Arkansas Administrative Code › Agency 235 - DEPARTMENT OF LABOR AND LICENSING › Division 15 - State Board of Collection Agencies › Rule 235.15.21-001 - State Board of Collection Agencies Rule (rev. 2021)

Current through Register Vol. 49, No. 6, June, 2024
ARTICLE I
- GENERAL
Section 1-1.
DEFINITIONS
The following definitions shall apply:
"Act" means Arkansas Code Annotated §
										17-24-101
et seq
, unless noted otherwise.
"Agency" means a collection agency as defined in the
				Act.
"Board" means the State Board of Collection Agencies.
"Collector" means any person who uses any instrumentality of
				interstate commerce, including but not limited to the mails or other mode of
				contact, in any business the principal purpose of which is the collection of
				any debts, or who regularly collects or attempts to collect, directly or
				indirectly, debts owed or due or asserted to be owed or due another. The terms
				"collector" and "debt collector" shall be used interchangeably.
"Licensee" means a collection agency duly licensed by the
				Board.
"Manager" means any person who regularly supervises the
				activities of other collectors and/or solicitors in an agency.
"Solicitor" means any person who, for compensation, undertakes
				to secure business for an agency.
"Rules" means any rule promulgated and duly enacted by the
				Board.
Section 1-2.
ORGANIZATION
A.
Meetings
The Board
			 established pursuant to the Act will generally meet quarterly, but may meet
			 less often as necessary, or more often at the written call of the chair or
			 written request of any two members. The Board shall not meet fewer than two
			 times in a calendar year or state fiscal year. Meetings shall be conducted
			 pursuant to the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act. A majority of the Board's
			 full membership shall constitute a quorum for conducting business and shall be
			 required for the passage of any motion.
B.
Officers
The Board shall
			 select a Chair, Vice-Chair, and Secretary at the last regular meeting of each
			 calendar year. Officers' terms shall be for one calendar year, beginning on
			 January 1. No member may hold more than one office concurrently.
C.
Staff
By Act 910 of 2019, the
			 Board became a division of the Arkansas Department of Labor and Licensing. The
			 Department shall, in consultation with the Board, designate a Director to
			 provide executive support to the Board. The Director may hire additional
			 administrative staff as necessary, subject to Department approval.
Section 1-3.
VARIANCES
A.
Procedural
The Director may
			 grant procedural variances from these rules in individual cases where he/she
			 finds that:
1. The provision from which the
			 variance is granted is not statutorily mandated; and
2. No party will be injured by granting the
			 variance; and
3. The rule from
			 which the variance is granted would not, in the particular case, be
			 unreasonable or unnecessarily burdensome.
The Director shall notify the Board at its next meeting of the
				granting of such variances and the reasons therefore.
B.
Substantive
Proposed variances, waivers, or other exceptions to these Rules, not consistent
			 the above description of a procedural variance, shall be deemed substantive.
			 The Board may hear requests for substantive variances on a case-by-case basis
			 pursuant to the Arkansas Administrative Procedure Act.