Utility debt collection agencies in Texas
State registers re-read every week · latest read: October 8, 2026
Sources: agency websites and the Texas Secretary of State TPDC Public Search Portal.
What is utility debt collection?
Utility debt is the final bill nobody paid: gas, electric, water and waste balances left when a customer moves out, is disconnected, or simply stops paying. It is a distinctive vertical because of its shape: very large numbers of relatively small balances, owed to a mix of investor-owned utilities, municipally owned utilities and cooperatives, which is why utility companies were among the named clients that appear in the agency claims quoted on this page.
By the time a balance reaches a collection agency, the utility-specific stage is over: service decisions like disconnection happen at the utility, under its regulator's rules, before placement. What an agency holds is an ordinary consumer receivable.
The rules that govern utility debt collection in Texas
That is why the rules that matter here are the general Texas collection layer: Finance Code Chapter 392's conduct rules and the four-year limitations period (quoted on the Texas debt law page), with one exception that matters in this vertical: a balance owed to a city or a municipal utility district is not subject to the four years, because Civil Practice and Remedies Code Section 16.061 provides that their claims are not barred by it. Regulation F applies federally (how collection agencies work), and so does the constitutional protection of wages (garnishment in Texas). One honest boundary: deposit, disconnection and reconnection rules for regulated utilities are set by utility regulators and municipal codes, and this page deliberately cites none of them: they belong to the utility relationship, not the collection of the final balance.
What to ask an agency before placing utility debt
- How the agency handles high volumes of small balances economically, and whether batching changes its pricing (the same economics covered in the fees guide apply hardest in this vertical).
- What final-bill documentation it requires at placement, including how the deposit was applied.
- How it locates customers who moved without a forwarding address, the standard utility scenario.
- For municipal utilities: whether it can meet public-sector procurement, reporting and complaint-handling requirements.
Utility collection specialists (6 agencies)
Agencies whose own websites present utility collections as their identity.
| Agency | Verified bond history | Their published claim | TX bond |
|---|---|---|---|
| Certified Collectors Inc. | 25+ years continuously bonded 31.0 yrs | Declared on the agency's website; see its profile. | Active |
| Credit Systems International | 25+ years continuously bonded 32.0 yrs | "healthcare, utility and governmental industries" (source, July 10, 2026) | Active |
| American Capital Recovery, LLC | 15-24 years continuously bonded 15.0 yrs | Declared on the agency's website; see its profile. | Active |
| CDI Affiliated Services | 15-24 years continuously bonded 20.0 yrs | "a leading provider of collection services to the medical, utility, and consumer retail industries" (source, July 27, 2026) | Active |
| Contract Callers | 15-24 years continuously bonded 18.0 yrs | "Providing safe, reliable services and solutions to Gas, Electric, and Water utilities since 1926." (source, July 10, 2026) | Active |
| EAGLE ACCOUNTS GROUP, INC | 5-14 years continuously bonded 12.0 yrs | Declared on the agency's website; see its profile. | Active |
Grouped by track record band, alphabetical within each band. No ordinal ranking. A quoted claim links to the page on the agency's own website where it appears, with the date we read it; a row without a quote is a declaration we have not yet captured.
Also serve utility collections, among other industries (39 agencies)
Agencies whose websites list utility collections within a broader industry menu. Serving an industry is not the same claim as specializing in it.
| Agency | Verified bond history | Their published claim | TX bond |
|---|---|---|---|
| American Coradius International | 25+ years continuously bonded 29.0 yrs | Lists utility collections among the industries it serves (source, July 10, 2026) | Active |
| AmSher Collection Services | 25+ years continuously bonded 26.0 yrs | "Telecommunication, Cable, Utility, Healthcare, Property Management, Commercial and Financial Service markets." (source, July 10, 2026) | Active |
| CBE Group | 25+ years continuously bonded 29.0 yrs | Lists utility collections among the industries it serves (source, July 10, 2026) | Active |
| Collection Bureau of America | 25+ years continuously bonded 28.0 yrs | "Utility, Municipal, Medical, Commercial, Cable and Bottled Water" (source, July 10, 2026) | Active |
| Credit World Services | 25+ years continuously bonded 29.0 yrs | "Since 1978 Credit World Services, Inc has provided quality collection services for Higher Education, Medical, Commercial and Utility organizations." (source, July 19, 2026) | Active |
| Diversified Adjustment Service | 25+ years continuously bonded 32.0 yrs | Lists utility collections among the industries it serves (source, July 10, 2026) | Active |
| Financial Credit Network | 25+ years continuously bonded 28.0 yrs | "MEDICAL: Hospitals, Clinics, Labs, Doctor's Offices, Billing Companies; UTILITIES: Gas, Electric, Water, Waste Management; GOVERNMENT: Judicial Council (Court Ordered Debt), City, County; LOCAL BUSINESS: Anything you can imagine!" (source, July 13, 2026) | Active |
| Financial Recovery Services | 25+ years continuously bonded 30.0 yrs | "BankCard, Retail, Installment Loan, Service Contracts and Utilities" (source, July 12, 2026) | Active |
| Harris & Harris | 25+ years continuously bonded 30.0 yrs | Lists utility collections among the industries it serves (source, July 10, 2026) | Active |
| Nationwide Credit Corporation | 25+ years continuously bonded 29.0 yrs | "collections services in the government, utility, health care, legal, and credit union sectors" (source, July 14, 2026) | Active |
| Southwest Credit Systems | 25+ years continuously bonded 32.0 yrs | "We bring proven experience in the government, highway toll, telecommunications, cable, property management, education and utility industries." (source, July 10, 2026) | Active |
| AAA Collections | 15-24 years continuously bonded 17.0 yrs | Lists utility collections among the industries it serves (source, July 16, 2026) | Active |
| Aargon Agency | 15-24 years continuously bonded 23.0 yrs | "Utilities - Medical - Telecom - Real Estate - Hospitality - Retail - Banking - Finance" (source, July 10, 2026) | Active |
| Apex Asset Management | 15-24 years continuously bonded 15.0 yrs | "Industry Solutions: Medical / Utilities / Retail / Commercial / Education" (source, July 16, 2026) | Active |
| ATG Credit | 15-24 years continuously bonded 18.0 yrs | "Some examples of this type of an account can be found in the utility, municipal government and insurance markets." (source, July 13, 2026) | Active |
| Bull City Financial Solutions | 15-24 years continuously bonded 20.0 yrs | "Tailored recovery services across healthcare, utilities, finance, and government industries." (source, July 28, 2026) | Active |
| BYL Collection Services | 15-24 years continuously bonded 19.0 yrs | Lists utility collections among the industries it serves (source, July 22, 2026) | Active |
| Continental Credit Control | 15-24 years continuously bonded 15.0 yrs | Lists utility collections among the industries it serves (source, July 22, 2026) | Active |
| Express Recovery Services | 15-24 years continuously bonded 18.0 yrs | "Since 1996 we have successfully served prominent partners such as Questar Gas, Rocky Mountain Power, and the University of Utah Health Care." (source, July 13, 2026) | Active |
| First Federal Credit Control | 15-24 years continuously bonded 16.0 yrs | Lists utility collections among the industries it serves (source, July 10, 2026) | Active |
| IC System | 15-24 years continuously bonded 21.0 yrs | Lists utility collections among the industries it serves (source, July 10, 2026) | Active |
| Lockhart, Morris & Montgomery | 15-24 years continuously bonded 16.0 yrs | Lists utility collections among the industries it serves (source, July 10, 2026) | Active |
| Optio Solutions | 15-24 years continuously bonded 19.0 yrs | Lists utility collections among the industries it serves (source, July 10, 2026) | Active |
| Penn Credit | 15-24 years continuously bonded 21.0 yrs | "government, tolling, healthcare, education, utilities, telecommunications" (source, July 10, 2026) | Active |
| ProCollect | 15-24 years continuously bonded 21.0 yrs | Lists utility collections among the industries it serves (source, July 10, 2026) | Active |
| Professional Credit Management | 15-24 years continuously bonded 18.0 yrs | "Professional Credit Management, Inc. assists health care providers, banks, utilities, retail stores, veterinarians, and other product and service providers with recovery of outstanding accounts receivable." (source, July 13, 2026) | Active |
| Revenue Group | 15-24 years continuously bonded 16.0 yrs | "a wide variety of industry partners including but not limited to; hospitals and healthcare, financial services, housing and utilities, government, and telecommunications." (source, July 22, 2026) | Active |
| Rozlin Financial Group | 15-24 years continuously bonded 17.0 yrs | Lists utility collections among the industries it serves (source, July 12, 2026) | Active |
| Sarma | 15-24 years continuously bonded 23.0 yrs | "financial institutions, health care organizations, municipalities, real estate, retail, telecommunications and utilities" (source, July 10, 2026) | Active |
| Southwest Recovery Services | 15-24 years continuously bonded 19.0 yrs | Lists utility collections among the industries it serves (source, July 10, 2026) | Active |
| Trident Asset Management | 15-24 years continuously bonded 16.0 yrs | "all types of debt - secured and unsecured, closed end or revolving, consumer and real estate from all types of issuers, including credit card, automobile, telecommunications, utilities, education, healthcare, commercial and other esoteric or niche asset classes" (source, July 12, 2026) | Active |
| Ability Recovery Services | 5-14 years continuously bonded 14.0 yrs | Lists utility collections among the industries it serves (source, July 10, 2026) | Active |
| Atlantic Recovery Solutions | 5-14 years continuously bonded 13.0 yrs | Lists utility collections among the industries it serves (source, July 10, 2026) | Active |
| Finance System of Richmond | 5-14 years continuously bonded 11.0 yrs | "helps healthcare, utility, and education groups turn bad debt into collected revenue since 1955" (source, July 15, 2026) | Active |
| InvestiNet | 5-14 years continuously bonded 11.0 yrs | "Financial Services, Utilities, Fintech, Consumer Finance" (source, July 19, 2026) | Active |
| Radius Global Solutions | 5-14 years continuously bonded 9.0 yrs | "healthcare, telecommunications, utilities, retail, transportation" (source, July 10, 2026) | Active |
| Transworld Systems | 5-14 years continuously bonded 8.0 yrs | "Financial services, healthcare providers and payors, government, telecom, property management, utilities, and more" (source, July 10, 2026) | Active |
| Recuvery | Under 5 years continuously bonded 1.0 yrs | "Utility Bill Collections That Scale / Collect Medical Debt Without Losing Patient Trust / Recover Invoices Without the Stress" (source, July 19, 2026) | Active |
| Southern Financial Systems | Under 5 years continuously bonded 4.0 yrs | Lists utility collections among the industries it serves (source, July 22, 2026) | Active |
How this ranking works
Agencies are grouped into bands by how many years they have been continuously bonded on the Texas Secretary of State's public register: 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 bond is active on the register appear in a band. A long bond history is a verifiable public record of staying in business under the state's one legal requirement; 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 utility debt collection in Texas
Which agencies specialize in utility debt collection in Texas?
6 of the 447 register-checked Texas agencies in this directory declare utility collections as their specialty on their own websites: Certified Collectors Inc., Credit Systems International, American Capital Recovery, LLC, CDI Affiliated Services, Contract Callers, EAGLE ACCOUNTS GROUP, INC. Where we captured the declaration it is quoted above with a link to the page it appears on and the date we read it; where we did not, the row says so. All hold an active surety bond on the Texas Secretary of State register.
How do I verify a utility debt collection agency's Texas bond?
Search the agency's legal name on the Texas Secretary of State's TPDC Public Search Portal. Every third-party debt collector must file a $10,000 surety bond before collecting consumer debts in Texas, under Texas Finance Code Chapter 392, Section 392.101, and collecting without one can be a criminal offense. Our step-by-step verification guide covers name variants and what the register shows.
Why are some agencies listed separately below the specialists?
The first table lists agencies whose own websites present utility collections as their specialty. The second lists agencies that name it within a broader menu of industries they serve. Serving an industry is not the same claim as specializing in it, so the two claims are shown separately. In both tables we quote the agency's published claim where we captured it and link to where it appears; this directory verifies the Texas bond, not the claim.
Does this page rank agencies by quality?
No. Agencies are grouped by how many years they have been continuously bonded on the Texas register and listed alphabetically within each band, so no agency is ranked above another. A specialty is the agency's own published claim, not this site's assessment of quality. The full rules are on the methodology page, and rankings are never for sale.
Can a collection agency disconnect my utilities over an old bill?
No. Disconnection is a service decision made by the utility itself, under its regulator’s rules, before an account is ever placed for collection. A collection agency holds only the unpaid final balance, which in Texas is an ordinary consumer debt: Finance Code Chapter 392 governs how it may be collected, suit is subject to the four-year limitations period (except on a balance owed to a city or a municipal utility district, whose claims Civil Practice and Remedies Code Section 16.061 exempts from it), and a Texas court cannot order wages garnished for it. The agency’s job is recovering the balance, not the service relationship.
Why do utilities use collection agencies so heavily?
The shape of the debt: utilities generate large volumes of relatively small final balances, often from customers who have moved, and chasing them individually is uneconomic for the utility’s own staff. Contingency placement moves that work to a specialist at no upfront cost, which is the pricing logic explained in our fees guide. It is also why experienced utility-debt agencies emphasize skip tracing (locating moved customers) and efficient high-volume handling rather than heavy per-account effort.