# Bonds for collection agencies and debt buyers How surety bonds attach to a collection license, why the amount varies by state and role, and what changes when a debt-buyer license sits alongside. ## What you will learn - How collection bond amounts are typically set - Why debt buyers sometimes carry a separate bond - What underwriting on a collection principal usually looks at ## Bonds attach to the license, per state Each collection license generally carries its own [[term:surety-bond]] written to the state's statutory form. Most states set a flat face amount that does not scale with volume; a handful tier it by in-state collections. The amounts run from low five figures in smaller states to mid six figures in the larger consumer-protection states. ## Debt buyers sometimes carry a separate bond In states where the debt-buyer license is separate, the buyer typically carries a second [[term:surety-bond]] alongside the third-party collection bond, on the buyer's own form and with its own face amount. A combined collection-and-buyer operation in a dozen states can therefore carry around two dozen bonds total once the buyer-side bonds are layered in. ## Underwriting on the principal Surety underwriting on a collection principal looks at the entity's financials, the credit of the [[term:control-person]] list, the company's complaint history, and the collection program itself. Heavy litigation-collection programs, large dialer footprints, and weak written-procedures documentation all move the premium. Established agencies with clean complaint records and audited financials price down meaningfully at renewal. The estimator below sizes the collection (and, where relevant, debt-buyer) bond portfolio: pick the bond type, your target states, and a credit range to see typical annual premiums. [[tool:bond-cost-estimator]]