ARIZONA Discussion: Statutes and Corporate Exemptions
Hm, I've been reading through all the laws about licensure in Arizona and have found myself intrigued and enthusiastic about what I have found. I would love to hear other members' feedback on this as well.
This is going to be fairly long and mildly complex post, so be prepared to re-read if need be. Check it out:
According to the current Arizona statutes regulating private investigators, there are several exemptions listed here:
http://azleg.gov/FormatDocument.asp?...32&DocType=ARS
Now, while I do not fit into most of them, one does stand out to me as potentially quite useful:
Quote:
2. A person, firm or corporation, or an employee of a person, firm or corporation, engaged in the business of obtaining and furnishing financial and related personal information for others, including a consumer reporting agency as defined in the fair credit reporting act (15 United States Code section 1681a), if the person, firm or corporation does not engage in other investigative research that is an investigative consumer report as defined in the fair credit reporting act (15 United States Code section 1681a) and if the employee is not employed or connected with any private investigator or private investigator's business.
First a few caveats before I get to why this is important:
1) A "consumer reporting agency" as defined in the cited federal statute ( http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/15...1---a000-.html ) is defined as follows:
Quote:
(f) The term “consumer reporting agency” means any person which, for monetary fees, dues, or on a cooperative nonprofit basis, regularly engages in whole or in part in the practice of assembling or evaluating consumer credit information or other information on consumers for the purpose of furnishing consumer reports to third parties, and which uses any means or facility of interstate commerce for the purpose of preparing or furnishing consumer reports.
This does not apply to either my desired or real operations.
2) An "investigative consumer report" is defined as the following from the federal statute:
Quote:
(e) The term “investigative consumer report” means a consumer report or portion thereof in which information on a consumer’s character, general reputation, personal characteristics, or mode of living is obtained through personal interviews with neighbors, friends, or associates of the consumer reported on or with others with whom he is acquainted or who may have knowledge concerning any such items of information. However, such information shall not include specific factual information on a consumer’s credit record obtained directly from a creditor of the consumer or from a consumer reporting agency when such information was obtained directly from a creditor of the consumer or from the consumer.
Essentially, it would appear as if a report of this nature consists SOLELY of interviewing people to gain more information about an individual. This being the case, it would seem that I would simply not be allowed to perform this manner of inquiry, but that all others are quite fine.
3) Finally, the state regulation at the very beginning states that the unregulated nature of the work entails obtaining and furnishing financial and other related personal information for others.
Now onto why this is important: This is important for me because I already own a corporation under which I may do all my business. According to this statute, it would appear that so long as I do not directly interview people to produce an "investigative consumer report", I may in fact perform private investigation in all other realms inasmuch as I also obtain and furnish information concerning the financial status/practices of the individual as well. As long as I furnish the one, I may as well investigate all other "related personal information".
Some may call this a loophole, but I actually wouldn't.
Laws mean what they say; if a legislature explicitly wished for certain activities to be regulated, they would have stated so explicitly.
Additionally, I feel fairly certain that there will always be nay-sayers (as is appropriate with any discussion), however I do feel that my argument is solid and that I can make a case for getting into the field this way.
Let's hear it :D
Re: ARIZONA Discussion: Statutes and Corporate Exemptions
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Tim Morra
Hm, I've been reading through all the laws about licensure in Arizona and have found myself intrigued and enthusiastic about what I have found. I would love to hear other members' feedback on this as well.
Are you referring to the state's web site? If so, please review our own dedicated topic in this forum titled PI LICENSING: Arizona
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Tim Morra
According to the current Arizona statutes regulating private investigators, there are several exemptions listed here:
We list nine (9) exemptions in the other topic.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Tim Morra
I already own a corporation under which I may do all my business.
What is the name of your corporation in Arizona? And what have you used your corporation for in the past?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Tim Morra
According to this statute, it would appear that so long as I do not directly interview people to produce an "investigative consumer report", I may in fact perform private investigation in all other realms inasmuch as I also obtain and furnish information concerning the financial status/practices of the individual as well. As long as I furnish the one, I may as well investigate all other "related personal information".
Some may call this a loophole, but I actually wouldn't.
Laws mean what they say; if a legislature explicitly wished for certain activities to be regulated, they would have stated so explicitly.
See Exemption #1 in the other topic pertaining to your own corporation in Arizona.
Depending on the name of your Arizona corporation, you may or may not be permitted to advertise it in Arizona, even though the Secretary of State (SOS) has approved the name to be used.
Example: The SOS can approve "ABC Investigations, Inc", but then you have a secondary requirement from the PI Licensing Board to acquire permission to use the name "ABC Investigations, Inc" for advertising in Arizona as an Arizona business.
Using your Arizona Corporation as your headquarters at this point has greater challenges than using a Colorado PI Agency Corporation, although you can certainly use some of the exemptions in the statutes - but not all.
Setting up your own PI Agency Corporation in Colorado is within the law, using all of the exemptions to work for you rather than restrict you. You can first establish your headquarters in Colorado by becoming an IPIU Member and using our headquarter program as a foundation before you branch into Arizona.
Once you have a lawful PI Agency Corporation in Colorado, then you will have access to the Corporation Owners Forum where you can receive free one-on-one help in how your PI Agency can complete your national client cases lawfully in other states.
To become an IPIU Member, choose a plan from the following link:
http://www.privateinvestigators.cc/index.php?cPath=67
To order your PI Agency Corporation License, go here:
http://www.privateinvestigators.cc/p...oducts_id=1584
Or, you can call 406-534-0251
Re: ARIZONA Discussion: Statutes and Corporate Exemptions
Hey, thank you very much for the information. I was recently looking at that thread the other day and I am even looking at it now. My concern in raising the questions in this thread stem from the notion that the two sources (yours and the legislature's) do not match:
http://www.ipiu.org/forums/showpost....13&postcount=2
http://azleg.gov/FormatDocument.asp?...32&DocType=ARS
There are slight differences in each of the exemptions that merit notice. The source cited in your post, as well, does not link to anything:
http://www.azleg.state.az.us/ars/32/title32.htm
Since they are somewhat different, I feel it is necessary to raise these questions. Additionally, I am inclined to work more with the legislature's text since it is officially what they have passed as well as what appears to be the most updated version of the law.
Perhaps some clarification from members and staff pertaining to this apparent discrepancy would be helpful.
Any other members have thoughts on this topic?
Re: ARIZONA Discussion: Statutes and Corporate Exemptions
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Tim Morra
Any other members have thoughts on this topic?
Not until Legal Affairs updates the IPIU Topic to match any new laws that have passed since it was authored. I suspect you will see the topic updated soon.
But whatever the statutes are, they still cannot over-ride the other rights and laws within the state of Arizona. The regulations set forth in statutes are only for those who advertise themselves to the public as a private investigator. But if the individual person or the individual company does not advertise as a PI Agency, then they can perform as many investigations as they want within the general business rules outside of the PI board.
What is the name of your corporation?
Re: ARIZONA Discussion: Statutes and Corporate Exemptions
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Tim Morra
My concern in raising the questions in this thread stem from the notion that the two sources (yours and the legislature's) do not match
Thank you for your alert. We have made the updates to our topic - which you can review in the following link:
http://www.ipiu.org/forums/showthrea...9913#post59913
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Tim Morra
There are slight differences in each of the exemptions that merit notice.
The only differences are the numeric order the exemptions appear in. But the actual numeric number appears correctly within the body of the exemption. We place the less important exemptions at the bottom of the list rather than the top.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Tim Morra
Yes, the original source link was moved after the Arizona State web site moved. However, you can still see the original archived exemption list: Click Here
You will see that the older exempt list was shorter. The new exempt list now includes a few more exemptions of interest, including any unregulated or unlicensed private investigator who wishes to perform mystery shopping assignments (also known in the profession as Integrity Investigation Assignments)
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Tim Morra
I am inclined to work more with the legislature's text since it is officially what they have passed as well as what appears to be the most updated version of the law.
We agree. The other established topic has now been updated. Please continue any specific discussion about the statutes in the other topic.
If you wish to explore how to use a corporation through the Colorado program, then go to the Colorado Forum.
Again, thank you for the alert.
