Debt collection agencies in California
Data last checked: September 2, 2026
The year of the earliest debt collector licenses on the department's register. The Debt Collection Licensing Act became operative on 1 January 2022, applicants could keep working while the department considered their applications, and the earliest licenses on the register are dated January 2023. The thirty years without a state license before the Act are set out, with their source, on the California debt law page.
Source: leginfo.legislature.ca.gov · Last checked: September 2, 2026
What is the California license rule for debt collectors?
California requires a debt collector to hold a license from the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation under the Debt Collection Licensing Act before collecting from California residents or from within the state (Financial Code Section 100001). The Act does not apply to depository institutions, to finance lenders, residential mortgage lenders, real estate licensees, rental-purchase businesses and nonjudicial foreclosure trustees, or to the collection of covered commercial debt, so a bank, a licensed lender or a commercial collector can lawfully hold no debt collector license. One license covers the business rather than each office, and affiliated companies may be licensed together under a single license. No city, county or other local authority may require its own license or registration (Section 100000.7). A collector’s written and digital communications to a debtor must display its California license number in at least 12-point type (Civil Code Section 1788.11). The Act became operative on 1 January 2022, collectors that applied before 1 January 2023 could operate while their application was considered, and the earliest licenses on the department’s register are dated January 2023.
You can check any agency yourself on the department’s Regulated Entities List, or follow our step-by-step verification guide. The rule itself is quoted from the statute on our California debt law page.
Source: leginfo.legislature.ca.gov · Last checked: September 2, 2026
Why every California agency is in the newest band
California’s licenses are young by design. The state licensed no collection agencies for thirty years before the Act, and the earliest licenses on the department’s register are dated January 2023. A band on this site measures how long the state’s own register has vouched for an agency, not how long the business has existed, so every California agency sits in the under-five-years band until 2028 at the earliest. A firm licensed in 2023 may have collected in California for decades. The year each agency was founded is on its profile, and any history it holds on another covered register is on that state’s page. The history is set out on theCalifornia debt law page.
Who does not have to be licensed in California?
The Act does not apply to depository institutions, to finance lenders, residential mortgage lenders, real estate licensees, rental-purchase businesses and nonjudicial foreclosure trustees, or to the collection of covered commercial debt.
So a business can be collecting lawfully in California and be lawfully absent from this list. That is a different thing from a collector who should be licensed and is not, and this directory does not treat the two the same. Absence from the list is never published here as a finding against a company. The exemptions are quoted from the statute on the California debt law page.
Which debt collection agencies have the longest verified record in California?
Ranked on positive, verified measures only. Rankings are never for sale.
The first California profiles are in verification now. An agency appears here on the day its license record passes the same human verification every Texas, New York and Florida profile passes: identity and license history checked against the department’s own list of licensees, with a source link and a last-checked date on every fact. Nothing is published ahead of that check. The bands will group agencies by years continuously licensed, on the same boundaries used in every state this site covers.
Common questions about California debt collection
Do debt collectors have to be licensed in California?
Yes, since 2022. Financial Code Section 100001 says that "No person shall engage in the business of debt collection in this state without first obtaining a license pursuant to this division." The division is the Debt Collection Licensing Act and the license is issued by the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation. The Act does not apply to depository institutions, to finance lenders, residential mortgage lenders, real estate licensees, rental-purchase businesses and nonjudicial foreclosure trustees, or to the collection of covered commercial debt, so a bank, a licensed lender or a commercial collector can lawfully hold no debt collector license.
How do I check whether a collection agency is licensed in California?
Search the company name on the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation's Regulated Entities List, filtered to Debt Collectors, which lists every license currently in force with its license number and original license date. Each licensee also has its own record page on the department's site. California license numbers are five digits, a hyphen and two digits, and Civil Code Section 1788.11 requires a collector to show that number on every written or digital communication to a debtor in at least 12-point type, so the number on a letter can be checked against the list.
Why is every California agency in the newest band?
Because the license is new. California licensed no collection agencies for thirty years before the Debt Collection Licensing Act, which became operative on 1 January 2022, and the earliest licenses on the department's register are dated January 2023. A band measures how long the state's register has vouched for an agency, not how long the business has existed, so every California agency sits in the under-five-years band until 2028 at the earliest. The year each agency was founded is on its profile, and its history in other covered states is on those states' pages.
What does it mean when a license is no longer on the list?
The department's list carries only licenses currently in force, and it publishes no ending word or date. When a license leaves the list, this site records the last date it was listed and says exactly that. It does not say the license was revoked, suspended or surrendered, because those are different things under the Act and the list does not say which; a revocation or suspension is stated only where a department order says so.
How long can a debt be collected in California?
For a lawsuit it depends on the kind of debt. Code of Civil Procedure Section 337 gives four years on "an action upon any contract, obligation or liability founded upon an instrument in writing" and Section 339 gives two years on one not founded on a written instrument. Once the four-year period has run, Section 337(d) says "a person shall not bring suit or initiate an arbitration or other legal proceeding to collect the debt." The full rules are quoted on the California debt law page.
Related pages
California debt collection laws
The license rule and its history, who is exempt, the number on every letter, and the four-year rule, quoted from the statutes.
Verify a California license
The free five-minute check on the department's own list, and who is lawfully exempt from it.
Choose an agency in California
Five verification-first steps for a creditor, starting with the license list.
States covered
Which states this directory covers and what verified means in each.
Methodology
Exactly how the rankings work, and what is never for sale.