Collecting debt in South Carolina: licensing, bonds and statutes of limitations.
South Carolina has no state license, registration, or bond requirement for collection agencies or debt buyers; the only state debt-collection law is the unconscionable-debt-collection provision of the Consumer Protection Code (S.C. Code 37-5-108), enforced by the Department of Consumer Affairs.
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 Rules change; confirm with the regulator or your counsel before acting, and tell us if something here is out of date.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 South Carolina?
South Carolina has never enacted a collection-agency licensing act; the bills that would have created one (2007-08 and 2011-12) died in committee, so third-party pages that say a license is required are describing proposals, not law. Agencies are still subject to the unconscionable-debt-collection rule in S.C. Code 37-5-108, which requires a claim to be filed with SCDCA at least 30 days before suit.
No state bond requirement for collection agencies in Title 37 or SCDCA materials. H.3383 (2011-2012 session, 'Debt Collection Agency Licensing Act') would have added Title 37 Chapter 12 with tiered bonds of $15,000 to $150,000 and a $750 annual license fee; it died in the House LCI committee and is not law.
30-day pre-suit filing: 'No action at law claiming unconscionable debt collection may be commenced in any court until at least thirty days after the facts and circumstances of any claim of unconscionable conduct in collecting a debt arising out of a consumer credit transaction has been filed in writing with the administrator of the Department of Consumer Affairs.' (S.C. Code 37-5-108, https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t37c005.php)
Adjacent rules. Not applicable: no licensing statute, so no exemption list. 37-5-108(2) applies to 'a person' collecting a debt arising from a consumer credit transaction, including rental-purchase agreements under 37-2-701(6).
City and county licenses
- All SC counties and municipalities that levy a business license tax (general, not collector-specific)Local business license office under S.C. Code 6-1-400 et seq. (Business License Tax Standardization Act)
General business license tax only; no collection-agency-specific local license found. S.C. Code 6-1-400(B)(1): 'A business license must be issued to a taxpayer for a twelve-month period beginning May first and ending April thirtieth.' (2020 Act No. 176, eff. January 1, 2022.) Applies to businesses operating within the taxing jurisdiction.
Regulator page
How long can a debt be sued on in South Carolina?
South Carolina gives creditors three years on any unsecured consumer contract, including credit cards, because the statute covers every contract 'express or implied' without a written/oral split; no state appellate court has needed to classify credit cards separately. A payment on a debt that is already time-barred revives it under § 15-3-130, and judgments expire ten years after entry with no renewal.
“Within three years: (1) an action upon a contract, obligation, or liability, express or implied, excepting those provided for in Section 15-3-520”
“Within three years: (1) an action upon a contract, obligation, or liability, express or implied, excepting those provided for in Section 15-3-520”
“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”
“Within three years: (1) an action upon a contract, obligation, or liability, express or implied, excepting those provided for in Section 15-3-520”
The statute is silent on credit cards. § 15-3-530(1) is a single three-year period for every contract action 'express or implied' that is not secured by a real-property mortgage or under seal (§ 15-3-520), so a credit-card account is 3 years whether treated as a written, implied or open-account contract. § 15-3-610 (mutual, open and current account accrues from the last item proved on either side) applies only where there are reciprocal demands, which a consumer card lacks. No SC appellate decision specifically classifying credit-card debt was located by either pass or by the reconciler (CourtListener search of SC courts for 'credit card' + '15-3-530' returned nothing on point); the only decision found is a D.S.C. bankruptcy opinion (Judge Waites, No. 20-03931) applying § 15-3-530's three years to a consumer account measured from the last account transaction.
“Executions may issue upon final judgments or decrees at any time within ten years from the date of the original entry thereof and shall have active energy during such period, without any renewal or renewals thereof”
§ 15-3-530 says only that the action must be brought within three years; general contract accrual is by case law. SC applies a discovery rule to contract claims: 'a breach of contract action accrues not on the date of the breach, but rather on the date the aggrieved party either discovered the breach, or could or should have discovered the breach through the exercise of reasonable diligence' (Maher v. Tietex Corp., 331 S.C. 371 (Ct. App. 1998), quoted in Kagan v. Simchon, S.C. Ct. App. Op. No. 5713 (2020)). For a consumer account that is the missed payment/default, which the creditor knows immediately. § 15-3-610 fixes accrual for mutual, open and current accounts with reciprocal demands at 'the time of the last item proved in the account on either side'. No SC appellate case fixing credit-card accrual at charge-off versus default was found.
“But payment of any part of principal or interest is equivalent to a promise in writing.”
“No acknowledgment or promise shall be sufficient evidence of a new or continuing contract whereby to take the case out of the operation of this chapter unless it be contained in some writing signed by the party to be charged thereby.”
Both passes and the reconciler read the full limitations chapter; it contains no provision applying another state's limitations period to claims arising elsewhere. SC courts apply SC's own period as procedural law of the forum; no case cite was verified for that proposition, so treat the 'no' as resting on absence of a provision.
The debt exists but cannot be sued on; a suit can be defended by raising the defense.
No South Carolina statute requiring a time-barred-debt disclosure in collection communications was found. § 37-5-108(2) gives a general unconscionable-collection cause of action but does not mention limitations. Only federal Reg. F (12 CFR 1006.26(b)) applies.
§ 15-3-130 expressly addresses debts already barred: 'All actions upon causes of action which would be barred by the statute of limitations but for part payment or a written acknowledgment shall be brought on the original cause of action and the part payment or written acknowledgment shall be evidence to prevent the bar of the statute of limitations.' § 15-3-120 makes part payment of principal or interest 'equivalent to a promise in writing'. A part payment on a time-barred debt therefore revives it, and suit is brought on the original cause of action within a new three-year period. A written acknowledgment must be signed by the debtor; payment alone suffices.
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.scstatehouse.gov/code/title37.php
- www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t37c005.php
- law.justia.com/codes/south-carolina/title-37/chapter-5/section-37-5-108/
- consumer.sc.gov/business-resourceslaws/laws-enforced-scdca
- consumer.sc.gov/business-resourceslaws/licensing
- consumer.sc.gov/licensee-lookup
- consumer.sc.gov/consumer-faqs/fair-debt-collection-faqs
- www.scstatehouse.gov/sess119_2011-2012/bills/3383.htm
- www.scstatehouse.gov/billsearch.php?billnumbers=4612&session=117&summary=B
- www.scstatehouse.gov/sess126_2025-2026/prever/4137_20250314.htm
- www.scstatehouse.gov/sess126_2025-2026/bills/4069.htm
- www.scstatehouse.gov/sess126_2025-2026/prever/4149_20250305.htm
- www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t06c001.php
- cases.justia.com/south-carolina/court-of-appeals/2020-5713.pdf
- law.justia.com/cases/south-carolina/supreme-court/2010/26878.html
- www.reedlawsc.com/blog/statute-of-limitations-for-credit-card-debt/
- www.scb.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/opinions/Judge%20Waites/opn_84_20-03931_637479392809667122.pdf
- www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t15c003.php
- www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t15c035.php
- www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t15c039.php
- www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t36c003.php
- www.solosuit.com/posts/south-carolina-statute-limitations-debt
Resolvah enforces the South Carolina 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.
