State directory

Collecting debt in Hawaii: licensing, bonds and statutes of limitations.

Collection agencies must register with the DCCA Professional and Vocational Licensing Division under HRS chapter 443B, post a $25,000 bond for the first Hawaii office and $15,000 for each additional office, keep a Hawaii office with a designated principal collector, and renew by June 30 of each even-numbered year; an out-of-state agency licensed in a reciprocal state that collects only for out-of-state clients by interstate communication may instead obtain an exempt out-of-state designation with no bond and no Hawaii office.

Registration required Bond $25,000 Written contracts: 6 yearsVerified 2026-09-20

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 Rules change; confirm with the regulator or your counsel before acting, and tell us if something here is out of date.

Licensing and bonding

Do you need a license to collect in Hawaii?

Hawaii requires registration (not a license by name) with the DCCA, a $25,000 bond and a staffed Hawaii office, but an out-of-state agency licensed in a reciprocal state that collects only for out-of-state creditors by phone, mail, fax or email can apply for an exempt out-of-state designation instead. Debt buyers are not named in the statute; a buyer that sues in its own name is covered, and a passive buyer should confirm its status with the DCCA.

Requirement
Registration required
HRS § 443B-3(a) (Collection Agencies, HRS chapter 443B); rules at HAR title 16, chapter 112; fees at HAR § 16-53-16.3
Regulator
Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Professional and Vocational Licensing Division (Collection Agency Program)
Licensing page
Surety bond
$25,000

$25,000 for the first office in Hawaii and $15,000 for each additional office in Hawaii. Issued by a surety authorized in Hawaii, runs to the State, conditioned on remitting net proceeds to clients within 30 days after the calendar month of collection and on compliance with the chapter (§ 443B-5(b)); continuous, 60 days' notice of termination (§ 443B-5(d)); lapse automatically suspends the registration and, if not reinstated within 60 days, forfeits it (§ 443B-5(e)); the agency must cease business on lapse (§ 443B-5(f)). Designated exempt out-of-state agencies are exempt from this bond (§ 443B-3.5(e)) but must maintain the bond required by their reciprocal state (§ 443B-3.5(c)(2)(B)).

HRS § 443B-5(a)
NMLS
No

Registration is filed with DCCA PVL by hardcopy (MyPVL portal for license management); renewals for the 2024-2026 period are hardcopy only per the program page. No NMLS reference on the DCCA program page, forms, HRS chapter 443B or HAR chapter 16-112.

Application fee
$309

HAR § 16-53-16.3: application fee $25; registration fee first year of biennium (original registration $68 plus one-half of biennial renewal $68) $136, second year of biennium $68; compliance resolution fund fee $74 annual / $148 biennial. Totals on DCCA form CA-00 (rev. 07/26): $309 if registering July 1 of an even-numbered year to June 30 of an odd-numbered year ($25 + $68 + $68 + $148); $167 if registering July 1 of an odd-numbered year to June 30 of an even-numbered year ($25 + $68 + $74). Application fee non-refundable. Exempt out-of-state designation: $25 application plus CRF $74 or $148 on the same split (HRS § 443B-3.5(c)(4)). Dishonored-payment service charge $25.

HAR § 16-53-16.3 (fee amounts); HAR § 16-112-9 (fees payable per § 16-53-16.3); HRS § 443B-3(b)(3); HRS § 443B-3.5(c)(4); DCCA form CA-00 (07/26)
Renewal fee
$284

biennial, renews June 30 of each even-numbered year

HRS § 443B-4.58; HAR § 16-112-12; HAR § 16-53-16.3; DCCA Collection Agency Program page
Branches and other fees
See note

Branch office (same owner, different Hawaii location, with its own principal collector): $25 non-refundable application fee plus a $15,000 bond (Form CA-02) per branch; branch renewal $284.00 (COLB). HAR § 16-53-16.3 applies the same fee schedule to collection agencies and exempt out-of-state collection agencies. Dishonored-payment service charge $25. Verification of license form CA-18.

Other requirements
11 items

physical office: 'Maintenance of a regular active business office in the State' (HRS § 443B-3(b)(5); § 443B-6(a) open to the public during stated reasonable business hours; HAR § 16-112-11 requires a physical place, not a P.O. box, staffed by the principal collector); principal collector designated to directly manage and control the daily operations of the Hawaii office, with a Hawaii residence address per form CA-00 (HRS §§ 443B-3(b)(6), 443B-6, 443B-4.58(b)(4); HAR § 16-112-10); trust account: separate trust account for clients' funds in a federally insured financial institution (HRS § 443B-8; HAR § 16-112-7(4)); certificate of good standing or certificate of authority from the DCCA Business Registration Division for corporations, partnerships and joint ventures (HRS §§ 443B-3(b)(2), 443B-4.58(b)(3)); branch registrations: each additional Hawaii office needs a branch application and a $15,000 bond; written notice to the director of any material change, including transfer of 51% of control (HRS § 443B-4.54); Social Security number of the principal collector on the application (HRS § 436B-10(4)); criminal conviction and disciplinary-history disclosure with supporting documents; criminal history record check only if a conviction is disclosed (form CA-00); no universal fingerprinting; records of assigned accounts and audit duties (HRS §§ 443B-8, 443B-4.62; HAR §§ 16-112-15, 16-112-16); 60 days' advance notice of termination of business (Form CA-03) and surrender of the certificate within 10 days; application abandoned if not completed within one year of filing (HRS § 436B-9)

Who needs it
Third-party collection agencies
Yes
Debt buyers
It depends
Collection law firms
No
Out-of-state agencies collecting from residents
It depends
Original creditors collecting their own accounts
It depends

Exemptions. HRS § 443B-1: 'Collection agency' does not include licensed attorneys at law acting within the scope of their profession, licensed real estate brokers and salespersons residing in Hawaii when engaged in the regular practice of their profession, banks, trust companies, building and loan associations, savings and loan associations, financial services loan companies, credit unions, companies doing an escrow business, individuals regularly employed on a regular wage or salary as credit persons for a single employer who is not a collection agency, public officers, or persons acting under a court order. HRS § 443B-3.5 exempts designated out-of-state collection agencies (licensed in a reciprocal state, no Hawaii office or staff, interstate communication only, out-of-state clients only) from registration and the § 443B-5 bond, but not from HRS chapter 480D (collection practices) or the rest of chapter 443B.

Statutes of limitations

How long can a debt be sued on in Hawaii?

Hawaii uses one six-year period for all contract debt, including credit cards, and there is no statute on partial payments: under Hawaii case law a payment or acknowledgment is only evidence of a new promise that can revive a time-barred debt, not an automatic reset. Debts that arose outside Hawaii may be limited to four years.

Written contract
6 years
HRS § 657-1(1)
“The following actions shall be commenced within six years next after the cause of action accrued, and not after: (1) Actions for the recovery of any debt founded upon any contract, obligation, or liability, excepting such as are brought upon the judgment or decree of a court”
Oral contract
6 years
HRS § 657-1(1)
“Actions for the recovery of any debt founded upon any contract, obligation, or liability, excepting such as are brought upon the judgment or decree of a court”
Promissory note
6 years
HRS § 490:3-118(a), (b)
“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.”
Open account and credit card
6 years
HRS § 657-1(1); HRS § 657-2; First Hawaiian Bank v. Zukerkorn, 2 Haw. App. 383, 633 P.2d 550 (1981); Bureaus Inv. Grp. No. 2, LLC v. Harris, No. 30699 (Haw. App. Nov. 29, 2013) (mem.)
“Actions for the recovery of any debt founded upon any contract, obligation, or liability”

The statute draws no written/oral/open-account distinction: every 'debt founded upon any contract, obligation, or liability' is six years, so credit cards land in the same bucket regardless of characterization. No published Hawaii appellate opinion classifying credit-card debt was found. Zukerkorn (1981) applied 'the applicable six-year statute of limitations' to bank notes and affirmed judgment on a Master Charge account in the same action; Harris (ICA 2013, unpublished memorandum, 'Not for publication') treated a charged-off card under the six-year period and applied Zukerkorn revival without analyzing which subsection. 657-2 fixes accrual for a mutual, open and current account at 'the time of the last item proved in the account', but that covers two-sided accounts, so its application to a one-sided consumer card account is doubtful.

Judgment
10 yearsrenewable
HRS § 657-5
“No action shall be commenced after the expiration of ten years from the date a judgment or decree was rendered or extended. No extension of a judgment or decree shall be granted unless the extension is sought within ten years of the date the original judgment or decree was rendered. A court shall not extend any judgment or decree beyond twenty years”
Medical debt (special rule)
2 years
HRS § 577A-5 (carved out of the six-year rule by HRS § 657-1(1))
“an action to recover any debt founded upon any contract, obligation, or liability made pursuant to this chapter shall not commence until a minor has reached the age of majority, provided that said action shall commence within two years of the date a minor reaches the age of majority.”

Narrow rule only. Chapter 577A ('Legal Capacity of Minor Regarding Medical Care') lets a minor consent to certain medical care and be financially responsible for it; 657-1(1) says debts 'made pursuant to chapter 577A shall be governed by chapter 577A', and 577A-5 bars suit until the minor turns 18, then allows two years. All other medical debt falls under the general six-year period of 657-1(1).

When the clock starts, and what restarts it
Accrual

Chapter 657 has no general accrual definition for contract debt; 657-1 runs 'six years next after the cause of action accrued'. For a mutual, open and current account, 657-2 deems accrual 'from the time of the last item proved in the account'. Zukerkorn treats notes as barred six years after they became due absent a new promise. Harris (ICA 2013) left open whether a card claim accrues at charge-off: the debtor argued the charge-off date and the court did not decide. Judgments: 657-5 runs ten years from the date rendered or extended; extension must be sought within ten years of the original judgment and cannot exceed twenty years from it.

HRS § 657-1; HRS § 657-2; HRS § 657-5
Partial payment restarts the period
It depends
First Hawaiian Bank v. Zukerkorn, 2 Haw. App. 383, 633 P.2d 550 (1981) (common law; no statute); Bureaus Inv. Grp. No. 2 v. Harris (Haw. App. 2013) (mem.)
“The promise may be implied from an express acknowledgment of the debt or from part payment thereof. However, an express acknowledgment of the debt or part payment thereof is only prima facie evidence of a new promise which may be rebutted by other evidence and by the circumstances under which it is made.”
Written acknowledgment restarts the period
It depends
First Hawaiian Bank v. Zukerkorn, 2 Haw. App. 383, 633 P.2d 550 (1981)
“A new promise by the debtor to pay his debt, whether then barred by the applicable statute of limitations or not, binds the debtor for a new limitations period. The promise may be express or implied. If it is express, it may be unconditional or conditional, but if conditional, it is not effective until the condition is performed.”
Borrowing statute
Yes
HRS § 657-9; HRS § 657-6

657-9: 'When a cause of action has arisen in any foreign jurisdiction, and by the laws thereof an action thereon cannot there be maintained against a person, by reason of the lapse of time, an action thereon shall not be maintained against the person in this State, except in favor of a domiciled resident thereof, who has held the cause of action from the time it accrued.' 657-6 separately shortens the period to four years for debt claims 'where the cause of action has arisen in any foreign jurisdiction' (excluding suits on judgments of a foreign court of record): 'shall be commenced within four years after the cause of action accrued, and not after.' A foreign-arising consumer debt therefore gets the shorter of four years or the foreign period.

Time-barred debt
Status after the period runs
Unenforceable

The debt exists but cannot be sued on; a suit can be defended by raising the defense.

Collector must disclose that the debt is time-barred
No
HRS § 480D-3; HRS § 443B-18; HRS § 443B-19

Both passes read 480D-3 (prohibited collection practices), 443B-18 (deceptive representations) and 443B-19 (unfair means) in full plus the section lists of both chapters; none mentions the statute of limitations or a time-barred-debt disclosure. 2026 SB3188 (debt-buyer documentation) died in committee. Only federal Reg. F 12 CFR 1006.26(b) applies. Negative finding.

A payment revives a time-barred debt
It depends
First Hawaiian Bank v. Zukerkorn, 2 Haw. App. 383, 633 P.2d 550 (1981); First American Sav. & Trust v. Low, 23 Haw. 696 (1917) (as cited in Harris)

Common law, not statute: Hawaii has no acknowledgment/part-payment statute (former 657-16 and 657-17 are repealed). Zukerkorn: a new promise 'whether then barred by the applicable statute of limitations or not, binds the debtor for a new limitations period', so a barred debt can be revived; but part payment or acknowledgment is only prima facie (rebuttable) evidence of a new promise, whether a new promise was made is a fact question, and the promise must be made to the creditor or its agent (Harris, citing Low). No writing requirement stated. Because a barred debt can be revived, the bar is a defense, not extinguishment (Zukerkorn: stale debts 'otherwise were uncollectible because the applicable period of limitations had run').

Sources

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.

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