Debt collection agencies in Colorado
State registers re-read every week · latest read: November 5, 2026
The year of the oldest start date among the collection agency licenses recorded as Active in our copy of the Colorado Department of Law's register, read on 26 October 2026. That license history is what the bands on this page measure, read from the register itself.
Source: licensing.coag.gov · Last checked: October 26, 2026
What is the Colorado license rule for debt collectors?
Colorado requires anyone acting as a collection agency in the state to hold a license from the Administrator of the Colorado Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, in the Attorney General's Consumer Credit Unit (Colorado Revised Statutes Section 5-16-118). A collection agency includes any person whose principal business is collecting debts, and any person who regularly collects debts owed to another or takes assignment of debts for collection, so buyers of debt already in default are covered (Section 5-16-103). Creditors collecting their own debts, their employees collecting in the creditor's name, process servers and government officers are not collection agencies, and agencies collecting only commercial debts are outside the act. An attorney who regularly collects debts in Colorado is a collection agency, but is exempt from the provisions on licensing and licensees, so needs no license while the rest of the act still applies (Section 5-16-103(3)(e)). An agency gives security of at least $12,000, rising with the sums it holds for clients to a maximum of $20,000, as a surety bond or as a savings account, deposit or certificate of deposit (Section 5-16-124(1)); a debt buyer that does not also collect for third parties needs none (Section 5-16-124(12)). Licenses run from the date of issuance to the following July 1 and expire automatically if the renewal and fee are not filed by then. The Attorney General publishes a report of every license and its status.
You can check any agency yourself in the Department of Law’s public license reports, or follow our step-by-step verification guide. The rule itself is quoted from the statute on our Colorado debt law page.
Source: licensing.coag.gov · Last checked: October 26, 2026
Who does not have to be licensed in Colorado?
Section 5-16-103 makes attorneys who regularly collect debts in Colorado collection agencies but exempts them from the licensing rules, and gives the same exemption to some out-of-state collectors that collect only debts not incurred in Colorado. It also lists collectors that are not collection agencies at all, among them a creditor’s own officers and employees collecting in its name, government staff on official duty and process servers, and it leaves business, investment, commercial and agricultural debts outside the act.
So a business can be collecting lawfully in Colorado and be lawfully absent from this register. 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 register is never published here as a finding against a company. The exemptions are quoted from the statute on the Colorado debt law page.
What the register’s status words mean here
The Department’s register keeps licenses that are no longer Active on the record with their status words, so one company can appear several times: a current license beside older ones recorded as Surrendered, Expired, Cancelled or Withdrawn. A license recorded as Expired since the last July 1 may still be in force: the Department says a license whose renewal has been submitted does not expire until the renewal is decided. Some changes of ownership need a new license, so a business that changed hands can have a newer number. This site treats a Colorado license as in force only when the register records it as Active, and counts years from that license’s start date. Where the Department has acted against a licensee, it appears on this site only as an enforcement record quoted from the regulator’s own document, never inferred from a status word. Colorado also requires a bond, but the register records the license, so no Colorado page here says “bonded”.
Which debt collection agencies have the longest verified record in Colorado?
Ranked on positive, verified measures only. Rankings are never for sale.
Our copy of the Department’s register, read on 26 October 2026, records 622 collection agency licenses as Active. This page lists only agencies with a published profile, so an agency missing here may still hold a license: check the register itself.
Grouped by years continuously licensed on the Colorado Department of Law's collection agency license register, most-established band first. Within each band, agencies are listed alphabetically: no agency is ranked above another. Full rules in the methodology.
Under 5 years continuously licensed (1)
| Agency | Verified license history | Credentials | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Recovery Services Addison, TX | 1 year | Licensed · CO ACA International | licensing.coag.gov · November 5, 2026 |
How this ranking works
Agencies are grouped into bands by how many years they have been continuously licensed on the Colorado Department of Law's public license reports: 25 or more years, then 15-24, 5-14, and under 5. Within a band, agencies are listed alphabetically, so no agency is ranked above another and there are no ordinal positions. Only agencies whose license is active on the register appear in a band. A long license history is a verifiable public record of staying in business with that license kept in force on the register; it is not a quality rating. Rankings are never for sale: paid options are clearly labeled and can never change where an agency sits. The full rules are on the methodology page.
Common questions about Colorado debt collection
Do debt collectors have to be licensed in Colorado?
Yes, to collect consumer debts. The Colorado Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, Colorado Revised Statutes Section 5-16-118, says "Any person acting as a collection agency must possess a valid license issued by the administrator in accordance with this article 16 and any rules adopted pursuant thereto." The administrator sits in the Colorado Department of Law. Debt buyers need the license too; attorneys who regularly collect debts in Colorado are exempt from the licensing rules.
How do I check whether a collection agency is licensed in Colorado?
Search the Colorado Department of Law's public license reports. Each record shows the license number, its status and its start date, and licenses that are no longer Active stay on the record. Look for a license recorded as Active. The Department says a license stays in force while a renewal that has been submitted is decided, so if one shows as Expired since the last July 1, ask the Department whether a renewal is pending. Our step-by-step guide covers the traps.
What do the status words on the Colorado register mean?
The register keeps licenses that are no longer Active on the record with their status words, so a search can return several records for one company: its current license beside older ones recorded as Surrendered, Expired, Cancelled or Withdrawn. A license shown as Expired since the last July 1 may still be in force while a submitted renewal is decided. This site places an agency in a Colorado band only when the register records its license as Active. This site does not treat any of those words as a finding against the company: where the Department has acted against a licensee, that appears here only as an enforcement record quoted from the Department's own document.
How far back does the Colorado register go?
Among the licenses recorded as Active in our copy of the Department of Law's register, read on 26 October 2026, the oldest start date is in 1968, and the register keeps licenses that are no longer Active on the record too. The bands on this page measure how long each agency has been continuously licensed, counted from that license's start date.
How long can a debt be collected in Colorado?
The time limit for suing on a debt depends on the debt. Colorado Revised Statutes Section 13-80-103.5 gives six years to "All actions to recover a liquidated debt or an unliquidated, determinable amount of money due to the person bringing the action", and Section 13-80-101 gives three years to other contract actions. Which applies to a particular account is a question for a lawyer; the rules are quoted on the Colorado debt law page.
Does a Colorado collection agency also need a bond?
Yes, unless it is a debt buyer that collects only its own debts. Section 5-16-124 requires a bond of $12,000, or a savings account, deposit or certificate of deposit of the same sum, plus more where the average monthly sums remitted or owed to its clients exceed $15,000, up to $20,000 in total. The register records the license, not the bond, which is why this site describes Colorado agencies as licensed.