Collecting debt in Minnesota: licensing, bonds and statutes of limitations.
No person may conduct business in Minnesota as a collection agency or debt buyer without a collection agency license from the Commissioner of Commerce ($500 license fee plus up to $500 investigation cost, $400 renewal, expiring June 30), each individual collector must be registered ($10), and the licensee must maintain a $50,000 to $100,000 surety bond.
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 Rules change; confirm with the regulator or your counsel before acting, and tell us if something here is out of date.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 Minnesota?
Minnesota licenses debt buyers as collection agencies even when they never contact a debtor themselves, and every individual collector must be registered with the state. The old exemption for out-of-state agencies that only communicated across state lines was repealed in 2024; an out-of-state agency now needs the license unless the Commissioner has issued a reciprocity waiver for its home state.
Floor $50,000, plus $5,000 for each $100,000 received from Minnesota debtors in the previous calendar year net of commissions, capped at $100,000. Cash deposit with an acceptable depository permitted in lieu of bond. Commerce provides bond forms by entity type (corporation/LLC, individual, partnership). Debt buyers must comply with the same bond requirement (Commerce Debt Buyer FAQ: 'A debt buyer must comply with the bond requirements of Minn. Stat. § 332.34').
Statute and Commerce materials make no reference to NMLS. The Commerce licensing page (Wayback 2026-01-25) and the Commerce Debt Buyer FAQ (read live 2026-09-20) direct applicants to Sircon: 'License applications should be submitted through the Sircon system'. A third-party mention of a 'Pulse Portal' appears outdated.
Minn. Stat. § 332.33, subd. 3: 'The fee for each collection agency license is $500, and renewal is $400.' Subd. 4: independent investigation 'at the expense of the applicant for the initial investigation, not to exceed $500'. Commerce licensing page (Wayback capture 2026-01-25; live page sits behind a bot-check): 'The fee is $1,000, which includes $500 for the license and $500 for the cost of an investigation.' Branch license $500. Individual collector registration $10 each (§ 332.33, subd. 3). Applications filed through Sircon (sircon.com) per the Commerce page and the Commerce Debt Buyer FAQ.
§ 332.33, subd. 3: 'A collection agency licensee who desires to carry on business in more than one place shall procure a license for each place where the business is to be conducted.' Commerce page: 'Each branch of a Collection Agency must obtain a separate license. The fee for a branch location is $500.' Commerce Debt Buyer FAQ: a debt buyer with separately located offices must get a license for each. No branch license is needed for employee work-from-home locations (§ 332.33, subd. 5b). Affiliated companies (as defined in § 332.31, subd. 9) may operate under a single license and single examination if all names are listed on the license (subd. 9). Investigation cost up to $500 (subd. 4). All fees deposited in the general fund (subd. 6).
individual collector registration: licensee must register every individual performing collector duties, $10 each, expiring June 30, filed through Sircon (§ 332.33, subd. 1, 3, 5a; Commerce FAQ); background screening of each collector at hire (national criminal history, attorney licensing search, county criminal history for 5 years of residence) using a Professional Background Screening Association member or equivalent vendor, and annual renewal screening (§ 332.33, subd. 8); trust account: payments collected for customers held 'in a separate trust account clearly designated for customer funds' (§ 332.345); not required of a debt buyer except for third-party collections; financial statements and references as the commissioner requires; investigation of reputation, integrity, competence and net worth at applicant's expense up to $500 (§ 332.33, subd. 4); Commerce application includes a financial statement form; Secretary of State entity/assumed name registration documents uploaded with the application (Commerce page); license must be posted conspicuously in the office (§ 332.33, subd. 3); branch license for each additional place of business (§ 332.33, subd. 3); written notice of change in company name, address or ownership within 10 days (§ 332.33, subd. 7); disqualification for fraud/felony convictions, identity-theft or financial-crime misdemeanors, unaccounted-for client funds judgments, or law license revocation within 5 years (§ 332.35); credit counseling document must accompany the initial written communication (§ 332.365)
Exemptions. Minn. Stat. § 332.32(a): 'collection agency' does not include banks collecting accounts owed to them where the bank bears the loss, abstract companies doing an escrow business, real estate brokers, public officers, persons acting under order of a court, lawyers, trust companies, insurance companies, credit unions, savings associations, and loan or finance companies (unless engaged in asserting, enforcing or prosecuting purchased unsecured claims with recourse to the seller). (b): trade associations performing services under § 604.15, subd. 4a. (c) (added by 2026 Minn. Laws ch. 124, art. 1, § 57, signed May 27, 2026; no section-specific effective date, so effective August 1, 2026 under § 645.02): residential mortgage servicers licensed under ch. 58 and student loan servicers licensed under ch. 58B when engaging in activities subject to those licenses. § 332.3352: commissioner may waive licensing for nonresident agencies from reciprocal-agreement states.
How long can a debt be sued on in Minnesota?
Minnesota gives consumer debt, including credit cards, a flat six years that an out-of-state choice-of-law clause cannot change, and once that period has run, no payment, reaffirmation or bankruptcy discharge can revive it (Minn. Stat. 541.053). Licensed collectors and debt buyers are separately prohibited from suing on a time-barred consumer debt (Minn. Stat. 332.37(a)(24)).
“Except where the Uniform Commercial Code otherwise prescribes, the following actions shall be commenced within six years: (1) upon a contract or other obligation, express or implied, as to which no other limitation is expressly prescribed”
“the following actions shall be commenced within six years: (1) upon a contract or other obligation, express or implied, as to which no other limitation is expressly prescribed”
“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.”
An undemanded demand note is barred after ten years without payment of principal or interest (§ 336.3-118(b)).
“Notwithstanding section 541.31, subdivision 1, actions upon an obligation arising out of a consumer debt primarily for personal, family, or household purposes shall be commenced within six years.”
No case cite needed: since 2013 (2013 Minn. Laws ch. 104, § 2) the statute itself fixes six years for any 'obligation arising out of a consumer debt primarily for personal, family, or household purposes', which covers credit cards and open accounts however the claim is pleaded, and overrides the § 541.31 borrowing rule so a cardholder agreement's choice-of-law state cannot lengthen or shorten it. Before 2013 credit-card claims fell under § 541.05, subd. 1(1) (contract, express or implied), also six years. § 332.37(a)(24) makes it a prohibited practice for a collection agency, debt buyer or collector to 'commence legal action to collect a debt outside the limitations period set forth in section 541.053.'
“No action shall be maintained upon a judgment or decree of a court of the United States, or of any state or territory thereof, unless begun within ten years after the entry of such judgment.”
§ 548.09, subd. 1: 'The judgment survives, and the lien continues, for ten years after its entry. Child support judgments may be renewed pursuant to section 548.091.' There is no clerk's notice-of-renewal mechanism for ordinary money judgments; renewal is by an action on the judgment under § 541.04 within the ten years, producing a new judgment. The Minnesota Supreme Court in Shamrock Development, Inc. v. Smith, 754 N.W.2d 377 (Minn. Aug. 7, 2008) described the practice ('Judgment creditors sometimes seek to renew an existing judgment by commencing a new civil action within the 10-year limitations period and obtain a new judgment') but 'assume[d] without deciding that a civil judgment may be renewed by the entry of judgment in a new civil action commenced within the statutory limitations period'.
Minn. Stat. § 541.01: 'Actions can only be commenced within the periods prescribed in this chapter, after the cause of action accrues'. Neither § 541.05 nor § 541.053 defines accrual for consumer debt. For negotiable notes § 336.3-118(a) runs from the stated or accelerated due date. § 541.32: when another state's limitations law applies under § 541.31, that state's tolling and accrual rules apply too. Procedurally, § 548.101 requires a debt buyer seeking default judgment to prove the balance 'at the time the debt was charged off or first assigned' and to give the 'date of charge off or account closing date' in its notice of intent. No Minnesota appellate opinion fixing the accrual date for a credit-card account (breach/default vs. last payment) was read in either pass; treat accrual-on-breach as the unverified working rule.
“No acknowledgment or promise shall be evidence of a new or continuing contract sufficient to take the case out of the operation of this chapter unless the same is contained in some writing signed by the party to be charged thereby; but this section shall not alter the effect of a payment of principal or interest.”
“After its expiration, the statute of limitations is not revived by the collection of a payment on an account, a discharge in a bankruptcy proceeding, or an oral or written reaffirmation of the debt.”
§ 541.31, subd. 1(a): 'if a claim is substantively based: (1) upon the law of one other state, the limitation period of that state applies; or (2) upon the law of more than one state, the limitation period of one of those states chosen by the law of conflict of laws of this state applies.' Subd. 2 lets a Minnesota-resident plaintiff who has owned the claim since accrual sue even if barred where it arose, if not barred in Minnesota. Subd. 1 is 'Except as provided by ... section 541.33' (unfairness exception, not read). Consumer-debt override: § 541.053 begins 'Notwithstanding section 541.31, subdivision 1', so consumer-debt actions get Minnesota's six years regardless of the other state's law.
The debt exists but cannot be sued on; a suit can be defended by raising the defense.
“No collection agency, debt buyer, or collector shall: ... (24) commence legal action to collect a debt outside the limitations period set forth in section 541.053.”
No Minnesota statute requires a time-barred-debt disclosure in collection communications; both passes searched chapters 332, 332C and 541. Instead § 332.37(a)(24) (added by 1Sp2021 c 4 art 5 s 17) makes suing on time-barred consumer debt a prohibited practice for collection agencies, debt buyers and collectors, and § 332.37(a)(12) makes any FDCPA violation a state violation. The § 332.37 history line re-read 2026-09-20 ends at 1Sp2021 c 4, so no 2024-2026 amendment added a disclosure rule. Federal Reg. F (12 CFR 1006.26) disclosure duties apply.
Full text (re-read 2026-09-20): 'Notwithstanding section 541.31, subdivision 1, actions upon an obligation arising out of a consumer debt primarily for personal, family, or household purposes shall be commenced within six years. After its expiration, the statute of limitations is not revived by the collection of a payment on an account, a discharge in a bankruptcy proceeding, or an oral or written reaffirmation of the debt.' (2013 c 104 s 2.) Applies to consumer debt only; for non-consumer contract debt § 541.17 preserves the effect of a payment of principal or interest and allows a signed written acknowledgment or promise.
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.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/332.31
- www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/332.32
- www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/332.33
- www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/332.34
- www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/332.3352
- www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/332.345
- www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/332.35
- www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/332.37
- www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/332.40
- www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/332/full
- www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/2022/cite/332.3351
- www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/645.02
- www.revisor.mn.gov/laws/2026/0/Session+Law/Chapter/124/
- mn.gov/commerce/licensing/list/business/collections/
- web.archive.org/web/20260125060526/https://mn.gov/commerce/licensing/list/business/collections/
- mn.gov/commerce-stat/pdfs/debt-buyer-faq.pdf
- mn.gov/elicense/a-z/?id=1083-231510
- www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/541.01
- www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/541.04
- www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/541.05
- www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/541.053
- www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/541.17
- www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/541.31
- www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/541.32
- www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/541.33
- www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/336.3-118
- www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/548.09
- www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/548.101
- www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/332C/full
- www.ag.state.mn.us/Office/Communications/2024/docs/DFA_EffectiveDates.pdf
- static.case.law/nw2d/754/cases/0377-01.json
Resolvah enforces the Minnesota 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.
