtitle 2 - Nonmedical Professions|Chapter 24 - Collection Agencies|Subchapter 3 - Licensing|§ 17-24-303. Application — Issuance — Transferability

 (a) The State Board of Collection Agencies shall have the authority to require an applicant for a license to submit an application in writing containing such information as it shall deem necessary and pertinent and may require the character and business references which it deems appropriate.  (b) Licenses issued by the board are not transferable.
AR Code § 17-24-304 (2020)
2020 Arkansas Code|Title 17 - Professions, Occupations, and Businesses|Subtitle 2 - Nonmedical Professions|Chapter 24 - Collection Agencies|Subchapter 3 - Licensing|§ 17-24-304. Expiration and renewal

 (a) All collection agency licenses and collection agency employee licenses shall expire annually on June 30.  (b) All licensees under this chapter shall apply for the renewal of their licenses, on forms to be prescribed by the State Board of Collection Agencies, on or before July 1 of the fiscal year for which the licenses are sought.  (c) The board shall have the authority to require that the licensee's manager certify in writing that the requirement in § 17-24-310 has been met as a condition for renewal of the agency license.
AR Code § 17-24-306 (2020)
2020 Arkansas Code|Title 17 - Professions, Occupations, and Businesses|Subtitle 2 - Nonmedical Professions|Chapter 24 - Collection Agencies|Subchapter 3 - Licensing|§ 17-24-306. Bond

 (a) The State Board of Collection Agencies shall require each licensee to secure a surety bond in an amount not less than ten thousand dollars ($10,000) nor more than fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) for each location, with the security on the bond to be approved by the board.  (b) The aggregate liability of the surety for all breaches of the conditions of the bond shall, in no event, exceed the amount of the bond. The surety shall have a right to cancel such bond upon giving thirty (30) days' notice to the board and thereafter shall be relieved of liability for any breach of condition occurring after the effective date of the cancellation.  (c) The bond shall be made payable to the board.  (d) The board may promulgate rules to:  (1) Disburse bond funds to claimants;  (2) If the bond proceeds are insufficient to satisfy all legitimate claims, distribute the funds pro rata among the claimants; or  (3) In the discretion of the board, require the sureties to deal directly with the claimants.
AR Code § 17-24-307 (2020)
2020 Arkansas Code|Title 17 - Professions, Occupations, and Businesses|Subtitle 2 - Nonmedical Professions|Chapter 24 - Collection Agencies|Subchapter 3 - Licensing|§ 17-24-307. Grounds for revocation, suspension, or refusal

 The State Board of Collection Agencies shall have the authority to revoke, suspend, or refuse to issue a license for violation of this chapter, or upon receipt of evidence as follows:   (1) False or misrepresented statements on application;  (2) Sale or transfer of ownership of agency;  (3) Aiding or abetting any unlicensed person to engage in business as a collection agency;  (4) Publishing or posting, or causing to be published or posted, any list of debtors, commonly known as “deadbeat” lists;  (5) Collecting or attempting to collect by the use of any methods contrary to the postal laws and regulations of the United States;  (6) Having in his or her possession or making use of any badge, using a uniform of any law enforcement agency or any simulation thereof, or making any statements which might be construed as indicating an official connection with any federal, state, county, or city law enforcement agency, or any other governmental agency, while engaged in collection agency business;  (7) Distributing any printed matter which is made to be similar or to resemble government forms or documents, or legal forms used in civil or criminal proceedings;  (8) Advertising for sale or threatening to advertise for sale any claim as a means of endeavoring to enforce payment thereof, or agreeing to do so for the purpose of soliciting claims, except where the licensee has acquired claims as an assignee for the benefit of creditors or where the licensee is acting under the order of a court of competent jurisdiction;  (9) Engaging in any unethical practices or resorting to any illegal means or methods of collection;  (10) Using profanity, obscenity, or vulgarity while engaged in the collection of claims;  (11) Addressing a letter to or telephoning a debtor at his or her place of employment unless a good-faith attempt has been made to contact the debtor at his or her usual place of abode by letter and the mail has not been returned and no answer has been received; or  (12) Using violence or threats of physical violence while engaged in the collection of claims.
AR Code § 17-24-308 (2020)
2020 Arkansas Code|Title 17 - Professions, Occupations, and Businesses|Subtitle 2 - Nonmedical Professions|Chapter 24 - Collection Agencies|Subchapter 3 - Licensing|§ 17-24-308. Revocation, suspension, or refusal — Procedure

 (a)  (1) Upon the receipt of evidence of any violation, the State Board of Collection Agencies shall order a hearing to be held.  (2) All interested parties shall be apprised, at least twenty (20) days before the hearing, as to the time and place of the hearing.  (3) The board shall have authority to summon and examine witnesses, gather information by affidavit and deposition, and subpoena those business records pertinent to the charges, as to any alleged violator.  (4) Revocation, suspension, or refusal to issue shall be by order of the board.    (b) Any party to the proceeding shall have the right to appeal from the order of the board to the Pulaski County Circuit Court which shall try the case. The appeal may be taken by filing a petition with the clerk of the court within thirty (30) days of the date of the decision of the board. The decision of the circuit court shall be appealable to the Supreme Court in the same manner as civil cases are appealed.  (c) In the event that the holder of a license shall fail to secure a renewal thereof, or in the event of the suspension or revocation of the license by the board, and in the event that an appeal is taken to the courts as provided in this section, the holder of the license shall be allowed, during the period of the appeal, to operate the business of a collection agency as though no such action had been taken by the board.
AR Code § 17-24-309 (2020)
2020 Arkansas Code|Title 17 - Professions, Occupations, and Businesses|Subtitle 2 - Nonmedical Professions|Chapter 24 - Collection Agencies|Subchapter 3 - Licensing|§ 17-24-309. Collection charges — Limits

 (a) No collection agency mentioned in § 17-24-101 shall charge as a collection charge or fee an amount in excess of fifty percent (50%) of the total amount actually collected on all accounts for any one (1) client, nor more than fifty percent (50%) of the total amount actually collected on any one (1) account, nor shall a minimum charge in excess of one dollar ($1.00) be made on any partially or totally collected account.  (b) All contracts providing for a greater collection charge or fee or a greater minimum charge than provided in this section entered into between any creditor in this state and any collection agency covered by this chapter shall be void. The creditor shall have, in addition to all other remedies now or hereafter provided by law, a cause of action to recover all amounts collected by the collection agency on the creditor's account or accounts.
AR Code § 17-24-310 (2020)
2020 Arkansas Code|Title 17 - Professions, Occupations, and Businesses|Subtitle 2 - Nonmedical Professions|Chapter 24 - Collection Agencies|Subchapter 3 - Licensing|§ 17-24-310. Annual notice to client of accounting requirement

 (a) Each collection agency required to be licensed under this chapter shall, annually, within the month of April, give written notice to each client for whom it is collecting or attempting to collect that collection agencies licensed by the State of Arkansas are required by law to remit collected funds to the clients within the calendar month following the month of collection.  (b) No such notice is required to a forwarder who is also a licensee of the State of Arkansas.
AR Code § 17-24-401 (2020)
2020 Arkansas Code|Title 17 - Professions, Occupations, and Businesses|Subtitle 2 - Nonmedical Professions|Chapter 24 - Collection Agencies|Subchapter 4 - Nonresident Collection Agencies|§ 17-24-401. “Long arm” jurisdiction

 Any nonresident person, partnership, association, or any foreign corporation not authorized to do business in this state whose sole business contact with this state is the soliciting of accounts in this state by mail, telephone, telegraph, or by other like means originating outside this state, or the taking or accepting for collection of any account or accounts in this state by such means, shall by such acts:   (1) Subject himself or herself to the jurisdiction of the proper courts of this state under the procedure provided in §§ 17-24-403 and 17-24-404 on any cause of action arising out of or connected with the collection of any such account or accounts;  (2) Be deemed to have consented to comply with the maximum collection charges or fees provided in § 17-24-309; and  (3) Be deemed to have consented to and designated the Secretary of State to be the true and lawful attorney of the person, partnership, association, or corporation upon whom may be served all legal process in any action, suit, or proceeding in any court by any resident of this state arising out of or connected with the collection of any such account or accounts. Such acts shall be signification of its agreement that any legal process in any court action or suit so served shall be of the same legal force and validity as personal service of process in this state upon the person, partnership, association, or corporation. Service of process shall be made upon the Secretary of State pursuant to § 17-24-403.
AR Code § 17-24-402 (2020)
2020 Arkansas Code|Title 17 - Professions, Occupations, and Businesses|Subtitle 2 - Nonmedical Professions|Chapter 24 - Collection Agencies|Subchapter 4 - Nonresident Collection Agencies|§ 17-24-402. Motion to quash writ or set aside service

 Nothing contained in § 17-24-404 shall be construed to prevent a nonresident person, partnership, association, or any foreign corporation upon whom service of process is had as provided in § 17-24-403 from filing a motion to quash a writ or to set aside service made as provided in § 17-24-403 on the grounds that the person, partnership, association, or foreign corporation has not done or committed any of the acts in this state which give rise to such service of process.
AR Code § 17-24-403 (2020)
2020 Arkansas Code|Title 17 - Professions, Occupations, and Businesses|Subtitle 2 - Nonmedical Professions|Chapter 24 - Collection Agencies|Subchapter 4 - Nonresident Collection Agencies|§ 17-24-403. Service of process

 (a) Service of process in the action, suit, or proceeding in any court as authorized by § 17-24-401(3) shall be made by leaving three (3) copies in the office of the Secretary of State along with a notification that service is being effected pursuant to § 17-24-401, and by paying the Secretary of State the sum of twenty-five dollars ($25.00). A certificate by the Secretary of State showing service and attached to the copy of the process presented to him or her for that purpose shall be sufficient evidence of the service. Service upon the Secretary of State as attorney shall be service upon the principal.  (b) The Secretary of State shall immediately mail one (1) copy of the court process to the defendant in the court proceeding by first class mail at the defendant's last known principal place of business, and shall keep a record of all process which shall show the day and hour of receipt. The Secretary of State shall file an affidavit showing compliance with this section in the court proceedings on or before the date the defendant is required to appear or respond, unless an extension of time is allowed by the court.  (c) No plaintiff or complainant shall be entitled to a judgment or determination by default in any court proceeding in which process is served under this section until the expiration of forty-five (45) days from the date of filing of the affidavit of compliance.  (d) Nothing contained in this section shall limit or abridge the right to serve any process, notice, order, pleading, or demand upon any person, partnership, association, or corporation in any other manner now or hereafter permitted by law.
AR Code § 17-24-404 (2020)
2020 Arkansas Code|Title 17 - Professions, Occupations, and Businesses|Subtitle 2 - Nonmedical Professions|Chapter 24 - Collection Agencies|Subchapter 4 - Nonresident Collection Agencies|§ 17-24-404. Security prerequisite to filing defense pleading — Exception — Postponement

 (a) Before any nonresident person, partnership, association, or any foreign corporation upon whom service of process is had as provided by § 17-24-403 files or causes to be filed any pleading in any court action, suit, or proceeding instituted against a person, partnership, association, or corporation, he or she or it shall deposit with the clerk of the court in which the action, suit, or proceeding is pending cash or securities or bond with good and sufficient sureties to be approved by the court, in an amount to be fixed by the court sufficient to secure the payment of any final judgment which may be rendered in the court proceeding.  (b) The court may in its discretion make an order dispensing with the deposit or bond when the person, partnership, association, or corporation makes a showing satisfactory to the court that it maintains in the State of Arkansas funds or securities, in trust or otherwise, sufficient and available to satisfy any final judgment which may be entered in the court action, suit, or proceeding.  (c) In any action, suit, or proceeding in which service is made as provided in § 17-24-403, the court, in its discretion, may order any postponement as may be necessary to afford the defendant reasonable opportunity to comply with subsection (a) of this section and to defend any court action.
AR Code § 17-24-501 (2020)
2020 Arkansas Code|Title 17 - Professions, Occupations, and Businesses|Subtitle 2 - Nonmedical Professions|Chapter 24 - Collection Agencies|Subchapter 5 - Arkansas Fair Debt Collection Practices Act|§ 17-24-501. Title

 This subchapter shall be known and may be cited as the “Arkansas Fair Debt Collection Practices Act”.
AR Code § 17-24-503 (2020)
2020 Arkansas Code|Title 17 - Professions, Occupations, and Businesses|Subtitle 2 - Nonmedical Professions|Chapter 24 - Collection Agencies|Subchapter 5 - Arkansas Fair Debt Collection Practices Act|§ 17-24-503. Acquisition of location information

 A debt collector communicating with a person other than the consumer to acquire location information about the consumer shall:   (1) Identify himself or herself, state that he or she is confirming or correcting location information concerning the consumer, and only if expressly requested, identify his or her employer;  (2) Not state that the consumer owes a debt;  (3) Not communicate with the person more than one (1) time unless:  (A) Requested to do so by the person; or  (B) The debt collector reasonably believes that:  (i) The earlier response of the person is erroneous or incomplete; and  (ii) The person now has correct or complete location information;      (4) Not communicate by postcard;  (5) Not use a language or symbol on a envelope or in the contents of a communication effected by the mails or telegram that indicates that the debt collector is in the debt collection business or that the communication relates to the collection of a debt; and  (6) After the debt collector knows the consumer is represented by an attorney with regard to the subject debt and has knowledge of or can readily ascertain the attorney's name and address, not communicate with a person other than that attorney unless the attorney fails to respond to communication from the debt collector within a reasonable period of time.
AR Code § 17-24-504 (2020)
2020 Arkansas Code|Title 17 - Professions, Occupations, and Businesses|Subtitle 2 - Nonmedical Professions|Chapter 24 - Collection Agencies|Subchapter 5 - Arkansas Fair Debt Collection Practices Act|§ 17-24-504. Communication in connection with debt collection

 (a) Without the prior consent of the consumer given directly to the debt collector or the express permission of a court of competent jurisdiction, a debt collector may not communicate with a consumer in connection with the collection of a debt:  (1)  (A) At an unusual time or place or a time or place known or which should be known to be inconvenient to the consumer.  (B) In the absence of knowledge of circumstances to the contrary, a debt collector shall assume that the convenient time for communicating with a consumer is after 8:00 a.m. and before 9:00 p.m. local time at the consumer's location;    (2) If the debt collector knows the consumer is represented by an attorney with respect to the debt and has knowledge of or can readily ascertain the attorney's name and address, unless:  (A) The attorney fails to respond within a reasonable period of time to a communication from the debt collector; or  (B) The attorney consents to direct communication with the consumer; or    (3) At the consumer's place of employment if the debt collector knows or has reason to know that the consumer's employer prohibits the consumer from receiving the communication.    (b) Except as provided in § 17-24-503, without the prior consent of the consumer given directly to the debt collector or the express permission of a court of competent jurisdiction, or as reasonably necessary to effectuate a postjudgment judicial remedy, a debt collector may not communicate in connection with the collection of a debt with a person other than the consumer, his or her attorney, a consumer reporting agency if otherwise permitted by law, the creditor, the attorney of the creditor, or the attorney of the debt collector.  (c) If a consumer notifies a debt collector in writing that the consumer refuses to pay a debt or that the consumer wishes the debt collector to cease further communication with the consumer, the debt collector shall not communicate further with the consumer with respect to the debt, except:  (1) To advise the consumer that the debt collector's further efforts are being terminated;  (2) To notify the consumer that the debt collector or creditor may invoke specified remedies that are ordinarily invoked by the debt collector or creditor; or  (3)  (A) When applicable, to notify the consumer that the debt collector or creditor intends to invoke a specified remedy.  (B) If the notice from the consumer is made by mail, notification is complete upon receipt.      (d) As used in this section, “consumer” includes the consumer's spouse, parent if the consumer is a minor, guardian, executor, or administrator.
AR Code § 17-24-505 (2020)
2020 Arkansas Code|Title 17 - Professions, Occupations, and Businesses|Subtitle 2 - Nonmedical Professions|Chapter 24 - Collection Agencies|Subchapter 5 - Arkansas Fair Debt Collection Practices Act|§ 17-24-505. Harassment or abuse

 (a) A debt collector may not engage in a conduct the natural consequence of which is to harass, oppress, or abuse a person in connection with the collection of a debt.  (b) Without limiting the general application of subsection (a) of this section, the following conduct is a violation of this section:  (1) The use or threat of use of violence or other criminal means to harm the physical person, reputation, or property of a person;  (2) The use of obscene or profane language or language the natural consequence of which is to abuse the hearer or reader;  (3) The publication of a list of consumers who allegedly refuse to pay debts, except to a consumer reporting agency or to persons meeting the requirements of 15 U.S.C. § 1681a(f) or 15 U.S.C. § 1681b(3), as they existed on January 1, 2009;  (4) The advertisement for sale of a debt to coerce payment of the debt;  (5) Causing a telephone to ring or engaging a person in telephone conversation repeatedly or continuously with intent to annoy, abuse, or harass a person at the called number; or  (6) Except as provided in § 17-24-503, the placement of telephone calls without meaningful disclosure of the caller's identity.
AR Code § 17-24-507 (2020)
2020 Arkansas Code|Title 17 - Professions, Occupations, and Businesses|Subtitle 2 - Nonmedical Professions|Chapter 24 - Collection Agencies|Subchapter 5 - Arkansas Fair Debt Collection Practices Act|§ 17-24-507. Unfair practices

 (a) A debt collector may not use unfair or unconscionable means to collect or attempt to collect a debt.  (b) Without limiting the general application of subsection (a) of this section, the following actions of a debt collector violate this section:  (1) The collection of an amount, including interest, a fee, a charge, or an expense incidental to the principal obligation unless the amount is expressly authorized by the agreement creating the debt or permitted by law;  (2) The acceptance by a debt collector from a person of a check or other payment instrument postdated by more than five (5) days unless the person is notified in writing of the debt collector's intent to deposit the check or instrument not more than ten (10) nor less than three (3) business days before the deposit;  (3) The solicitation by a debt collector of a postdated check or other postdated payment instrument for the purpose of threatening or instituting criminal prosecution;  (4) Depositing or threatening to deposit a postdated check or other postdated payment instrument before the date on the check or instrument;  (5) Causing charges to be made to a person for communications by concealment of the true purpose of the communication, including without limitation charges for collect telephone calls and telegrams;  (6) Taking or threatening to take a nonjudicial action to effect dispossession or disablement of property if:  (A) No present right exists to possession of the property claimed as collateral through an enforceable security interest;  (B) No present intention exists to take possession of the property; or  (C) The property is exempt by law from the dispossession or disablement;    (7) Communicating with a consumer regarding a debt by postcard; or  (8) Using a language or symbol other than the debt collector's address on an envelope when communicating with a consumer by use of the mails or by telegram, except that a debt collector may use his or her business name if the name does not indicate that he or she is in the debt collection business.