Buffalo — Code ch. 140 (collection agency licence, bond, and filed rate schedules)

Municipal jurisdiction. Buffalo is a third layer, not a substitute: federal law (FDCPA / Reg F) and New York State law (23 NYCRR Part 1, the CCFA, GBL art. 29-H) apply in full, and ch. 140 stacks on top. Read state/ny.md with this page — the state page owns SOL, revival and the DFS/CCFA analysis.

Buffalo is an entry-and-conduct-of-business regime, not a consumer-conduct code. It says nothing about how you may talk to a consumer. What it controls is whether you may operate at all, from where, under what bond — and, unusually, what you may charge your clients.

Authority

Chapter 140 is administered by the Commissioner of Permit and Inspection Services through the Office of Licenses. It derives from art. VII of ch. V of the 1974 Charter and Ordinances and was last substantively amended 12-9-2003 (effective 12-19-2003); several sections also carry 1989 and 1995 amendments.

As with Yonkers, its significance comes from the state baseline: New York State does not license debt collectors, so the Buffalo licence is a net-new entry gate.

What this adds over state law

Each row is Buffalo measured against state/ny.md. The state analysis is not restated here.

Layer	Buffalo vs New York State
Licence / registration	ADDS. § 140-1 bars collecting, advertising to collect, attempting to collect, or holding out as able to collect for hire without a licence. No statewide NY collection-agency licence exists. $800, biennial.
Bond	ADDS. $5,000 penal sum payable to the City (§ 140-9), and the prescribed bond form gives any damaged person a direct action against the surety — a private remedy state law does not provide.
Conduct rules stricter than state	N/A. Chapter 140 contains no consumer-communication rules. FDCPA/Reg F and NY State govern conduct entirely.
Disclosures	N/A. No Buffalo disclosure requirements.
Dispute / verification	N/A. FDCPA § 1692g and Reg F govern.
Credit reporting	N/A.
Medical debt	N/A.
Fees / rate caps	ADDS — and this is the unusual one. No cap, but the City takes control of the rate card: the applicant must file its schedule of rates (§ 140-2(B)), charging above the filed schedule is a violation and grounds for revocation (§ 140-8), and no rate change takes effect until the Commissioner approves it in writing (§ 140-12).
SOL / revival	SAME AS STATE — do not answer this from this page. CPLR 214-i and CPLR 213 govern; see state/ny.md. Chapter 140 is silent on limitations.
Private right of action	ADDS — on the bond, and only on the bond. The § 140-9 bond form lets a damaged person sue the obligors directly, "provided that such action is brought within one year after the time the cause of action accrued." Whether ch. 140 itself affords a private action independent of the bond is UNVERIFIED.

Licensing — who needs one

No person, firm or corporation shall collect, advertise to collect, attempt to collect or hold himself or itself out as able or willing to collect, for hire or remuneration in any form, any bill, debt, demand, sum of money or other thing of value due or claimed to be due or owing to any other person, firm or corporation or conduct the business commonly known as a "collection agency" without first having obtained a license so to do as hereinafter set forth, provided, however, that the provisions of this chapter shall not apply to an attorney at law engaged in the practice of his profession; to any banker, bank or banking institution acting within the limits of his or its authority as prescribed by law; nor to any person, group of persons, firm or corporation engaged in the collection only of debts, demands, sums of money or things of value which are the exclusive property of the person, group of persons, firm or corporation attempting to make such collection. — Buffalo Code § 140-1

The trigger is broad on activity: not just collecting, but advertising to collect, attempting to collect, or holding out as able or willing to collect. Advertising into the market is enough.

Three exclusions:

• Attorneys "engaged in the practice of [the] profession." Note this is a plainer exclusion than Yonkers § 31-158(B) or NYC's, both of which pull back in a firm that behaves like a collection agency. Buffalo's text has no such claw-back.
• Banks and bankers acting within their lawful authority.
• First-party creditors — those collecting debts that are "the exclusive property" of the collector. ⚠ Note the phrasing is exclusive property, not originated by. On its face a debt buyer that owns the paper outright would fall inside this exclusion, which is the opposite of Yonkers, where debt buyers are expressly in scope. No Buffalo authority interpreting this was located — see Traps.

Geographic trigger — the City states it expressly

The City's own 2026 application form is unambiguous:

The City of Buffalo, according to Ordinance Chapter 140, requires anyone doing collecting in the city to have a Collection Agency License, even though your principal place of business is outside the City Limits. — City of Buffalo, Office of Licenses, Collection Agency License application (2026)

The trigger is activity in the city, not the consumer's residence. This differs from NYC, where DCWP keys the licence to the consumer's location. Do not carry either rule across to the other.

Application, term and fee

The application shall set forth the name or names of the applicants and their addresses and, in the case of a corporation, the names and addresses of the corporation and of the principal officers thereof, together with a statement in detail of the character of the business proposed to be carried on, the location of the applicant's principal place of business and its principal place of business in the City of Buffalo, if it maintains an office or offices elsewhere. The application shall set forth a schedule of rates proposed to be charged for making collections and whether any charge is to be made where no collection is effected and, if so, the amount thereof. It shall also set forth the character and location of the business in which the applicant has been engaged for the five years immediately preceding such application and, if not engaged in any business, the names and addresses, if any, of the applicant's employers during such five-year period. The application shall disclose the financial responsibility of the applicant and whether he or it has ever been convicted of any crime and, if so, when and where, the nature of the offense and the disposition made thereof. — Buffalo Code § 140-2(B)

The application must be signed and sworn to (§ 140-2(C)), and the Commissioner investigates the applicant's financial responsibility and character (§ 140-3).

Term:

Each license issued pursuant to this chapter shall expire on the 30th day of the second September next following its issuance. — Buffalo Code § 140-5

So the licence is biennial with a fixed common expiry of September 30, not a rolling anniversary — a licence issued in August runs barely over a year; one issued in October runs nearly two. Renewal is biennial (§ 140-7), and the Commissioner "may, for reasonable cause, decline to renew."

Fee: § 140-6 defers to ch. 175 (Fees). The City's 2026 application states $800.00, payable to the City of Buffalo. The application also requires a recent financial statement and/or prior year's income tax return, a police record check for the primary applicant from their local police agency, and a corporate filing receipt or DBA.

The bond — and the direct consumer remedy

Every applicant for a collection agency license or any renewal thereof shall deposit with the Commissioner of Permit and Inspection Services, before the time of issuance of each such license or any renewal thereof, a bond in the penal sum of $5,000, payable to the City of Buffalo, to be executed by the applicant as principal and by a duly incorporated surety company authorized to do business in the State of New York as surety, which shall be duly approved as to form by the Corporation Counsel and as to sufficiency by the Comptroller. — Buffalo Code § 140-9

The prescribed bond form in the same section carries the operative consumer remedy:

NOW, THEREFORE, THE CONDITION OF THIS OBLIGATION IS SUCH that if said principal … shall in all things well and truly and faithfully comply with the provisions, conditions and requirements of Chapter 140 of the Code of the City of Buffalo, as amended, relating to collection agencies and shall pay all damages occasioned to any person by reason of any misstatement, misrepresentation, fraud or deceit or any unlawful act or omission of said ___, his agents or employees, while acting within the scope of their employment, made, committed or omitted in the business conducted under such license or caused by any other violation of said chapter in carrying on the business for which such license is granted, then this obligation shall be void; otherwise to be and remain in full force and effect; provided, however, and it is expressly understood and agreed, that any person, copartnership, association or corporation damaged by reason of the failure of the principal to perform and fulfill the foregoing conditions of this bond may maintain an action to recover such damages against the obligors in this bond in the same manner as though any such person, copartnership, association or corporation were specifically named therein, provided that such action is brought within one year after the time the cause of action accrued. — Buffalo Code § 140-9 (bond form)

Three things to note. The bond covers "any unlawful act or omission" by the licensee or its agents or employees acting within the scope of employment — not merely defalcation. Any damaged person may sue the surety directly, as though named in the bond. And there is a one-year limitation running from accrual of the cause of action.

The City's 2026 form adds administrative requirements: the bond number must appear on the face of the bond; the principal's and attorney-in-fact's signatures must be notarised; and power of attorney and assets-and-liabilities sheets with seals must be affixed.

Filed rate schedules — the City regulates your pricing

This is the provision with no analogue anywhere else in this KB.

The Commissioner of Permit and Inspection Services may revoke for cause any license issued pursuant to this chapter in accordance with the powers vested in him under the provisions of Section 17-2 of the Charter of the City of Buffalo. The charging or demanding of a greater fee than specified in the schedule of rates set forth in the application for making or attempting to make any collection shall be deemed a violation of this chapter and shall be grounds for the revocation of a license. Each licensee shall duly account and pay over to any person, copartnership, association or corporation entitled thereto all moneys and things of value received or collected by any such licensee in the business conducted under any such license, and failure so to do shall be deemed a violation of this chapter and shall be grounds for revocation of a license. — Buffalo Code § 140-8 (emphasis added)

The Commissioner of Permit and Inspection Services, in his discretion, may approve revisions in the schedule of rates set forth in the application of a licensee to be charged for services rendered upon the licensee filing, in duplicate, with said Commissioner a new revised schedule of such rates, which shall contain a complete statement of all rates, both revised and unrevised, proposed to be charged by the licensee. Each such revised schedule shall be signed and sworn to by the licensee. No such revised schedule shall take effect unless and until the Commissioner of Permit and Inspection Services shall signify his approval thereof in writing on one of the duplicate copies of said revised schedule so filed with him and shall deliver the same to the licensee. — Buffalo Code § 140-12 (emphasis added)

Read together with § 140-2(B), which requires the initial schedule and whether any charge is made where no collection is effected:

1. Your contingency rates are filed with the City at application.
2. Charging above the filed schedule is a code violation, independent of any contract.
3. Changing your rates requires filing a complete revised schedule, sworn, in duplicate — and it does not take effect until the Commissioner approves it in writing.

§ 140-8 also imposes a trust duty: failure to account and pay over collected funds to the party entitled is itself grounds for revocation.

Location and transferability

No collection agency business shall be conduced [sic] at any location other than the location specified in the license. The Commissioner of Permit and Inspection Services may approve a change in the location of the place of business specified in any such license upon written application therefor by the licensee to said Commissioner. — Buffalo Code § 140-10 (the typo "conduced" is in the published text)

No license shall be transferred from a licensee to any other person, copartnership, firm or corporation. — Buffalo Code § 140-11

The licence is location-bound and non-transferable. A move requires written application and approval; an acquisition cannot carry the licence.

Oversight

Licences are issued subject to conditions the Commissioner imposes, and the Commissioner reports every licence granted to the Common Council quarterly (§ 140-4). Revocation runs through the Commissioner's Charter § 17-2 powers (§ 140-8).

Plain English (interpretation — the quotes win)

Buffalo does not tell you how to treat consumers — federal and state law do that. Buffalo tells you whether you may be in business in the city and on what terms.

You need a licence if you collect, try to collect, or even advertise that you collect, for money, inside the city — and it applies whether or not your office is in Buffalo. It costs $800, runs to a fixed September 30 expiry every second year, and requires a sworn application with five years of business history, a financial statement, and a police record check.

You post a $5,000 bond, and that bond is not just a formality: anyone harmed by an unlawful act of yours or your employees can sue the surety directly, within a year.

The part people miss: you file your rate card with the City. Charge a client more than the filed schedule and you have violated the ordinance, not just the contract. Change your rates and they do not take effect until the Commissioner signs off in writing.

Traps / edge cases

1. The first-party exclusion may swallow debt buyers, and that is unresolved. § 140-1 excludes collection of debts that are the collector's "exclusive property." A debt buyer that owns the paper outright arguably qualifies. This is the opposite of Yonkers, whose definition names debt buyers expressly, and of NYC. No Buffalo interpretive authority was located. Do not tell a debt buyer they are exempt in Buffalo on the strength of this text alone — the language predates the modern debt-buying industry (it descends from the 1974 code) and the City's own 2026 form states the licence is required of "anyone doing collecting in the city." Attorney review.
2. The attorney exclusion has no claw-back. Unlike Yonkers and NYC, Buffalo's text exempts an attorney "engaged in the practice of his profession" with no carve-out for firms doing collection-agency work. Do not assume the NYC/Yonkers analysis transfers.
3. The expiry date is fixed, not rolling. "The 30th day of the second September next following its issuance" means the useful life of a new licence depends on the month you get it. Diary September 30, not an anniversary.
4. Rate changes have a lead time. A revised schedule needs the Commissioner's written approval before it takes effect. Repricing a client contract mid-term is a licensing step in Buffalo, not just a commercial one.
5. The bond's one-year limitation runs from accrual, which is shorter than most claim windows collectors plan around.
6. The licence is location-bound. Moving offices without written approval breaches § 140-10, and an acquirer cannot take the licence with the business (§ 140-11).
7. No conduct code here. Do not read ch. 140 as a source for communication rules — it has none. For NY conduct obligations use state/ny.md; if the consumer is in New York City or Yonkers, those municipal pages govern instead.
8. The fee is not in the chapter. § 140-6 points at ch. 175 (Fees), which was not retrieved; $800 comes from the City's own 2026 application. If a dollar figure is being encoded, cite the form, not § 140-6.
9. Source is an archive capture — see the note in source_urls. The chapter's last substantive amendment is 2003, so drift risk is low, but the 2026 application corroborates only the licence, bond amount and fee, not the section text.

Related

• New York City — the largest NY municipal regime; conduct code + licence
• Yonkers — the other NY municipal conduct code; debt buyers expressly in
• New York State — SOL, revival, 23 NYCRR Part 1, CCFA, GBL art. 29-H
• FDCPA overview — who is a debt collector federally, for contrast with § 140-1's activity-based trigger
• State matrix