Tennessee § 62-20-103 - Exemptions.

§ 62-20-103. Exemptions.

This chapter does not apply to: Any person handling claims, accounts or collections under order of any court; Attorneys at law; Any person engaged in the collection of indebtedness incurred in the normal course of business or the business of a parent, subsidiary or affiliated firm or corporation; however, no person who is or represents the person to be a collection service is exempt from this chapter; Any state or national bank; state or federal mutual savings bank; state or federal savings institution; or any parent, subsidiary, or affiliate of any of the foregoing; Any state or federal credit union; Any industrial loan and thrift company licensed or authorized by title 45, chapter 5; Any small business development corporation authorized by title 45, chapter 8; Any person that services or collects obligations secured by a consensual lien on a dwelling as defined by 12 C.F.R. 1026.2(a)(19) or any successor regulation; or Any person that holds or acquires accounts, bills or other forms of indebtedness through purchase, assignment, or otherwise; and only engages in collection activity through the use of a licensed collection agency or an attorney authorized to practice law in this state. Nothing contained within this chapter shall be construed to require an individual or business entity that collects only the individual's or its own unpaid accounts to submit to licensure or regulation by the collection service board. Acts 1981, ch. 170, §§ 3, 27; T.C.A., § 62-20-123 ; Acts 2014, ch. 996, § 2. Compiler's Notes. Acts 2014, ch. 996, § 5 provided that it is the legislative intent that the provisions contained in the act are remedial in nature and are intended to clarify the statute and policies of the collection services board. The clarifying provisions in the act are intended to provide a restatement of the statute and policies as the statute existed prior to May 22, 2014. Attorney General Opinions. Constitutionality of collection services board regulation of attorneys, OAG 98-079, 1998 Tenn. AG LEXIS 79 (4/6/98). Application of collection service licensure requirements to purchasers of judgments, OAG 99-224, 1999 Tenn. AG LEXIS 232 (12/1/99). The attorney exemption to the requirements of the Collection Service Act is only applicable to those attorneys who seek to collect the debts owing to their clients who have retained them for their services as attorneys, OAG 00-105, 2000 Tenn. AG LEXIS 107 (6/8/00). The attorney exemption to the requirements of the Collection Service Act is only applicable to those attorneys who seek to collect the debts owing to their clients who have retained them for their services as attorneys; thus, attorneys who own or work for a collection service agency have a distinct identity from that of the agency and their mere connection to the agency does not relieve that agency of the requirements specified in the Collection Service Act, OAG 00-105, 2000 Tenn. AG LEXIS 107 (6/8/00). The regulatory and rule-making authority granted to the Tennessee Collection Service Board does not allow it to limit the scope of the attorney exemption in T.C.A. § 62-20-103(a)(2) to only attorneys licensed to practice law in Tennessee. OAG 15-03, 2015 Tenn. AG LEXIS 3 (1/7/15).