Colorado debt collection licensing laws

Colorado licenses collection agencies through the Attorney General's Collection Agency Regulation office under the Colorado Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (C.R.S. Section 5-16-101). The Colorado act mirrors much of the federal FDCPA but adds state-specific requirements, including the license itself, a surety bond, and Colorado's own disclosure language, and it covers debt buyers collecting Colorado accounts.

Colorado's limitations period for most debt actions is generally six years under C.R.S. Section 13-80-103.5. Colorado has also legislated directly on time-barred debt: collectors are generally expected to disclose when a debt is beyond the limitations period, and suing on time-barred debt is generally prohibited, which folds the limitations determination into the notice stack for every aged Colorado account.

Colorado classification: udmsa registration state, under the Colorado Debt-Management Services Act, C.R.S. 5-19-201 et seq. (UDMSA-based). The relevant authority is the Administrator of the Uniform Consumer Credit Code, Colorado Attorney General's office. Colorado adopted a version of the UDMSA; debt settlement and debt management providers register under one statute.

Colorado is a UDMSA state: the Colorado Debt-Management Services Act (C.R.S. 5-19-201 et seq.) registers providers of debt-management services, including debt settlement, with the Uniform Consumer Credit Code Administrator in the Attorney General's office. Registration under the UDMSA framework covers the statute's disclosure, contract, and reporting provisions in one filing.

Because the UDMSA states share a model-act skeleton, a Colorado registration file translates reasonably well to the other UDMSA enactment states, which helps sequence a multi-state program. Whatever the state regime, the FTC's Telemarketing Sales Rule bars charging advance fees for debt settlement services marketed through telemarketing, so the federal fee-timing rules apply on top of any state license.