Short answer
By licensing each activity separately, because states treat them differently. Third-party collection, collecting others' debts for a fee, is licensed in most states. First-party collection, a creditor collecting its own receivables, is exempt in many states but licensable in some, and the line moves when collection is done under another brand name or by an affiliate. A company doing both needs a state map for each activity.
The classic trap is assuming first-party status travels everywhere. Some states license anyone whose business is collecting, including creditors' affiliates and companies collecting under a different name than the original creditor. Others exempt first-party entirely. When a servicer collects delinquent accounts it services, or an affiliate collects for a sister company, the classification can flip state by state, and the safe answer comes from each statute's definitions rather than the industry's labels.
Running both models means two overlapping license maps plus attention to which entity signs which client contracts, since the entity doing the collecting is the one that needs the license. Cornerstone is the U.S. licensing operating partner for lenders, mortgage companies, money services businesses, and accounts receivable management firms, and maintains both maps for mixed first- and third-party operations.
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