Bill Collection Agency Licensing

States Licensed

29

of 50 states and D.C.

×

Burden Rank

64th

for average burdens 1st is worst

=

Combined Rank

47th

for states licensed x average burdens 1st is worst

Change from 2017 to 2022, if any:
Burden increased
Burden decreased
Mixed burden change
N
New license
E
Eliminated license
2022 Licensing Burden Rank
Lower Burden Rank
Higher Burden Rank
No state license

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Definition

Bill collection agencies locate and notify customers of delinquent accounts by mail, telephone or personal visit to solicit payment. They receive payment and post amount to a customer’s account; prepare statements to a credit department if a customer fails to respond; initiate repossession proceedings or service disconnection; and keep records of collection and status of accounts. This report looks at what is required to run one’s own bill collection agency only.

2022 Snapshot

  • 22 unlicensed states
  • Days lost range from 0 (22 states) to 1,095 (Idaho)
  • Fees range from $25 (Louisiana) to $1,675 (Arizona)
  • 4 states require 1+ exam
  • 8 states set minimum age
  • 3 states set minimum grade

Changes Since 2017

  • No licenses created or removed
  • Fees changed most often and usually increased; Illinois eliminated its experience requirement
  • Burden rank stayed the same and combined rank worsened 1 spot, largely because other occupations improved more

2022 Licensing Burden in Detail

N New License
E Eliminated License
Increase
Decrease

Data Notes: 2022 data collected between February 3, 2020, and March 18, 2022. Fees include charges for application review and license issuance; exams; background checks, credit reports and fingerprinting; recovery fund contributions; third-party certification; and certain fees for training courses. Calendar days lost were estimated based on required education and experience; except for amounts smaller than one day, days lost are rounded to whole days and thus may not reflect very small changes between 2017 and 2022. Appendix A details methods for estimating days lost and calculating burden ranks. Complete data, including revised 2017 data, are available at https://ij.org/report/license-to-work-3/ltw3-data/.

Additional Resources