33-11-101. Definitions.

(a) As used in this act:

(i) "Board" means the collection agency board created by W.S. 33-11-103;

(ii) "Business debt" means the obligation arising from a credit transaction between business or commercial enterprises for goods or services used or to be used primarily in a commercial or business enterprise and not for personal, family or household purposes;

(iii) "Collection agency" means any person who:

(A) Engages in any business, the purpose of which is the collection of any debts for Wyoming creditors;

(B) Regularly collects or attempts to collect for Wyoming creditors, directly or indirectly, debts owed or due or asserted to be owed or due another;

(C) Takes assignment of debts for the purpose of collecting such debts;

(D) Directly or indirectly, solicits for collection debts owed or due or asserted to be owed or due a Wyoming creditor;

(E) Uses a fictitious name or any name other than their own name in the collection of their own accounts receivable; or

(F) Collects debts incurred in this state from debtors located in this state by means of interstate communications, including telephone, mail or facsimile or any other electronic method, from the debt collector's location in another state.

(iv) "Communication" means conveying information regarding a debt in written or oral form, directly or indirectly, to any person through any medium;

(v) "Consumer" means any natural person obligated or allegedly obligated to pay any debt;

(vi) "Creditor" means any person who offers or extends credit creating a debt or to whom a debt is owed, but "creditor" does not include:

(A) Any person or collection agency, to the extent that the person or agency receives an assignment or transfer of a debt in default solely for the purpose of facilitating collection of the debt for another; or

(B) Any person whose principal office is located outside the state of Wyoming and who only maintains a branch or satellite office in this state.

(vii) "Debt" means any obligation or alleged obligation of a consumer to pay money arising out of a transaction in which the money, property, insurance or services which are the subject of the transaction are primarily for personal, family or household purposes, whether or not the obligation has been reduced to judgment;

(viii) "Debt collector" means any person employed or engaged by a collection agency to perform the collection of debts owed or due or asserted to be owed or due to another, including any owner or shareholder of the collection agency business who engages in the collection of debts;

(ix) "Location information" means a consumer's place of abode and his telephone number at that place or his place of employment;

(x) "Revocation" means withdrawal or termination of the license and authority to conduct a collection agency in this state, and disqualification to renew the license, permanently or for an indefinite period of time;

(xi) "Solicitor" means any person employed or engaged by a collection agency, including an owner or shareholder of the agency, who solicits or attempts to solicit debts, accounts, notes or other evidence of indebtedness for collection by the person or any other person;

(xii) "Suspension" means withdrawal or termination of the license and authority to conduct a collection agency in this state, and disqualification to renew the license, for a period not to exceed one (1) year;

(xiii) "Channeling agent" means the third party licensing system that gathers the application information and distributes it to Wyoming for review and for use in the approval or denial decision;

(xiv) "Registry" means the nationwide multistate licensing system and registry maintained by the State Regulatory Registry, LLC;

(xv) "This act" means W.S. 33-11-101 through 33-11-116.

(b) The term "collection agency" does not include:

(i) Any officer or employee of a creditor while collecting debts for and in the name of the creditor;

(ii) Any officer or employee of the United States or of any state, to the extent that collecting or attempting to collect a debt is in the performance of his official duties;

(iii) Any person while serving or attempting to serve legal process on another person in connection with the judicial enforcement of any debt;

(iv) Any person whose principal business is the making of loans or the servicing of debt, and who acts as a loan correspondent, seller or servicing agent for the owner or holder of a debt which is secured by a mortgage on real property, whether or not the debt is also secured by an interest in personal property;

(v) Any person whose collection activities are carried on in the true name of the creditor, and are confined to the operation of a business other than a collection agency, including but not limited to banks, trust companies, savings and loan associations, abstract companies doing an escrow business, real estate brokers, attorneys, insurance companies, credit unions or loan or finance companies;

(vi) Any person whose business is the servicing of credit card debt;

(vii) Any person engaged solely in the collection of one (1) or more business debts; or

(viii) Any licensed attorney acting in an attorney-client relationship with the creditor, and who conducts the collection in the true name of the client.

(c) Repealed by Laws 1993, ch. 21, § 2.