No person shall act, assume to act, or advertise as a collection agency or out-of-state collection agency as defined in this chapter, except as authorized by this chapter, without first having applied for and obtained a license from the director.

Washington Code 19.16.100

Director: means the director of licensing. See Washington Code 19.16.100

Out-of-state collection agency: means a person whose activities within this state are limited to collecting debts from debtors located in this state by means of interstate communications, including telephone, mail, or facsimile transmission, from the person's location in another state on behalf of clients located outside of this state, but does not include any person who is excluded from the definition of the term "debt collector" under the federal fair debt collection practices act (15 U. See Washington Code 19.16.100

Person: includes individual, firm, partnership, trust, joint venture, association, or corporation. See Washington Code 19.16.100

Nothing contained in this section shall be construed to require a regular employee of a collection agency or out-of-state collection agency duly licensed under this chapter to procure a collection agency license.