California — Rosenthal FDCPA, DCLA licensing, SOL & time-barred rules

Authority

Rosenthal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (Civ. Code §§ 1788–1788.33, enforced by DFPI + private right of action); Fair Debt Buying Practices Act (Civ. Code §§ 1788.50–1788.66); Consumer Collection Notice (Civ. Code §§ 1812.700–1812.702); Debt Collection Licensing Act "DCLA" (Fin. Code §§ 100000–100025, licensed and enforced by DFPI); statutes of limitations (CCP §§ 337, 339, 361). All text below fetched from leginfo.legislature.ca.gov on 2026-07-03.

Recent amendment activity (FLAG): SB 1286 (Stats. 2024, ch. 522, eff. 2025-01-01) rewrote the Rosenthal Act around "covered debt" — extending it to covered commercial debt ≤ $500,000 — and amended Fin. Code § 100001 to exclude covered commercial debt from DCLA licensing. AB 1521 (Stats. 2025, ch. 200, Sec. 3, eff. 2026-01-01) further amended Civ. Code § 1788.2 (leginfo history line: "Amended by Stats. 2025, Ch. 200, Sec. 3 (AB 1521), effective January 1, 2026"). The § 1788.2 text quoted below is the current (post-AB 1521) text.

Licensing / registration (DCLA)

Who must be licensed — Fin. Code § 100001 (amended by SB 1286, eff. 2025-01-01):

No person shall engage in the business of debt collection in this state without first obtaining a license pursuant to this division. To the extent permitted by federal law, a person is acting in this state if the person is located in this state and is seeking to collect from a debtor that resides inside or outside the state, or is located outside of the state and is seeking to collect from a debtor that resides in this state. A license shall be obtained for the licensee's principal place of business and shall not be transferred or assigned. A separate license is not required for each individual branch office. — Fin. Code § 100001(a)

Commercial carve-out (the DCLA is consumer-only even though Rosenthal now reaches small commercial debt):

This division shall not apply to debt collection regulated pursuant to Division 12.5 (commencing with Section 28100) or to the collection of covered commercial debt or covered commercial credit, as those terms are defined in Title 1.6C (commencing with Section 1788) of Part 4 of Division 3 of the Civil Code. — Fin. Code § 100001(c)

"Debt collector" for licensing purposes (includes first-party collectors and debt buyers):

"Debt collector" means any person who, in the ordinary course of business, regularly, on the person's own behalf or on behalf of others, engages in debt collection. The term includes any person who composes and sells, or offers to compose and sell, forms, letters and other collection media used or intended to be used for debt collection. The term "debt collector" includes "debt buyer" as defined in Section 1788.50 of the Civil Code. — Fin. Code § 100002(j)

Exemptions (§ 100001(b)(1)): depository institutions, CFL (Fin. Code div. 9) and CRMLA (div. 20) licensees, Bus. & Prof. Code div. 4 pt. 1 licensees (real estate), Karnette Rental-Purchase Act persons, and nonjudicial-foreclosure trustees. No city/county license may be required (§ 100000.7). Licensees must maintain a surety bond "in a minimum amount of twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000)" (§ 100019(e)) and file a public annual report by March 15 (§ 100021).

Penalty / enforcement for unlicensed collection — there is no fixed statutory dollar penalty in Division 25; the commissioner proceeds by order:

If, in the opinion of the commissioner, a person who is required to be licensed under this division is engaged in business as a debt collector without a license from the commissioner, or a person or licensee has violated any provision of this division, an order, or a regulation adopted pursuant to this division, or Title 1.6C (commencing with Section 1788) or Title 1.6C.5 (commencing with Section 1788.50) of Part 4 of Division 3 of the Civil Code, the commissioner may do any of the following: (1) After notice and an opportunity for a hearing, order the person or licensee to desist and to refrain from engaging in the business of further continuing the violation. (2) After notice and an opportunity for a hearing, order the person or licensee to pay ancillary relief. The ancillary relief may include, but need not be limited to, refunds, restitution, disgorgement, and payment of damages, as appropriate, on behalf of a person injured by the conduct or practice that constitutes the subject matter of the assessment. — Fin. Code § 100005(a) (excerpt; (a)(2) continues with a court-judgment offset rule)

The commissioner may also suspend/revoke a license for Rosenthal or Debt Buying Act violations (§ 100003(b)(3), § 100003.3(b)(3)), and may use § 100005 authority even against § 100001(b)(1)-exempt persons for Civ. Code Title 1.6C / 1.6C.5 violations (§ 100001(b)(2), § 100005(b)).

Scope vs federal — who's covered beyond the FDCPA

The Rosenthal "debt collector" definition includes first-party creditors collecting their own debts ("on behalf of that person or others") — unlike federal 15 U.S.C. § 1692a(6):

The term "debt collector" means any person who, in the ordinary course of business, regularly, on behalf of that person or others, engages in debt collection. The term includes any person who composes and sells, or offers to compose and sell, forms, letters, and other collection media used or intended to be used for debt collection. — Civ. Code § 1788.2(c)

The term "debt collection" means any act or practice in connection with the collection of covered debts. — Civ. Code § 1788.2(b)

Since SB 1286 (eff. 2025-01-01) the Act covers "covered debt" = consumer debt plus covered commercial debt:

The term "covered debt" means a consumer debt or a covered commercial debt. — Civ. Code § 1788.2(l)

The terms "covered commercial debt" and "covered commercial credit" mean money due or owing or alleged to be due or owing from a natural person to a lender, a commercial financing provider, as defined in Section 22800 of the Financial Code, or a debt buyer, as defined in Section 1788.50, by reason of one or more covered commercial credit transactions, provided the total amount of all covered commercial credit transactions and all other noncovered commercial credit transactions due and owing by the debtor or other person obligated under the transactions to the same lender, commercial financing provider, or debt buyer is no more than five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000). — Civ. Code § 1788.2(n)(1) (excerpt; (n)(2) excludes trade credit and certain vehicle-dealer financing transactions)

(1) Except as provided in Section 1788.18, the term "debtor" means a natural person from whom a debt collector seeks to collect a covered debt that is due and owing or alleged to be due and owing from that person. (2) In relation to a covered commercial debt or covered commercial credit, a "debtor" shall mean a natural person who guarantees an obligation related to a covered commercial credit transaction. — Civ. Code § 1788.2(h)

Incorporation of the federal FDCPA (makes federal violations state violations, with state remedies, for consumer debt — note it says "consumer debt," not "covered debt"):

Notwithstanding any other provision of this title, every debt collector collecting or attempting to collect a consumer debt shall comply with the provisions of Sections 1692b to 1692j, inclusive, of, and shall be subject to the remedies in Section 1692k of, Title 15 of the United States Code. However, subsection (11) of Section 1692e and Section 1692g shall not apply to any person specified in paragraphs (A) and (B) of subsection (6) of Section 1692a of Title 15 of the United States Code or that person's principal. The references to federal codes in this section refer to those codes as they read January 1, 2001. — Civ. Code § 1788.17 (as amended by Stats. 2024, ch. 522, Sec. 11 (SB 1286), eff. 2025-01-01)

Plain English (interpretation): an original creditor regularly collecting its own consumer debts in CA is a Rosenthal "debt collector" and, via § 1788.17, must comply with almost all of the federal FDCPA's substantive rules — except the mini-Miranda (§ 1692e(11)) and validation notice (§ 1692g), which § 1788.17 carves out for first-party creditors and their principals. Third-party agencies get no carve-out. Since 2025-01-01, harassment/false-representation/unfair-practice rules of the Rosenthal Act itself also protect natural-person guarantors of small (≤$500k) commercial debt.

Communication rules stricter than federal

Attorney-representation bar (Rosenthal reaches this even for first-party collectors; federal § 1692c(a)(2) reaches only third-party collectors):

Initiating communications, other than statements of account, with the debtor with regard to the covered debt, when the debt collector has been previously notified in writing by the debtor's attorney that the debtor is represented by the attorney with respect to the covered debt and the notice includes the attorney's name and address and a request by the attorney that all communications regarding the covered debt be addressed to the attorney, unless the attorney fails to answer correspondence, return telephone calls, or discuss the obligation in question. This subdivision shall not apply if prior approval has been obtained from the debtor's attorney, or if the communication is a response in the ordinary course of business to a debtor's inquiry. — Civ. Code § 1788.14(c) (prohibited practice)

Collector's own fees cannot be passed to the debtor:

Collecting or attempting to collect from the debtor the whole or any part of the debt collector's fee or charge for services rendered, or other expense incurred by the debt collector in the collection of the covered debt, except as permitted by law. — Civ. Code § 1788.14(b)

Bankruptcy-discharged debt (see the federal automatic-stay page for the hard stop):

Obtaining an affirmation from a debtor of a covered debt that has been discharged in bankruptcy, without clearly and conspicuously disclosing to the debtor, in writing, at the time the affirmation is sought, the fact that the debtor is not legally obligated to make an affirmation. — Civ. Code § 1788.14(a)

California has no state call-frequency numeric cap in the Rosenthal Act — the federal Reg F 7-in-7 presumption (12 CFR 1006.14(b)) is the operative frequency gate for CA consumer claims (see ../federal/reg-f/call-frequency.md).

Required disclosures / notices

1. Consumer Collection Notice (Civ. Code § 1812.700) — third-party collectors, first written notice

In addition to the requirements imposed by Article 2 (commencing with Section 1788.10) of Title 1.6C, third-party debt collectors subject to the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (15 U.S.C. Sec. 1692 et seq.) shall provide a notice to debtors that shall include the following description of debtor rights:

"The state Rosenthal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act require that, except under unusual circumstances, collectors may not contact you before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. They may not harass you by using threats of violence or arrest or by using obscene language. Collectors may not use false or misleading statements or call you at work if they know or have reason to know that you may not receive personal calls at work. For the most part, collectors may not tell another person, other than your attorney or spouse, about your debt. Collectors may contact another person to confirm your location or enforce a judgment. For more information about debt collection activities, you may contact the Federal Trade Commission at 1-877-FTC-HELP or www.ftc.gov." — Civ. Code § 1812.700(a)

The notice shall be included with the first written notice initially addressed to a California address of a debtor in connection with collecting the debt by the third-party debt collector. — Civ. Code § 1812.700(b)

If a language other than English is principally used by the third-party debt collector in the initial oral contact with the debtor, a notice shall be provided to the debtor in that language within five working days. — Civ. Code § 1812.700(c)

Type size: "at least the same type-size as that used to inform the debtor of his or her specific debt, but is not required to be larger than 12-point type" (§ 1812.701(b)). A violation of this title "shall be considered a violation of the Rosenthal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act" (§ 1812.702).

2. Debt buyer first-communication notice (Civ. Code § 1788.52(d)(1)) — 12-point minimum

A debt buyer shall include with its first written communication with the debtor in no smaller than 12-point type, a separate prominent notice that provides:

"You may request records showing the following: (1) that [insert name of debt buyer] has the right to seek collection of the debt; (2) the debt balance, including an explanation of any interest charges and additional fees; (3) the date of default or the date of the last payment; (4) the name of the charge-off creditor and the account number associated with the debt; (5) the name and last known address of the debtor as it appeared in the charge-off creditor's or debt buyer's records prior to the sale of the debt, as appropriate; and (6) the names of all persons or entities that have purchased the debt. You may also request from us a copy of the contract or other document evidencing your agreement to the debt.

"A request for these records may be addressed to: [insert debt buyer's active mailing address and email address, if applicable]." — Civ. Code § 1788.52(d)(1) (as amended by Stats. 2021, ch. 473 (AB 1020), eff. 2022-01-01)

Debt buyers must possess the § 1788.52(a) data (sole-owner authority, charge-off balance + post-charge-off interest/fee explanation, default/last-payment date, charge-off creditor + account number, debtor name/address, chain of title, CA license number) and have access to the signed contract or equivalent (§ 1788.52(b)) before any written attempt, and:

A debt buyer shall provide the information or documents identified in subdivisions (a) and (b) to the debtor without charge within 15 calendar days of receipt of a debtor's written request for information regarding the debt or proof of the debt. If the debt buyer cannot provide the information or documents within 15 calendar days, the debt buyer shall cease all collection of the debt until the debt buyer provides the debtor the information or documents described in subdivisions (a) and (b). — Civ. Code § 1788.52(c) (excerpt)

Non-English initial oral contact → § 1788.52(d) notice in that language within five working days (§ 1788.52(e)).

3. Hospital-originated consumer debt (Civ. Code § 1788.14(e))

Collecting consumer debt that originated with a hospital licensed pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 1250 of the Health and Safety Code without including in the first written communication to the debtor a copy of the notice required pursuant to subdivision (e) of Section 127425 of the Health and Safety Code and a statement that the debt collector will wait at least 180 days from the date the debtor was initially billed for the hospital services that are the basis of the debt before filing a lawsuit against the debtor. — Civ. Code § 1788.14(e) (prohibited practice)

SOL + time-barred rules

Limitation periods

Within four years: (a) An action upon any contract, obligation or liability founded upon an instrument in writing, except as provided in Section 336a; … (b) An action to recover (1) upon a book account whether consisting of one or more entries; (2) upon an account stated based upon an account in writing, but the acknowledgment of the account stated need not be in writing; (3) a balance due upon a mutual, open and current account, the items of which are in writing; provided, however, that if an account stated is based upon an account of one item, the time shall begin to run from the date of the item, and if an account stated is based upon an account of more than one item, the time shall begin to run from the date of the last item. — CCP § 337(a)–(b) (excerpts; (a) continues with a deed-of-trust deficiency rule)

Within two years: 1. An action upon a contract, obligation or liability not founded upon an instrument of writing, except as provided in Section 2725 of the Commercial Code or subdivision 2 of Section 337 of this code; … — CCP § 339(1) (excerpt)

Suit AND arbitration are barred once time runs (not merely a defense to raise):

When the period in which an action must be commenced under this section has run, a person shall not bring suit or initiate an arbitration or other legal proceeding to collect the debt. The period in which an action may be commenced under this section shall only be extended pursuant to Section 360. — CCP § 337(d) (added by Stats. 2018, ch. 247 (AB 1526), eff. 2019-01-01)

Borrowing statute (claims that accrued out of state):

When a cause of action has arisen in another State, or in a foreign country, and by the laws thereof an action thereon cannot there be maintained against a person by reason of the lapse of time, an action thereon shall not be maintained against him in this State, except in favor of one who has been a citizen of this State, and who has held the cause of action from the time it accrued. — CCP § 361 (enacted 1872)

Credit-card treatment (Plain English — interpretation, no single statutory pin cite): credit-card debt is generally litigated in CA under CCP § 337's four-year period (written contract and/or book account / account stated under § 337(b)); the two-year § 339 oral period is the fallback for non-written obligations. There is no credit-card-specific SOL section; the 4-year classification comes from case law applying § 337 — treat 4 years as the planning number for CA card claims and confirm with counsel before litigation decisions.

Promissory notes — Com. Code § 3118 (6 years, not § 337's 4)

(Section added 2026-08-12; § 3118 and §§ 360/360.5 below fetched from leginfo.legislature.ca.gov on 2026-08-12. The rest of this page carries the 2026-07-03 last_verified date.)

California adopted Revised UCC Article 3, so a negotiable note runs six years, not the four years § 337(a) gives ordinary written contracts:

(a) Except as provided in subdivision (e), an action to enforce the obligation of a party to pay a note payable at a definite time shall 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. (b) Except as provided in subdivision (d) or (e), if demand for payment is made to the maker of a note payable on demand, an action to enforce the obligation of a party to pay the note shall be commenced within six years after the demand. If no demand for payment is made to the maker, an action to enforce the note is barred if neither principal nor interest on the note has been paid for a continuous period of 10 years. — Cal. Com. Code § 3118(a)–(b) (Repealed and added by Stats. 1992, Ch. 914, Sec. 6, effective January 1, 1993)

Demand notes (Plain English — interpretation): a demand note has no clock until demand is made; once demand is made the six years run from the demand, and an undemanded note dies on an absolute 10-year no-payment backstop under § 3118(b). § 3118(c)–(g) set shorter periods for drafts (3 years from dishonor or 10 years from the date of the draft, whichever expires first), certified/teller's/cashier's/traveler's checks (3 years from demand), certificates of deposit (6 years from demand), accepted drafts (6 years), and conversion/warranty/residual Division 3 claims (3 years from accrual).

Revival, tolling, and waiver — CCP §§ 360, 360.5

CCP § 337(d) (quoted above) says the period "shall only be extended pursuant to Section 360," which makes § 360 the entire extension mechanism for CA contract debt:

No acknowledgment or promise is sufficient evidence of a new or continuing contract, by which to take the case out of the operation of this title, unless the same is contained in some writing, signed by the party to be charged thereby, provided that any payment on account of principal or interest due on a promissory note made by the party to be charged shall be deemed a sufficient acknowledgment or promise of a continuing contract to stop, from time to time as any such payment is made, the running of the time within which an action may be commenced upon the principal sum or upon any installment of principal or interest due on such note, and to start the running of a new period of time, but no such payment of itself shall revive a cause of action once barred. — CCP § 360 (Amended by Stats. 1955, Ch. 417)

Waiver of the limitations defense — also writing-only, and time-boxed:

No waiver shall bar a defense to any action that the action was not commenced within the time limited by this title unless the waiver is in writing and signed by the person obligated. No waiver executed prior to the expiration of the time limited for the commencement of the action by this title shall be effective for a period exceeding four years from the date of expiration of the time limited for commencement of the action by this title and no waiver executed after the expiration of such time shall be effective for a period exceeding four years from the date thereof, but any such waiver may be renewed for a further period of not exceeding four years from the expiration of the immediately preceding waiver. Such waivers may be made successively. … — CCP § 360.5 (Amended by Stats. 1953, Ch. 655; excerpt — the final sentence carves out acknowledgments, promises, and waivers given to a county to secure repayment of indigent aid or of money fraudulently or illegally obtained from the county)

Plain English (interpretation — the quotes win). Read § 360 as three separate rules:

1. Acknowledgment or new promise: writing plus signature, always. An oral or telephonic "yes, I owe it" is not merely weak evidence — by the section's terms it is not sufficient evidence at all. A recorded call admission does not extend a California period.
2. Payment: only on a promissory note, and only forward. The payment proviso is expressly limited to "payment on account of principal or interest due on a promissory note." A payment on a credit card, book account, or account stated gets no § 360 extension at all — for those debts the only door is a signed writing. Where the proviso does apply, the payment both stops the clock and starts "a new period of time."
3. No payment ever revives a barred claim. "[N]o such payment of itself shall revive a cause of action once barred" — a post-expiry payment on a CA note restarts nothing. Reviving an already-expired CA debt takes a signed written new promise under § 360, and waiving the defense takes a § 360.5-compliant signed writing (max four years, renewable).

Combined with § 337(d)'s "shall not bring suit or initiate an arbitration," the operative CA posture is: once the period runs the claim is unenforceable, and no payment activity brings it back. Do not re-age a California account on payment.

Time-barred debt notices — Civ. Code § 1788.14(d) (all debt collectors)

Sending a written communication to a debtor in an attempt to collect a time-barred debt without providing the debtor with one of the following written notices: (1) If the debt is not past the date for obsolescence set forth in Section 605(a) of the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. Sec. 1681c), the following notice shall be included in the first written communication provided to the debtor after the debt has become time-barred:

"The law limits how long you can be sued on a debt. Because of the age of your debt, we will not sue you for it. If you do not pay the debt, [insert name of debt collector] may [continue to] report it to the credit reporting agencies as unpaid for as long as the law permits this reporting."

(2) If the debt is past the date for obsolescence set forth in Section 605(a) of the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. Sec. 1681c), the following notice shall be included in the first written communication provided to the debtor after the date for obsolescence:

"The law limits how long you can be sued on a debt. Because of the age of your debt, we will not sue you for it, and we will not report it to any credit reporting agency." — Civ. Code § 1788.14(d) (as amended by Stats. 2024, ch. 522, Sec. 7.5 (SB 1286), eff. 2025-01-01)

For purposes of this section, "first written communication" means the first communication sent to the debtor in writing or by facsimile, email, or other similar means. — Civ. Code § 1788.14(f)

Debt buyers must give the identical disclosures under Civ. Code § 1788.52(d)(2)–(3) (verified — text matches § 1788.14(d)(1)–(2) word for word, with "[insert name of debt buyer]").

Trap: federal Reg F § 1006.26(b) bars suing or threatening to sue on time-barred debt (strict liability, see ../federal/reg-f/time-barred-debt.md) but has no federal disclosure; the CA notices above are state-added and belong on the first written communication after the debt becomes time-barred (and the credit-reporting variant switches to the "will not report" variant once past FCRA § 605(a) obsolescence — 7 years + 180 days from delinquency).

Related

• FDCPA overview — § 1788.17 incorporates §§ 1692b–1692j as of 2001-01-01
• Reg F call frequency — no stricter CA numeric cap; 7/7 governs
• Reg F time-barred debt — federal suit bar; CA adds the disclosures
• State matrix