Consumer · all 51 jurisdictions
Repeated calls, no validation notice, or collection on a debt that isn't yours.
The rule here is mostly federal, so the answer is close to the same wherever you live. State pages exist only where that state adds something of its own.
everywhere in the u.s.
Scroll the table sideways to see every column.
| state | free route | statute |
|---|---|---|
| AL Alabama | The Attorney General's Consumer Interest Division takes the complaint, online or on paper, and it costs nothing. Alabama licenses no collection agencies and has no debt collection act of its own, so this office is acting on the state's general consumer protection law rather than on a collection statute. The FDCPA claim itself is still yours to bring, and the complaint does not replace it.↗ | — |
| AK Alaska | The Consumer Protection Unit of the Department of Law takes the complaint at no charge. It is worth knowing what the office is before you file: it enforces Alaska's unfair trade practices act in the public interest and mediates, and it does not act as your attorney. A collection agency operating in Alaska is separately licensed by the Division of Corporations, Business and Professional Licensing.↗ | — |
| AZ Arizona | The Attorney General's Consumer Protection and Advocacy Section takes the complaint online and it costs nothing. Arizona has no debt collection practices act of its own, so what this office enforces is the Consumer Fraud Act. Collection agencies operating in Arizona are licensed separately by the Department of Insurance and Financial Institutions, and an unlicensed collector is a fact worth putting in the complaint.↗ | — |
| AR Arkansas | Arkansas is one of only two states with an office that does this and nothing else. The State Board of Collection Agencies, inside the Department of Labor and Licensing, says in its own words: if you feel that a collection agency has treated you unfairly or has violated the law, you may file a complaint, and it will review the complaint, contact the collection agency, and try to resolve your problem. It licenses the agencies it hears complaints about, which is the leverage an attorney general's office does not have.↗ | — |
| CA California | The Department of Financial Protection and Innovation takes a complaint about a debt collector online, and it names debt collectors on the list of who it takes complaints about. Since the Debt Collection Licensing Act, a collector operating in California holds a DFPI licence — so this office can deny, suspend or revoke it, take possession of a licensee, bar individuals from the industry, and levy penalties. It is enforcement, not recovery: the money comes from the Rosenthal claim above.↗ | Cal. Civ. Code § 1788.17 |
| CO Colorado | The Collection Agency Board, inside the Attorney General's Consumer Credit Unit, enforces the Colorado Fair Debt Collection Practices Act — a state law of its own, not a copy of the federal one. In its own words the program licenses collection agencies, investigates complaints about collection agencies, and takes appropriate disciplinary or legal action when a collection agency violates the law. Same unit also covers debt management and student loan servicing.↗ | — |
| CT Connecticut | The Department of Banking licenses the consumer collection agencies that collect from Connecticut residents, and takes the complaint. Its own order of operations: try the agency first, then check whether it is licensed — the Department also accepts complaints against unlicensed companies collecting on Connecticut residents, which is a separate and more serious thing to be able to report.↗ | Conn. Gen. Stat. § 36a-648 |
| DE Delaware | The Consumer Protection Unit of the Department of Justice takes the complaint and mediates it at no cost. Delaware has no debt collection practices act of its own, so the state claim here is the general consumer fraud one and the specific claim is the federal one above.↗ | — |
| DC District of Columbia | The Office of the Attorney General's consumer protection section takes the complaint. The District is not a state and its consumer protection law is its own: the Consumer Protection Procedures Act is enforced both by that office and by private suit, which is a second route the reader has here that they do not have in most states.↗ | — |
| FL Florida | A consumer collection agency has to be registered with the Office of Financial Regulation to collect in Florida, and that office takes the complaint. Read its limit before you file: OFR enforces financial regulation and does not intervene on behalf of individuals or mediate private disputes — if your purpose is to recover money, it points you to arbitration, mediation or the courts, which is what the two-year claim above is for.↗ | Fla. Stat. § 559.72 |
| GA Georgia | Georgia Consumer Protection publishes a debt collectors page of its own, and it is written for exactly this reader: you may be receiving telephone calls demanding that you pay a debt, and the rules are there to protect you from harassment, abuse and invasion of privacy. Georgia does not license collection agencies and has no collection practices act of its own, so what the office enforces is the Fair Business Practices Act.↗ | — |
| HI Hawaii | The Office of Consumer Protection, in the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, takes the complaint at no charge and mediates it. Hawaii licenses collection agencies separately under its own chapter, so a collector working the islands is a licensee and the licence is something it can be asked about.↗ | — |
| ID Idaho | The Department of Finance licenses collection agencies under the Idaho Collection Agency Act and takes the complaint. This is a financial regulator rather than an attorney general, and the difference is the licence: a collector operating in Idaho without one is committing a separate violation from whatever it did to you, and that is worth naming when you file.↗ | — |
| IL Illinois | The Division of Financial Institutions at IDFPR licenses, charters and examines collection agencies, and it is where the complaint goes. One thing to expect: by Illinois law everything the Department collects during an examination or investigation of a licensee is confidential and cannot be publicly disclosed, complaints included — so you will not see the file, and the outcome you can act on is the private claim, not the investigation.↗ | — |
| IN Indiana | The Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division takes the complaint and it costs nothing to file. Indiana has no debt collection practices act of its own, so the state law behind the complaint is the Deceptive Consumer Sales Act, and the specific claim about the conduct is the federal one above.↗ | — |
| IA Iowa | The Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division takes the complaint, and Iowa keeps its debt collection rules inside the Iowa Consumer Credit Code rather than in a standalone collection act. Filing costs nothing and the office mediates; it does not appear in court for you.↗ | — |
| KS Kansas | The Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division takes the complaint. What it enforces is the Kansas Consumer Protection Act, and the office describes its own work as educating consumers and businesses about deceptive and unconscionable practices and suing those who engage in them — preventing future harm first, putting money back in consumers' pockets second. Your own FDCPA claim is the part that is about your money.↗ | — |
| KY Kentucky | The Attorney General's Office of Consumer Protection takes the Consumer Complaint and Mediation Request form. One instruction is specific to this claim and easy to miss: if your complaint involves a debt collector, complete the section that requires third party authorization, or the office cannot talk to the collector about your account. The office states plainly that it cannot act as your private attorney and cannot sue only to recover money for you.↗ | — |
| LA Louisiana | The Office of Financial Institutions is the state regulator here, and it takes the complaint. Louisiana keeps its collection rules inside the Consumer Credit Law rather than a standalone act, so a collector's exposure in Louisiana runs through the credit statute and the federal Act above rather than through a state fair-collection statute.↗ | — |
| ME Maine | The Bureau of Consumer Credit Protection licenses debt collectors in Maine and takes the complaint. It is a licensing regulator that also runs compliance examinations, so a complaint here lands somewhere that already has a file on the company. Licences run for a year and expire on 31 December, which means an unlicensed collector is a check anyone can make.↗ | 32 M.R.S. § 11013 |
| MD Maryland | The Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division takes the complaint and mediates it at no cost. Maryland separately licenses collection agencies through the Office of Financial Regulation, so there are two places a Maryland complaint can land and the licensing one has the sharper tool.↗ | Md. Code, Com. Law § 14-202 |
| MA Massachusetts | Massachusetts splits the complaint by who the company is, and getting it right matters. A debt collection company is licensed by the Division of Banks and complaints about one go there; a debt buyer goes to the Attorney General's Consumer Advocacy and Response Division instead. Both are free, and you can check any collector's licence through NMLS before you file.↗ | — |
| MI Michigan | The Attorney General's Consumer Protection team takes the complaint. Michigan licenses collection agencies separately through LARA, so an unlicensed collector is a second complaint to a second office and a fact worth establishing before you file either.↗ | Mich. Comp. Laws § 445.252 |
| MN Minnesota | The Department of Commerce licenses collection agencies and registers individual debt collectors in Minnesota, and it can suspend or cancel a licence when one breaks the law. Complaints go through its online portal, which lets you message the investigator and add documents while the investigation runs — a level of contact most state complaint routes do not offer. The Attorney General publishes the consumer-facing guide.↗ | Minn. Stat. § 332.37 |
| MS Mississippi | The Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division takes the complaint at no cost. Mississippi licenses no collection agencies and has no collection practices act of its own, so the federal claim above is the whole of the specific law here and this office is enforcing the general consumer protection statute behind it.↗ | — |
| MO Missouri | The Attorney General's Consumer Protection Unit takes the complaint. What Missouri enforces is the Merchandising Practices Act, which is a general unfair-practices statute rather than a collection statute — so the conduct rules a Missouri reader relies on are the federal ones above, and this office is the free place to report a pattern of them.↗ | — |
| MT Montana | The Office of Consumer Protection at the Department of Justice takes the complaint on its own form, and debt collection is one of the subjects it names alongside contract disputes, credit card issues and billing disputes. It asks you to try the business first and to explain what you did in good faith to resolve it. Investigators evaluate the complaint and keep it on file to monitor illegal practices in the marketplace, which is the honest description of what one complaint does.↗ | — |
| NE Nebraska | The Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division takes the complaint and it is free. Nebraska has no fair debt collection act of its own, so the specific rules are the federal ones above and the state route is the general Consumer Protection Act.↗ | — |
| NV Nevada | The Financial Institutions Division licenses collection agencies in Nevada and takes a verified complaint. Because of the section above, the same conduct that is an FDCPA violation is a violation of the licence — the Commissioner can investigate, hold an informal hearing, order a collector to cease and desist, and fine an unlicensed one.↗ | NRS 649.370 |
| NH New Hampshire | Two offices, and they do different things. The Banking Department takes a written complaint about a licensee, reviews whether it has jurisdiction, forwards the complaint to the company and acknowledges it to you. For debt collection specifically the Department of Justice's Consumer Protection and Antitrust Bureau is the office that handles it. Neither costs anything.↗ | — |
| NJ New Jersey | The Division of Consumer Affairs takes the complaint, and it publishes a Debt Collection Handbook of its own that tells you to contact the Division if you think a collector has broken the law. Its instruction on how to file is specific: explain in detail, with photocopies rather than originals, what the problem is, who it is with, what you have already done, and the collector's name and current address.↗ | — |
| NM New Mexico | The Financial Institutions Division licenses all third-party debt collection in New Mexico — collection agencies, branches, managers and repossessors — under the Collection Agency Regulatory Act, and each business files an initial application and renews annually. Check its “who we regulate” page first: the Division takes complaints about its own licensees. It states plainly that it is not your lawyer, and that if you are represented or a case is already pending it will document your complaint but not mediate it.↗ | — |
| NY New York | The Attorney General is the office New York points consumers to for a debt collection complaint, and it is free. The Department of Financial Services is the other half of the picture: it wrote and enforces Part 1 above, and it has brought charges against collectors for pursuing debts they could not prove they owned.↗ | 23 NYCRR Part 1 |
| NC North Carolina | The Department of Justice takes a consumer complaint at no cost. In North Carolina the complaint is the smaller half of the answer: the statute above gives you a private action with a $500 floor per violation, and that is the route the numbers point to.↗ | N.C. Gen. Stat. § 75-56 |
| ND North Dakota | The Attorney General's consumer protection office takes the complaint. North Dakota licenses collection agencies through the Department of Financial Institutions, so a collector working the state holds a state licence and an unlicensed one is a separate and reportable problem.↗ | — |
| OH Ohio | The Attorney General's Consumer Protection Section takes the complaint online at no cost. Ohio has no standalone collection practices act; what the office enforces is the Consumer Sales Practices Act, and the conduct rules a reader relies on are the federal ones above.↗ | — |
| OK Oklahoma | The Attorney General's Consumer Protection Unit takes the complaint, and its process is written down: a consumer specialist reviews it and forwards it to the business named, which has 10 days to respond. If the business responds, the office sends you the response for further comment. That written mediation resolves a good share of complaints, and it costs nothing.↗ | — |
| OR Oregon | The Division of Financial Regulation licenses collection agencies in Oregon and takes the complaint. It is the licensing regulator, so the complaint goes to the office holding the collector's permission to operate — and the money claim is the statute above, not the complaint.↗ | ORS 646.641 |
| PA Pennsylvania | The Attorney General's Bureau of Consumer Protection takes the complaint online at no cost. Pennsylvania's own statute here is the Fair Credit Extension Uniformity Act, which makes a violation of the federal Act an unfair practice under state law as well — so the same conduct is actionable twice, and this office is the free half.↗ | — |
| RI Rhode Island | The Banking Division of the Department of Business Regulation licenses debt collectors in Rhode Island and takes written consumer complaints. It says it will promptly acknowledge the complaint and advise you of any action taken, and the Division handles several hundred consumer complaints and inquiries a year.↗ | — |
| SC South Carolina | The Department of Consumer Affairs is a standalone consumer agency rather than a division of the attorney general's office, and it takes the complaint. South Carolina keeps its collection rules inside the Consumer Protection Code, so what a collector owes you here is largely the federal duty above with a state office behind it.↗ | — |
| SD South Dakota | The Attorney General's Division of Consumer Protection takes the complaint at no cost. South Dakota has no fair debt collection act of its own, so the rules a collector must follow here are the federal ones above and this office is where a pattern of breaking them gets reported.↗ | — |
| TN Tennessee | Tennessee is the other state with a board that does only this. The Collection Service Board was created in 1981 to regulate the collection industry, and its complaint process runs on a clock: the board office sends the collector a request for a written response within fifteen days of receiving your complaint, and the collector has twenty days to answer. Your complaint and its response then go to the board's legal counsel. The board can assess civil penalties.↗ | — |
| TX Texas | Texas splits it by who is calling, and picking wrong costs you weeks. If the collector is a third-party agency, the Attorney General's consumer protection office is the one that takes it. If it is an OCCC-licensed lender collecting its own loan, the Office of Consumer Credit Commissioner takes it, and that office runs a consumer assistance helpline for exactly this question.↗ | — |
| UT Utah | The Division of Consumer Protection takes the complaint, and it warns that filing may result in an investigation and legal action by the Division rather than a refund to you. Attach the documents: contracts, receipts, proof of payment, emails, texts, screenshots, recordings.↗ | — |
| VT Vermont | The Consumer Assistance Program takes the complaint — it is run by the Attorney General's office with the University of Vermont, and it is free. Vermont's collection rules live in the Consumer Protection Act and the Attorney General's own consumer protection rules rather than in a standalone collection statute.↗ | — |
| VA Virginia | The Attorney General's Consumer Protection Section takes the complaint at no cost and mediates it. Virginia has no fair debt collection statute of its own, so the conduct rules are the federal ones above and the state law behind the complaint is the Consumer Protection Act.↗ | — |
| WA Washington | The Department of Licensing licenses collection agencies in Washington, and it is the office that can act on the licence. A violation of the Collection Agency Act is also a per se violation of the state Consumer Protection Act, which is what carries damages and fees — so the complaint and the private claim are two halves of one answer here.↗ | RCW 19.16.250 |
| WV West Virginia | The Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division takes the complaint by post, by email or on an online form, and it is free. One instruction is specific to this claim: if your complaint is against a debt collector, give the name, address and telephone number of the original creditor as well.↗ | W. Va. Code § 46A-2-125 |
| WI Wisconsin | The Department of Financial Institutions licenses collection agencies in Wisconsin and takes the complaint — electronically, by email, or on form BCA500 — from Wisconsin residents and from anyone complaining about a Wisconsin-based collector. A detail worth knowing when money has been paid: a licensed agency must put what it collects from you into a trust account within 48 hours.↗ | Wis. Stat. § 427.104 |
| WY Wyoming | The Attorney General's Consumer Protection and Antitrust Unit takes the complaint at no cost. Wyoming has no fair debt collection act of its own, so the federal claim above is the specific law here and this office enforces the Consumer Protection Act behind it.↗ | — |
statute · 14 of 51 jurisdictions carry this column.
Every value links to the primary source it was written from. A value with no “checked” date has been written from that source but not yet compared against it by a person.
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