Collecting debt in Arizona: licensing, bonds and statutes of limitations.
Any person soliciting or collecting claims owed to another must hold an annual collection agency license from the Arizona Department of Insurance and Financial Institutions (applied for and renewed through NMLS), file a sworn financial statement, post a surety bond of $10,000 to $35,000 scaled to Arizona gross annual income, and renew by December 31 each year.
General information, not legal advice. Every figure on this page links to the statute, rule or regulator page it came from, with the operative words quoted, and the date we verified it. Rules change; confirm with the regulator or your counsel before acting, and tell us if something here is out of date.
Do you need a license to collect in Arizona?
Arizona licenses collection agencies through NMLS with a $1,500 application fee, a $600 annual renewal due December 31, a sworn financial statement and a bond of $10,000 to $35,000 set by Arizona gross income; the license reaches any agency collecting from Arizona residents wherever it is located, and no Arizona office or branch licenses are required. Whether a debt buyer that owns the accounts outright needs the license is not settled in any published DIFI guidance.
Amount field is the statutory minimum. Tiered by 'gross annual income of the licensee generated from all business transacted in this state ... during the preceding year' (A.R.S. 32-1021(B)(2)): Not over $250,000 = $10,000; $250,001 to $500,000 = $15,000; $500,001 to $750,000 = $25,000; $750,001 and over = $35,000. Business transacted in Arizona includes collection of debts from Arizona residents regardless of where the licensee is located (32-1021(D)(1)). Bond runs to the people of the state, continuous form, issued by a surety licensed in Arizona, conditioned on remitting client proceeds within 30 days after month end (32-1022(B)); surety must give 60 days notice of withdrawal and the license is void unless a new bond is filed before termination (32-1022(C)). Cash or FDIC/NCUA-insured certificates of deposit assigned to the state treasurer may be deposited in lieu (32-1022(D)), held three years after surrender, expiration or revocation (32-1022(F)); suits on the bond within three years (32-1022(G)). Required with original and every renewal application; annual Arizona gross income report (Form L-CAR) sets the tier.
DIFI: 'This license will be available in NMLS starting January 2, 2017.' New applications, amendments, changes of control, surrenders and renewals are filed through NMLS (Company Form MU1, MU2 for control persons); DIFI's checklist requires MU1/MU2 attestation and NMLS renewal starting November 1. The fictitious names report is filed separately through the AZ eLicense portal.
A.R.S. 6-126(A)(15): 'To apply for a collection agency license, $1,500' (nonrefundable). Plus the first year's annual assessment prorated by quarters remaining until the next renewal date (6-126(B); refunded if the application is denied). DIFI page: license fee by submission month, Jan-Mar $600.00, Apr-Jun $450.00, Jul-Sep $300.00, Oct $150.00, Nov-Dec $750.00 (includes the following year's renewal); 'Fees are nonrefundable.' DIFI renewal checklist: 'New applications processed after October 31 will be invoiced the prorated license fee and the renewal fee prior to approval.' Name change $250 (6-126(A)(22): not more than $250). NMLS charges its own processing fees in addition; the NMLS-hosted new-application checklist could not be fetched by either pass.
annual, renews December 31 (license year January 1 to December 31; DIFI renewal window opens November 1 in NMLS)
No branch licenses. DIFI Regulatory Bulletin 2021-01 (Sept. 18, 2020): 'Effective September 28, 2020, a collection agency is not required to apply for or renew licenses for any branches it may operate.' A.R.S. 6-126(A)(16)-(17) and 6-126(D) list no collection-agency branch fee. Examination fee not more than $65 per hour per examiner (A.R.S. 6-125); assessment late penalty $50 per day after 30 days, capped at the assessment amount (DIFI page). Change of control of more than 20 percent of voting power requires prior written consent of the deputy director (32-1026(B)). Cash-in-lieu-of-bond deposits carry a state treasurer fee of not more than $10 (32-1022(E)). Fictitious names report due July 1 and December 31 each year (A.A.C. R20-4-1520(C)), filed through the AZ eLicense portal.
sworn financial statement showing net worth with the original and every renewal application (A.R.S. 32-1021(B)(1), 32-1022(A); confidential); prior-calendar-year and year-to-date statements uploaded to NMLS at renewal (DIFI checklist); annual report of Arizona gross income (Form L-CAR) to set the bond tier (A.R.S. 32-1021(B)(2)); trust account: all client funds deposited before the close of business on the third business day after receipt in a federally insured depository in Arizona, or in the state of the principal office if the licensee has no Arizona office; no commingling (A.A.C. R20-4-1505; A.R.S. 32-1055(D)(2)); trust general ledger posted at least every five business days and reconciled at least monthly (A.A.C. R20-4-1504); remit client proceeds within 30 days after the end of the month of collection (A.R.S. 32-1055(D)(1)); qualified active manager: applicant or individual in active management must be a U.S. citizen, with no moral-turpitude conviction, no default on money collected for another, and not a revoked former licensee (A.R.S. 32-1023); notice within 10 days if the active manager leaves and 90 days to replace or the license expires (32-1023(C)); statement of personal history for each principal officer, partner and manager; certified organizational documents (A.A.C. R20-4-1502); control persons (MU2) and biographical/background information filed in NMLS (DIFI checklist; Substantive Policy Statement GE-3); prior written consent of the deputy director for any acquisition of more than 20 percent control (A.R.S. 32-1026(B)); fictitious names record and report filed July 1 and December 31 each year (A.A.C. R20-4-1520(C)); notify the department within 10 days of any name or address change (A.R.S. 32-1055(D)(4)); examinations at the Director's discretion, fee up to $65 per hour per examiner (A.R.S. 6-122, 6-125); no branch licenses required (DIFI Regulatory Bulletin 2021-01, effective September 28, 2020)
Exemptions. A.R.S. 32-1004(A) exempts, in the regular course of business (but still subject to 32-1051 paragraphs 2-6 and 32-1055(C) and (D)(1),(2),(3),(5)): (1) attorneys-at-law; (2) salaried credit personnel, not independent contractors; (3) banks, trust departments, fiduciaries and financing and lending institutions; (4) common carriers; (5) title insurers, title insurance agents and abstract companies doing escrow; (6) licensed real estate brokers; (7) employees of licensees; (8) utility substation payment offices; (9) persons licensed under Title 6 chapter 7 (Escrow Agents); (10) Title 6 chapter 9 (Mortgage Brokers, Mortgage Bankers and Loan Originators); (11) Title 6 chapter 14 article 1 (Premium Finance Companies); (12) lenders receiving the right to collect commercial claims in a finance transaction not primarily for collection; (13) accounting, bookkeeping or billing service providers that take no past-due accounts, send only an initial and one follow-up notice in the creditor's name, make no payment demand and handle no debtor money; (14) affiliates collecting only for a federally insured financial institution; (15) licensed insurance producers collecting premiums under a premium finance agreement; (16) licensed insurance administrators collecting charges under 20-485.09(B).
How long can a debt be sued on in Arizona?
Arizona gives credit-card debt six years by statute, running from the first missed minimum payment that is never cured. A payment on the debt does not reset or revive the period, whether made before or after it runs; only a signed written acknowledgment does.
“An action for debt shall be commenced and prosecuted within six years after the cause of action accrues, and not afterward, if the indebtedness is evidenced by or founded on either of the following: 1. A contract in writing that is executed in this state.”
“There shall be commenced and prosecuted within three years after the cause of action accrues, and not afterward, the following actions: 1. For debt where the indebtedness is not evidenced by a contract in writing.”
“an action to enforce the obligation of a party to pay a note payable at a definite time must be commenced within six years after the due date or dates stated in the note or, if a due date is accelerated, within six years after the accelerated due date.”
“if the indebtedness is evidenced by or founded on either of the following: ... 2. A credit card as defined in section 13-2101, paragraph 3, subdivision (a).”
The statute is explicit: since the 2011 amendment, § 12-548(A)(2) puts credit-card debt in the six-year category by its own terms, using the § 13-2101(3)(a) definition ('Any instrument or device, whether known as a credit card, charge card, credit plate, courtesy card or identification card ... for the use of the cardholder in obtaining money, goods, services or anything else of value ... on credit'), regardless of whether a signed writing exists. Mertola ¶1 applied it: 'Mertola's claim was barred by the statute of limitations six years after that date pursuant to A.R.S. § 12-548(A)(2).' A non-card open or stated account is three years under § 12-543(2), with the proviso 'no item of a stated or open account shall be barred so long as any item thereof has been incurred within three years immediately prior to the bringing of an action thereon.' Instruments executed outside Arizona are four years under § 12-544(3), but § 12-548(B) says § 12-548 controls in a conflict for the debts it describes. Reconciler re-read § 12-548 on azleg.gov and confirmed the text.
“An execution or other process shall not be issued on a judgment after the expiration of ten years from the date of its entry unless the judgment is renewed by affidavit or process pursuant to section 12-1612 or an action is brought on it within ten years after the date of the entry of the judgment or of its renewal.”
Statutes run from when 'the cause of action accrues' (§§ 12-543, 12-548). Credit cards with an optional acceleration clause: Mertola, LLC v. Santos (Ariz. 2018) ¶21 holds 'a cause of action to collect the entire outstanding debt accrues upon default: that is, when the debtor first fails to make a full, agreed-to minimum monthly payment.' A default may be cured only if the creditor accepts arrearages bringing the account current, in which case the clock restarts 'only upon a new default'; 'Partial repayment, however, does not cure the default or reset the limitations period' (¶21). Charge-off date is irrelevant to accrual. Non-card open or stated accounts: no item barred while any item was incurred within three years (§ 12-543(2)). Notes: stated or accelerated due date (§ 47-3118(A); Cheatham v. Sahuaro Collection Service, 118 Ariz. 452 (App. 1978)). Azcourts info sheet: closed installment accounts run six years from the final payment date; open accounts six years from the first uncured missed payment.
“Partial repayment, however, does not cure the default or reset the limitations period.”
“When an action is barred by limitation no acknowledgment of the justness of the claim made subsequent to the time it became due shall be admitted in evidence to take the action out of the operation of the law, unless the acknowledgment is in writing and signed by the party to be charged thereby.”
§ 12-506(A): 'No action shall be maintained against a person removing to this state from another state or foreign country to recover upon an action which was barred by the law of limitations of the state or country from which he migrated.' This is a narrow borrowing rule tied to a defendant who moved to Arizona, not a general shortest-period rule. § 12-507 gives such a person one year of Arizona residence before Arizona limitations bar pre-removal demands. § 12-544(3) gives four years for 'an instrument in writing executed without the state.' But § 12-548(B) overrides: 'If there is a conflict between another jurisdiction and this state relating to the statute of limitations for a debt action as described in subsection A of this section, this section applies,' so written-contract and credit-card debt actions get Arizona's six years regardless. § 12-549 borrows the rendering state's bar for foreign judgments.
The debt exists but cannot be sued on; a suit can be defended by raising the defense.
“A licensee may not engage in any unfair or misleading practices or resort to any oppressive, vindictive or illegal means or methods of collection.”
Both passes searched independently (Title 12 ch. 5; A.R.S. Title 32, Ch. 9, §§ 32-1051, -1055, -1056; Consumer Fraud Act) and found only the general unfair / misleading-practices ban and a ban on notices that misrepresent 'the character, extent or amount of the obligation' (§ 32-1051(4)(b)). No Arizona statute requires a collector to state that a debt is beyond the limitations period. The Azcourts info sheet: 'Once the statute of limitations period passes, the debt does not disappear but creditors can no longer pursue these legal remedies as a means of collection.' Federal Reg. F, 12 C.F.R. § 1006.26(b), bars suits or threats of suit on time-barred debt; not a state rule.
Cheatham addresses an already-barred debt directly: a 1965 note on which the bar fell December 1, 1971, with partial payments in 1968, 1970, 1971 and 1973 and suit in October 1975. Holding: 'part payment alone cannot evidence an acknowledgment of a debt barred by the statute of limitations.' Quoting Steinfeld: 'the exclusive method is by a signed written acknowledgment of the justness of the claim, made subsequent to the accrual of the right of action, and either before or after the bar.' So only a signed writing revives a time-barred debt in Arizona; a payment alone does not, whether made before (Mertola ¶21) or after (Cheatham) expiry. SB1306 (2020), which would have restarted the period from the date of last payment, died in the legislature, leaving § 12-508 unchanged. The statute bars the remedy; the barred debt can still serve as consideration for a new written promise (Cheatham, citing Masury v. Bisbee Lumber, 49 Ariz. 443 (1937)), so the debt is not extinguished. Cheatham's footnote voices reservations about the rule but applies it; the Arizona Supreme Court had 'made no definitive pronouncement' as of 1978 and neither pass found one since. Reconciler re-read Cheatham on the Caselaw Access Project and § 12-508 on azleg.gov.
Where this page comes from.
Researched in two independent passes from primary sources (the statute, the administrative code and the regulator's own pages), then reconciled against the text where the passes disagreed. Verified 2026-09-20. Licensing is re-verified quarterly and limitation periods annually.
- www.azleg.gov/ars/32/01001.htm
- www.azleg.gov/ars/32/01004.htm
- www.azleg.gov/ars/32/01021.htm
- www.azleg.gov/ars/32/01022.htm
- www.azleg.gov/ars/32/01023.htm
- www.azleg.gov/ars/32/01024.htm
- www.azleg.gov/ars/32/01025.htm
- www.azleg.gov/ars/32/01026.htm
- www.azleg.gov/ars/32/01028.htm
- www.azleg.gov/ars/32/01051.htm
- www.azleg.gov/ars/32/01055.htm
- www.azleg.gov/ars/6/00126.htm
- www.azleg.gov/arsDetail/?title=32
- www.azleg.gov/arsDetail/?title=6
- law.justia.com/codes/arizona/2022/title-32/section-32-1004/
- law.justia.com/codes/arizona/2022/title-32/section-32-1021/
- difi.az.gov/collection-agencies-dfi
- difi.az.gov/collection-agencies-nmls
- difi.az.gov/sites/default/files/FE-LC-RN-CA_NMLSRenewalChecklist.pdf
- difi.az.gov/sites/default/files/Collection%20Agency%20Branches%20-%20Licensing%2009.18.2020.pdf
- difi.az.gov/sites/default/files/DIFI%20-%20%20Readable%20Version%20-%20DFI%20Article%2015%20-%20Collection%20Agencies.pdf
- difi.az.gov/regulatory/regulatory-alerts
- www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/arizona/Ariz-Admin-Code-SS-R20-4-1501
- www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/arizona/Ariz-Admin-Code-SS-R20-4-1502
- www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/arizona/Ariz-Admin-Code-SS-R20-4-1504
- www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/arizona/Ariz-Admin-Code-SS-R20-4-1505
- www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/arizona/Ariz-Admin-Code-SS-R20-4-1520
- www.azleg.gov/ars/12/00543.htm
- www.azleg.gov/ars/12/00544.htm
- www.azleg.gov/ars/12/00548.htm
- www.azleg.gov/ars/12/00549.htm
- www.azleg.gov/ars/12/00550.htm
- www.azleg.gov/ars/12/00542.htm
- www.azleg.gov/ars/12/00501.htm
- www.azleg.gov/ars/12/00505.htm
- www.azleg.gov/ars/12/00506.htm
- www.azleg.gov/ars/12/00507.htm
- www.azleg.gov/ars/12/00508.htm
- www.azleg.gov/ars/12/01551.htm
- www.azleg.gov/ars/12/01611.htm
- www.azleg.gov/ars/12/01612.htm
- www.azleg.gov/ars/47/03118.htm
- www.azleg.gov/ars/13/02101.htm
- www.azleg.gov/ars/44/01201.htm
- www.azleg.gov/ars/32/01056.htm
- www.azcourts.gov/Portals/0/OpinionFiles/Supreme/2018/CV-17-0109-PR%20Opinion.pdf
- law.justia.com/cases/arizona/supreme-court/2018/cv-17-0109-pr.html
- static.case.law/ariz/118/cases/0452-01.json
- www.azcourts.gov/legalinfohub/Legal-Info-Sheets/Consumer-Debt/Statute-of-Limitations-SOL
- www.azleg.gov/legtext/54leg/2R/summary/S.1306JUD.DOCX.htm
- legiscan.com/AZ/text/SB1306/id/2134808
- www.azdefaultlegalservices.com/pdf/FAQs-re-AZ-statute-of-limitations.pdf
- www.courtlistener.com/api/rest/v4/search/?q=%2212-508%22+%22part+payment%22&type=o&court=ariz+arizctapp
Resolvah enforces the Arizona rules at the point of contact.
Licensing by state, time-barred rules, call frequency and consent, checked before anything sends. See it on your own portfolio.
