North Dakota Announces Debt Collection License Changes

On June 22, 2015 the State of North Dakota Department of Financial Institutions sent notice to all collection agency licensees notifying them of legislative changes adopted in the 2015 legislative session that will have a direct impact on the regulation of collection agencies in their state (House Bill 1101).

The primary statutory change relates to the annual licensing fee. Addressed in section 13-05-04 of the North Dakota Century Code, the collection agency license fee has been set at $300/year. This fee is increasing to $400/year. The main reason cited for the increase is the rise in Departmental expenses.

The other provision of the Bill relating to collection agencies describes the process of changing names or addresses of a licensee. As written, section 13-05-05.1 states upon notifying the Department of a change of name or address, the licensee is required to submit the original license certificate for re-issue. However, since all licenses are now issued through the NMLS system, the need for paper licenses has diminished. Therefore, House Bill 1101 now removes the need to submit a paper license for reissue.

The changes take effect on August 1, 2015.