State directory

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

A person may not operate as a collection agency in Wisconsin without a Department of Financial Institutions (Division of Banking) license under Wis. Stat. § 218.04, applied for and renewed through NMLS with a December 31 calendar-year term and a Division-set surety bond ($25,000 if all records are kept in Wisconsin, $35,000 if any are kept outside, per DFI's instruction); nonresidents collecting from Wisconsin residents solely by interstate telecommunications or mail are exempt, and since January 1, 2025 the statute no longer requires an office in Wisconsin.

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 Rules change; confirm with the regulator or your counsel before acting, and tell us if something here is out of date.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

Wisconsin licenses collection agencies through NMLS with a calendar-year term ending December 31 and a Division-set bond that DFI's last published instruction put at $25,000, or $35,000 if any records are kept outside Wisconsin; confirm the current figure on the NMLS checklist. Since January 1, 2025 the law no longer requires a Wisconsin office, and nonresidents who contact Wisconsin residents only by interstate phone, mail, or telecommunications are exempt from the license.

Requirement

License required

Wis. Stat. § 218.04(2)(a)-(b) (license required; nonresident exemption); § 218.04(1)(a) (definition); Wis. Admin. Code ch. DFI-Bkg 74

Regulator

Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions, Division of Banking, Licensed Financial Services

Licensing page

Surety bond

$25,000

Statute sets no dollar amount: § 218.04(3)(d) leaves the sum to the Division. Tiers come from DFI's own Collection Agency License Application Instructions, Form LFS400I (Rev. Nov. 2022; live PDF removed after the 2025 NMLS move, both passes read the Internet Archive copy of Aug 2024): '$25,000 if all of its records are maintained within Wisconsin, or $35,000 if any records are maintained outside of Wisconsin.' DFI bond form LFS430 (Rev. Nov. 2022, still live) is continuous, covers all licensed locations and all locations where records are maintained, 60-day cancellation notice. Since 1-1-25 the bond is filed as an NMLS electronic surety bond from an insurer authorized in Wisconsin (DFI FAQ). The current NMLS Wisconsin checklist could not be retrieved on 2026-09-20 (SharePoint app), so the tiers are unconfirmed post-2025; see reconciliation.

Wis. Stat. § 218.04(3)(d); DFI Form LFS400I (Rev. 11/2022); DFI Form LFS430 (Rev. 11/2022)

NMLS

Yes, via NMLS

§ 218.04(3)(a)1g: 'The division shall utilize the nationwide multistate licensing system and registry'. DFI: 'Licenses must be applied for through the Nationwide Multistate Licensing System & Registry (NMLS).' Transition ran January 1 to May 31, 2025 under 2023 Wis. Act 267; bonds are NMLS electronic surety bonds; renewal on NMLS with $100 company / $20 branch processing fee.

Application fee

$1,200

DFI fee page (re-read 2026-09-20): '$1,200 for company license and $200 for each branch location. The $1,200 fee consists of a $200 license fee and a $1,000 non-refundable investigation fee.' Statute § 218.04(3)(b): nonrefundable $1,000 investigation fee (excess investigation cost billable; none on renewal) plus $200 annual license fee for each separately licensed place of business. NMLS processing fee: none on a new application; $100 per company license and $20 per branch annually at renewal (DFI NMLS transition page). No effective date shown on the fee page.

Wis. Stat. § 218.04(3)(b)

Renewal fee

$200

annual, renews December 31 (calendar-year license term; renew through NMLS; reinstatement period runs through the last day of February with a $100 reinstatement fee per location)

Wis. Stat. § 218.04(3)(b), § 218.04(6)(b); § 224.35(7)

Branches and other fees

See note

§ 218.04(4)(a): a separate license is required for each place of business from which the licensee or its collectors collect from persons located in Wisconsin; $200 per branch application and renewal. § 218.04(4)(ap): an employee's residence used for remote work needs no separate license if it is not held out as an office and no physical records are kept there. Annual fiscal-year-end GAAP financial statements plus Form LFS1040 uploaded to NMLS within 90 days after fiscal year end (s. 224.35(8)); examination costs billed to licensee (§ 218.04(7)(b)).

Other requirements

11 items

NMLS: company (MU1) and control person (MU2) filings and a unique identifier (§ 218.04(3)(a)1g-1r; § 224.35); all collection agency licenses on NMLS since May 31, 2025; trust account: at a financial institution, with sufficient funds to pay all money due claimants deposited within 48 hours of collection (§ 218.04(9g)); remit to creditors by the last day of the month following collection (§ 218.04(5)(a)4; DFI-Bkg 74.05); financial statements: tangible net worth at least $15,000 and net working capital at least $7,500, maintained at all times (DFI page); GAAP fiscal-year-end statements and Form LFS1040 to NMLS within 90 days of FYE (§ 224.35(8)); physical office: no Wisconsin-office requirement remains; 2023 Wis. Act 267 § 100 (eff. 1-1-25) struck from § 218.04(4)(a) the sentence allowing a nonresident to be licensed only if it 'maintains an active office in this state', and § 174 repealed DFI-Bkg 74.01(2); a license still permits operation only at or from the location specified in it, and a separate license is needed for each place of business collecting from Wisconsin residents; office rules: licensed office may not be shared with a practicing attorney (unless an employee) or a loan company, may not be in a private residence, and no other business may be conducted there without written DFI authorization (§ 218.04(4)(b); DFI-Bkg 74.02(1)); open at least 3 hours each business day between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. (DFI-Bkg 74.02(2)); character, general fitness and financial responsibility investigation of applicant, members, officers and directors (§ 218.04(4)(a)); written agreement with each creditor before accepting accounts (DFI-Bkg 74.04); collector/solicitor aliases: one alias per collector, registered with DFI (§ 218.04(9)(b)); collector roster (DFI-Bkg 74.07(1)(j)); records maintained at the principal licensed office (DFI-Bkg 74.07(1)) and preserved at least 6 years (§ 218.04(10)(b)); annual report (§ 218.04(10)(a)); 30 days' advance notice of address change (§ 218.04(6)(a)); violation is a misdemeanor: fine up to $1,000 and/or 6 months (§ 218.04(12))

Who needs it

Third-party collection agencies

Yes

Debt buyers

Not established

Collection law firms

It depends

Out-of-state agencies collecting from residents

It depends

Original creditors collecting their own accounts

Exemptions. § 218.04(1)(a): 'Collection agency' does not include attorneys at law authorized to practice in this state and resident herein, banks, credit unions, health care billing companies (defined in DFI-Bkg 74.01(4) as collecting non-defaulted accounts in the provider's name with payments to the provider), state savings banks, state savings and loan associations, insurers and their agents, trust companies, mortgage bankers licensed under subch. III of ch. 224, district attorneys acting under s. 971.41 and their contractors under s. 971.41(5), real estate brokers, and real estate salespersons. § 218.04(2)(b): nonresidents collecting from state residents solely by interstate telecommunications or interstate mail.

Statutes of limitations

How long can a debt be sued on in Wisconsin?

Wisconsin gives six years on all contract and credit-card debt, and when that period ends the debt itself is extinguished, not merely unenforceable: a later payment does not bring it back, and only a signed, unqualified written promise to pay can. Attempting to collect an expired Wisconsin debt may itself violate the Wisconsin Consumer Act, although no state statute requires a time-barred-debt disclosure.

Type of debt

Period

Where it says so

Written contract

6 years

Wis. Stat. § 893.43(1)

“an action upon any contract, obligation, or liability, express or implied, including an action to recover fees for professional services, except those mentioned in s. 893.40, shall be commenced within 6 years after the cause of action accrues or be barred.”

Oral contract

6 years

Wis. Stat. § 893.43(1)

“an action upon any contract, obligation, or liability, express or implied ... shall be commenced within 6 years after the cause of action accrues or be barred.”

Promissory note

6 years

Wis. Stat. § 403.118(1), (2)

“an action to enforce the obligation of a party to pay a note payable at a definite time shall 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.”

Open account and credit card

6 years

Wis. Stat. § 893.43(1); Liberty Credit Services, Inc. v. Quinn, 2004 WI App 202, 276 Wis. 2d 826, 688 N.W.2d 768

“Wisconsin Stat. § 893.43 provides that an action based on a contract 'shall be commenced within 6 years after the cause of action accrues or be barred.' A partial payment on the contractual obligation made before the statute of limitations has run tolls the statute and sets it running from the date of payment.”

Wisconsin has one six-year period for every contract 'express or implied,' so written, oral and open-account or credit-card claims are all six years and no classification question arises. The Court of Appeals applied § 893.43 to a defaulted Citibank credit-card account bought by a debt buyer in Quinn (¶ 6). Consumer-credit complaints must plead the default facts and, for open-end plans, the billing-statement figures (§ 425.109(1)).

Judgment

20 yearsrenewable

Wis. Stat. § 893.40; § 806.23; § 815.04(1); § 806.15(1) (lien 10 years); First Wisconsin Nat. Bank v. Rische, 15 Wis. 2d 564 (1962); Meier v. Purdun, 70 Wis. 2d 1100 (1975); Andersen v. Kojo, 110 Wis. 2d 22 (Ct. App. 1982)

“action upon a judgment or decree of a court of record of any state or of the United States shall be commenced within 20 years after the judgment or decree is entered or be barred.”

When the clock starts, and what restarts it

Accrual

§ 893.04: the period 'is computed from the time that the cause of action accrues until the action is commenced.' Annotation to § 893.43 on the legislature's page: 'A contract cause of action accrues at the time of the breach. The discovery rule is inapplicable. CLL Associates v. Arrowhead Pacific Corp., 174 Wis. 2d 604 (1993).' For credit cards, Quinn measured the period from the last payment (a June 21, 1994 payment 'extended the statute of limitations through June 21, 2000'); a payment later reversed still counted. Notes: from the due date or accelerated due date (§ 403.118(1)). No statutory accrual rule for open accounts.

Wis. Stat. §§ 893.04, 893.43; Liberty Credit Services v. Quinn, 2004 WI App 202, ¶ 6

Partial payment restarts the period

It depends

Wis. Stat. § 893.48; Liberty Credit Services, Inc. v. Quinn, 2004 WI App 202, ¶¶ 6-8 (quoting St. Mary's Hosp. Med. Ctr. v. Tarkenton, 103 Wis. 2d 422, 424 (Ct. App. 1981))

“A partial payment on the contractual obligation made before the statute of limitations has run tolls the statute and sets it running from the date of payment. ... Periodic partial payments on a debt may be made beyond the ordinary statutory limitation period without the creditor losing the right to pursue the unpaid balance.”

Written acknowledgment restarts the period

Yes

Wis. Stat. § 893.45; Pierce v. Seymour, 52 Wis. 272 (1881); Kurt Van Engel Comm'n Co. v. Zingale, 2005 WI App 82, ¶¶ 11-13

“No acknowledgment or promise shall be sufficient evidence of a new or continuing contract, whereby to take the cause out of the operation of this chapter, unless the same be contained in some writing signed by the party to be charged thereby.”

Borrowing statute

Yes

Wis. Stat. § 893.07

(1) 'If an action is brought in this state on a foreign cause of action and the foreign period of limitation which applies has expired, no action may be maintained in this state.' (2) If the foreign period has not expired but the Wisconsin period has, 'no action may be maintained in this state.' Shorter period governs.

Time-barred debt

Status after the period runs

Extinguished

The right itself ends, not just the remedy.

Collector must disclose that the debt is time-barred

Wis. Stat. § 427.104(1)(j)

“Claim, or attempt or threaten to enforce a right with knowledge or reason to know that the right does not exist”

No Wisconsin statute requires a time-barred-debt disclosure. The Wisconsin Consumer Act's prohibited-practices list (§ 427.104(1)(a)-(m), history through 1997 a. 302) contains none; both passes searched chs. 893, 425 and 427. Because § 893.05 extinguishes the right itself once the period runs, attempting to collect an expired Wisconsin debt is arguably itself a prohibited practice under § 427.104(1)(j). The quote is that prohibition, not a disclosure duty. Regulation F (12 C.F.R. § 1006.26) applies by federal law.

A payment revives a time-barred debt

Wis. Stat. §§ 893.05, 893.45, 893.48; Pierce v. Seymour, 52 Wis. 272, 276-77 (1881); Kurt Van Engel Comm'n Co. v. Zingale, 2005 WI App 82, ¶¶ 11-12, 280 Wis. 2d 777; St. Mary's Hosp. v. Tarkenton, 103 Wis. 2d 422 (Ct. App. 1981), as quoted in Quinn

§ 893.05: 'When the period within which an action may be commenced on a Wisconsin cause of action has expired, the right is extinguished as well as the remedy' (codifying Maryland Casualty Co. v. Beleznay, 245 Wis. 390, 393 (1944), per the 1979 Judicial Council Note). Pierce v. Seymour, read on the CAP archive, addressed a letter written after the six years had run and stated the settled rule: '(1) That when the statute of limitations has run against a debt ... the debt is extinguished; (2) that no mere admission of a legal liability is sufficient to remove the bar of the statute ... there must not only be an acknowledgment of the debt or obligation, but an unqualified promise to pay the same, and such promise must be in writing, signed by the party making it.' Zingale (Ct. App. 2005) reaffirmed Pierce: 'an extinguished debt does not come back to life by a mere acknowledgement of the existence and unpaid nature of the debt.' The tolling effect of a payment is limited to payments 'made before the statute of limitations has run' (Tarkenton, Quinn). A bare payment after expiry is at most an implied acknowledgment and cannot satisfy Pierce; only a signed, unqualified written promise to pay can revive an extinguished Wisconsin debt. No Wisconsin decision treating a post-expiry payment (for example a check with a notation) as such a promise was found.

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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