Collecting debt in Maine: licensing, bonds and statutes of limitations.
No person may conduct the business of a debt collector in Maine (including debt buyers and out-of-state collectors collecting from Maine consumers) without a license from the Bureau of Consumer Credit Protection, issued through NMLS for $400 per year ($200 per branch), expiring December 31, with a surety bond of $20,000 for new direct-collection applicants and debt buyers (tiered $15,000 to $50,000 on renewal by Maine collection volume), a trust account, and CPA financial statements showing $10,000 tangible net worth.
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 Rules change; confirm with the regulator or your counsel before acting, and tell us if something here is out of date.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 Maine?
Maine licenses debt collectors, debt buyers and out-of-state collectors who collect from Maine consumers through NMLS: $400 per year plus $200 per branch, calendar-year licenses expiring December 31, a $20,000 surety bond for new direct-collection applicants and debt buyers (rising on renewal to as much as $50,000 with Maine collection volume), a trust account, and CPA financial statements showing at least $10,000 tangible net worth. Maine-licensed attorneys are exempt from licensing; out-of-state law firms are not.
Statute sets no dollar figure; § 11032 leaves the sum to the administrator. 02-030 C.M.R. ch. 300 § 4(1) (repealed and replaced December 1, 2025, filing 2025-229). New applicants: direct collections or debt buyers $20,000; repossession or residential property preservation only $15,000; letter-writing companies (no direct collections) $5,000. Renewal (direct collectors and debt buyers), by monthly average gross Maine collections for the preceding 12 months: over $40,000 a month $50,000; $30,000-$40,000 $45,000; $20,000-$30,000 $35,000; $10,000-$20,000 $25,000; under $10,000 $15,000. Renewal for repossession/property preservation only $15,000; letter-writing $5,000. The $20,000 figure is the entry amount for a third-party agency or debt buyer. Since September 1, 2025 bonds are filed as NMLS Electronic Surety Bonds; existing licensees had to convert by January 31, 2026; bond term runs with the license and requires 30 days' cancellation notice.
32 M.R.S. § 11031(2) authorizes licensing through NMLS; Rule 705 (effective June 25, 2023, amended July 5, 2026) moved all debt collector licensing except residential property preservation providers to NMLS as of October 1, 2023 (Bureau FAQ). Application, renewal and processing fees are paid through NMLS; electronic surety bonds through NMLS from September 1, 2025. Property preservation providers apply directly to the Bureau on paper.
02-030 C.M.R. ch. 705 (new license application fees): 'Debt Collector application fee: $400.00'; 'Debt Collector branch office application fee: $200.00'. Bureau page: 'The initial application fee for licensure is $400.00. The initial application fee for a branch license is $200.00.' Amendment fee $25 per change to legal name, address, tradename, or branch manager. NMLS processing fee paid separately to NMLS; all NMLS fees nonrefundable. Statutory cap: initial application fee may not exceed $800 (32 M.R.S. § 11031(2)(B)).
annual, renews December 31
32 M.R.S. § 11031(2): 'If a licensee desires to carry on business in more than one place, the licensee shall procure a branch office license for each additional place where the business is to be conducted.' Branch application and renewal $200 each (Rule 705). Bureau FAQ: any office that conducts direct debt collection in Maine must have its own license. Amendment fee $25. NMLS does not support branch bonds; a single company electronic surety bond covers the aggregate (Bureau ESB page). Affiliated companies may be placed under a single license by the superintendent (§ 11031(2)).
trust account containing only funds collected for Maine creditors; deposits by the next business day; commissions withdrawn on one fixed day each month (Rule ch. 300 § 4(2)); financial statements: independent CPA audited or reviewed accrual-basis statements with each application (Rule ch. 705; Bureau page); tangible net worth of at least $10,000 at all times (Rule ch. 705; Bureau FAQ); criminal history report and consumer report for each owner/officer/controlling person (Rule ch. 705); fingerprint background checks authorized by 32 M.R.S. § 11031(2)(A); foreign entities: certified charter and bylaws, power of attorney appointing the superintendent as agent for service, foreign qualification with the Maine Secretary of State and a designated in-state agent (32 M.R.S. § 11031(3)(B); Rule ch. 705); branch office license for each additional place of business (32 M.R.S. § 11031(2)); license posted conspicuously at the office (§ 11031(2)); books and records on Maine consumers kept in Maine unless the superintendent approves an out-of-state location; out-of-state records available within 72 hours and licensee pays out-of-state exam costs (Rule ch. 300 § 4(3); FAQ); 20 hours per week of staffed availability, hours and licensed-location phone number on all communications to Maine debtors (Rule ch. 300 § 4(4)); new application on 25% or more change in ownership or management (32 M.R.S. § 11031(4)); advance change-of-control notice via NMLS (Rule ch. 705); debt buyers: documented pre-employment criminal background checks on collection staff (32 M.R.S. § 11031(3)(A)); 30-day notice to the superintendent and clients before ceasing business, and remittance of all trust funds (Rule ch. 300 § 4(5); 32 M.R.S. § 11037)
Exemptions. 32 M.R.S. § 11003 excludes: officers/employees of a creditor collecting in the creditor's name; affiliates collecting only for related entities where collection is not the principal business; federal/state officers and employees; process servers; nonprofit consumer credit counselors; persons collecting debts incidental to a bona fide fiduciary or escrow obligation, debts they originated, debts not in default when obtained, or debts obtained as a secured party in a commercial credit transaction; persons whose collection activities are confined to a business other than debt collection (e.g., Title 9-B financial institutions); private worthless-check pretrial diversion programs meeting § 11013-A(3). Maine-licensed attorneys are subject only to subchapter 2 conduct rules (no license); supervised financial organizations are not 'debt buyers' (§ 11002(5-A)); persons retrieving voluntarily surrendered collateral are not debt collectors (§ 11002(6)).
How long can a debt be sued on in Maine?
Maine applies one six-year period to every kind of consumer debt, and for collection agencies and debt buyers that period runs from the consumer's last activity on the account and cannot be revived by any later payment or promise; a collector who sues on an expired debt violates the Maine Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Original creditors collecting in their own name are outside that rule, and for them a signed written acknowledgment or, in some circumstances, a voluntary payment can still take a case out of the statute.
“All civil actions shall be commenced within 6 years after the cause of action accrues and not afterwards, except actions on a judgment or decree of any court of record of the United States, or of any state, or of a justice of the peace in this State, and except as otherwise specially provided.”
“All civil actions shall be commenced within 6 years after the cause of action accrues and not afterwards”
“an action to enforce the obligation of a party to pay a note payable at a definite time must be commenced within 6 years after the due date or dates stated in the note or, if a due date is accelerated, within 6 years after the accelerated due date.”
“A debt collector may not commence a collection action more than 6 years after the date of the consumer's last activity on the debt. This limitations period applies notwithstanding any other applicable statute of limitations, unless a shorter limitations period is provided under the laws of this State.”
Maine makes no written/oral/open-account distinction: § 752 gives 6 years for all civil actions, so no classification case is needed. For debt collectors and debt buyers the Maine Fair Debt Collection Practices Act adds its own 6-year period measured from 'the consumer's last activity on the debt' (§ 11013(8), PL 2015 c. 272), which overrides any longer period, bars suit once expired (§ 11013(7)) and bars revival.
“Every judgment and decree of any court of record of the United States or of any state or justice of the peace in this State is presumed to be paid and satisfied at the end of 20 years after any duty or obligations accrued by virtue of such judgment or decree, except for a child support order.”
§ 752 runs from when 'the cause of action accrues' (breach or default under general contract law; no open-account accrual statute in 14 M.R.S. ch. 205). For debt collectors, § 11013(8) fixes the start date as 'the date of the consumer's last activity on the debt'; debt buyers must possess the date of last payment and, for revolving accounts, the date of the last extension of credit (§ 11013(9)(F)-(G)). Notes: the stated or accelerated due date, or demand for a demand note, with a demand note barred after 10 years without payment (11 M.R.S. § 3-1118(1)-(2)). Tolling while the defendant is out of or resides out of the State (14 M.R.S. § 866). Fraudulent concealment: 6 years from discovery (§ 859). Barred claims may be asserted as compulsory counterclaims to the extent of the plaintiff's demand (§ 865).
“Nothing herein contained alters, takes away or lessens the effect of payment of any principal or interest made by any person, but no indorsement or memorandum of such payment made on a promissory note, bill of exchange or other writing, by or on behalf of the party to whom such payment is made or purports to be made, is sufficient proof of payment to take the case out of the statute of limitations.”
“In actions founded on any contract, no acknowledgment or promise takes the case out of the operation hereof, unless the acknowledgment or promise is express, in writing and signed by the party chargeable thereby. No such acknowledgment or promise made by one joint contractor affects the liability of the others.”
Narrow: 'No action shall be brought by any person whose cause of action has been barred by the laws of any state, territory or country while all the parties have resided therein.' Imports a foreign bar only where all parties resided in that jurisdiction while it ran. The same section tolls the period while the defendant is out of state.
The debt exists but cannot be sued on; a suit can be defended by raising the defense.
“A debt collector may not initiate a collection action when the debt collector knows or reasonably should know that the collection action is barred by the limitations period as set forth in subsection 8.”
Both passes read all of 32 M.R.S. § 11013 (subsections 1 through 11). Maine prohibits filing suit on time-barred debt (§ 11013(7)) and bars revival (§ 11013(8)) but contains no requirement that a collector state in communications that a debt is time-barred; § 11013(2)(B)(1) makes a false representation of 'the character, amount or legal status of any debt' a violation and § 11013(2)(K-1) requires the ordinary 'attempting to collect a debt' disclosure. Federal Regulation F (12 CFR 1006.26) still applies. Whether the Bureau of Consumer Credit Protection has a rule requiring such a disclosure could not be verified (see unresolved).
Two tracks. (1) Debt collectors and debt buyers under the Maine FDCPA: no revival. 'Notwithstanding any other provision of law, when the applicable limitations period expires, any subsequent payment toward, written or oral affirmation of or other activity on the debt does not revive or extend the limitations period' (§ 11013(8)); a debt buyer 'is considered a debt collector for all purposes under this chapter' (§ 11002(5-A)). (2) Original creditors collecting in their own name are outside ch. 109-A: 'debt collector' means one collecting debts 'owed or due another' (§ 11002(6)), and § 11003 excludes creditor officers and employees collecting in the creditor's name (§ 11003(1)) and persons collecting a debt they originated (§ 11003(7)(B)), unless the creditor uses a name suggesting a third party is collecting. For them the general law applies: a written acknowledgment must be express, in writing and signed (§ 860), while § 863 preserves the common-law effect of a voluntary payment. Reed v. Harris: 'An unqualified part payment voluntarily made by a debtor of an existing debt is held to be an acknowledgment by the debtor of the debt, and from such payment there arises an implied promise to pay the balance which is sufficient to take the case out of the limitation imposed by the statute,' but 'The mere fact of a payment is not alone sufficient as a matter of law' and a creditor's application of collateral proceeds is not such a payment. Reed's payments were made within six years of default, so whether a post-bar part payment revives an original creditor's claim was not decided; that track is unsettled.
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.
- legislature.maine.gov/statutes/32/title32ch109-Asec0.html
- legislature.maine.gov/statutes/32/title32sec11002.html
- legislature.maine.gov/statutes/32/title32sec11003.html
- legislature.maine.gov/legis/statutes/32/title32sec11011.html
- legislature.maine.gov/statutes/32/title32sec11031.html
- legislature.maine.gov/statutes/32/title32sec11032.html
- legislature.maine.gov/legis/statutes/32/title32sec11033.html
- legislature.maine.gov/legis/statutes/32/title32sec11034.html
- legislature.maine.gov/statutes/32/title32sec11039.html
- legislature.maine.gov/legis/statutes/32/title32sec11040.html
- legislature.maine.gov/statutes/32/title32ch109-A.pdf
- www.maine.gov/pfr/consumercredit/industry/licensing/debt_collector.htm
- www.maine.gov/pfr/consumercredit/industry/licensing/debt_collector/faq.htm
- www.maine.gov/pfr/consumercredit/industry/licensing/nmls/bonds.html
- www.maine.gov/sos/rulemaking/agency-rules/department-professional-and-financial-regulation-rules
- www.maine.gov/sos/sites/maine.gov.sos/files/inline-files/030c705-2026-136-AMD.docx
- www.maine.gov/sos/sites/maine.gov.sos/files/inline-files/030c300-2025-229%20%28RPR%29.docx
- law.cornell.edu/regulations/maine/02-030-C-M-R-ch-705-SS-IV
- www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/maine/02-030-C-M-R-ch-300-SS-1
- legislature.maine.gov/legis/statutes/14/title14sec752.html
- legislature.maine.gov/legis/statutes/14/title14sec753.html
- legislature.maine.gov/legis/statutes/14/title14sec860.html
- legislature.maine.gov/legis/statutes/14/title14sec863.html
- legislature.maine.gov/legis/statutes/14/title14sec864.html
- legislature.maine.gov/legis/statutes/14/title14sec865.html
- legislature.maine.gov/legis/statutes/14/title14sec866.html
- legislature.maine.gov/legis/statutes/14/title14sec867.html
- legislature.maine.gov/legis/statutes/14/title14sec4651.html
- legislature.maine.gov/legis/statutes/14/title14sec4651-A.html
- legislature.maine.gov/legis/statutes/11/title11sec3-1118.html
- legislature.maine.gov/legis/statutes/32/title32sec11002.html
- legislature.maine.gov/legis/statutes/32/title32sec11013.html
- legislature.maine.gov/legis/statutes/32/title32sec11019.html
- legislature.maine.gov/legis/statutes/32/title32sec11020.html
- legislature.maine.gov/legis/statutes/32/title32ch109-Asec0.html
- legislature.maine.gov/lawlibrary/what-is-maines-statute-of-limitation-of-debt/9494
- legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14sec752.html
- legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14sec752-A.html
- legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14sec859.html
- legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14sec860.html
- legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14sec861.html
- legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14sec863.html
- legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14sec864.html
- legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14sec865.html
- legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14sec866.html
- legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14sec4651.html
- legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14sec4651-A.html
- legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14sec4652.html
- legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14sec4653.html
- legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14sec4654.html
- legislature.maine.gov/statutes/11/title11sec3-1118.html
- legislature.maine.gov/statutes/32/title32sec11013.html
- legislature.maine.gov/statutes/32/title32sec11013-A.html
- static.case.law/me/139/cases/0225-01.json
Resolvah enforces the Maine rules at the point of contact.
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