Idaho — Collection Agency Act (Idaho Code tit. 26, ch. 22) + SOL

Authority

The Idaho Collection Agency Act ("ICAA"), Idaho Code title 26, chapter 22 (§§26-2221 through 26-2251) — a licensing statute administered and enforced by the director of the Idaho Department of Finance (§§26-2222(10)–(11), 26-2228). Idaho has no mini-FDCPA: the ICAA's conduct rules are thin, and §26-2229A(2) instead lets the director enforce the federal FDCPA directly against Idaho licensees. Entry gate = license + $15,000 surety bond (§§26-2223, 26-2232). Unlicensed collection is a felony (§26-2238(2)).

Statute of limitations for suit on a debt: Idaho Code title 5, chapter 2 — 5 years on a written contract (§5-216), 4 years on anything not founded on a writing (§5-217), 6 years on a negotiable note (Idaho's UCC §3-118 analog, §28-3-118). Revival: §5-238.

Verification note. legislature.idaho.gov serves clean statute HTML to automated fetch and also publishes full-chapter PDFs at https://legislature.idaho.gov/wp-content/uploads/statutesrules/idstat/Title<T>/T<T>CH<C>.pdf — both used here. Three sources did not work and are recorded:

• legislature.search.idaho.gov (the LSO statute search) is unreliable and must not be used to prove a negative. Multi-word queries return 0 hits regardless of encoding, and single-word queries miss text that is demonstrably in the Code (prorating → "0 hits in 0 documents", though it appears in §26-2223(7)). Verified negatives on this page were produced by downloading the official full-chapter PDFs (Title 26 ch. 22, Title 5 ch. 2, Title 48 ch. 6, Title 28 ch. 3) and reading/grepping the official text.
• isc.idaho.gov (Idaho Supreme Court opinions) is a JS application with no reachable opinion API (/api/opinions, /api/search → 404), and www.courts.idaho.gov does not resolve.
• api.govinfo.gov was rate-limited throughout this pass, so the USCOURTS fallback for federal opinions applying Idaho law was unavailable.

Consequence: Idaho case law is manual-verification-only. The two questions on this page that turn on case law (which SOL bucket a credit card falls in; whether §5-238 revives an already-expired claim) are labeled UNVERIFIED below rather than guessed.

Operative text

Short title

26-2221. SHORT TITLE. This act shall be known as the "Idaho Collection Agency Act." — Idaho Code §26-2221

Entry gate — §26-2223 (license required; debt buyers are in scope)

No person shall without complying with the terms of this act and obtaining a license from the director: (1) Operate as a collection agency, debt counselor, credit counselor, or credit repair organization in this state. (2) Engage, either directly or indirectly, in this state in the business of collecting or receiving payment for others of any account, bill, claim or other indebtedness. (3) Solicit or advertise in this state to collect or receive payment for another of any account, bill, claim or other indebtedness. (4) Sell or otherwise distribute in this state any system or systems of collection letters or similar printed matter where the name of any person other than the particular creditor to whom the debt is owed appears. (5) Engage in any activity in this state which indicates, directly or indirectly, that a third party is or may be involved in effecting any collections. (6) Engage or offer to engage in this state, directly or indirectly, in the business of collecting any form of indebtedness for that person's own account if the indebtedness was acquired from another person and if the indebtedness was either delinquent or in default at the time it was acquired. (7) Engage or offer to engage in this state in the business of receiving money from debtors for application or payment to or prorating of a debt owed to, any creditor or creditors of such debtor, or engage or offer to engage in this state in the business of providing counseling or other services to debtors in the management of their debts, or contracting with the debtor to effect the adjustment, compromise, or discharge of any account, note or other indebtedness of the debtor. (8) Engage or offer to engage in this state in the business of selling, providing or performing services to improve any consumer's credit record, credit history or credit rating, or providing advice or assistance to any consumer with regard to his credit record, credit history or credit rating. — Idaho Code §26-2223

§26-2223(6) is the debt-buyer hook — buying charged-off or delinquent paper and collecting it for your own account requires the same license as third-party agency collection. The Department of Finance says the same on its own licensing page:

Under the Idaho Collection Agency Act (ICAA), the following activities cannot be conducted in Idaho without obtaining a collection agency permit: Operating as a collection agency, debt counselor, credit counselor, credit repair business or debt buyer … — Idaho Department of Finance, "Collection Agencies" (finance.idaho.gov, page last updated July 9, 2025; emphasis added)

Definitions — §26-2222

(3) "Collection activities" means the activities enumerated in subsections (2) through (6) of section 26-2223, Idaho Code. (4) "Collection agency" means a person who engages in any of the activities enumerated in subsections (2) through (6) of section 26-2223, Idaho Code. (6) "Creditor" means any person who offers or extends credit creating a debt or to whom a debt is owed. (7) "Creditor client" means any person who transfers or assigns to a collection agency licensee or person required to be so licensed under this act, any account, bill, claim or other indebtedness for collection purposes. (10) "Department" means the Idaho department of finance. (11) "Director" means the director of the Idaho department of finance. (14) "Person" means any individual, corporation, association, partnership, limited liability partnership, trust, company, limited liability company, or unincorporated association. — Idaho Code §26-2222

Note that "collection agency" in §26-2222(4) is defined by reference to §26-2223**(2)–(6)** only — the third-party and debt-buyer activities. It does not reach a creditor collecting its own un-acquired paper.

Exemptions — §26-2239

The provisions of this act shall not apply to the following: (1) Persons licensed to practice law in this state, to the extent that they are retained by their clients to engage in activities authorized by this act, and such activities are incidental to the practice of law. Such exemption shall not apply to an attorney engaged in a separate business conducting the activities authorized by this act; (2) Any regulated lender as defined in section 28-41-301, Idaho Code, and its subsidiary, affiliate or agent, to the extent that the regulated lender, subsidiary, affiliate or agent collects for the regulated lender or engages in acts governed by this act which are incidental to the business of a regulated lender; (3) Any bank, trust company, credit union, insurance company or industrial loan company authorized to do business in this state; (4) Any federal, state or local governmental agency or instrumentality; … (8) Any court-appointed trustee, receiver or conservator; … (10) Any person while acting as a debt collector for another person, both of whom are related by common ownership or affiliated by corporate control, if the person acting as a debt collector does so only for persons to whom he is so related or affiliated and if the principal business of such person is not the collection of debts. — Idaho Code §26-2239

Surety bond — §26-2232 ($15,000 floor, escalating to a $100,000 cap)

(1) Upon approval of the application and prior to the issuance of a license under this act, the applicant shall file in the department of finance a surety bond in a form prescribed by the director. … In lieu of the bond required by this section, a certificate of deposit issued by a financial institution authorized to conduct business in Idaho may be provided to the director in the same principal amount as required for the bond. … The certificate of deposit must provide that it will remain in effect for at least three (3) years following discontinuance of operations, unless released earlier by the director when all statutory requirements have been met. (2) The surety bond shall be executed to the state of Idaho in the sum of fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000) or upon renewal in such larger sum as hereinafter provided. In any case where a licensee or its representatives have failed to account for and pay over the proceeds of any collection made or money received for payment or prorating to creditors, or have failed to return to a debtor any sum received that was not to be applied to his debts, the creditor or debtor shall have in addition to all other legal remedies a right of action in his own name on such bond without the necessity of joining the licensee in such action. … The surety may cancel the bond provided that the surety shall in such event provide the licensee and the director with notice no less than thirty (30) days prior to cancellation of said bond. (3) Upon renewal of a license, the licensee shall supply the director with a statement of the preceding year's net collections. The amount of the bond upon renewal shall be in the amount of fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000), or two (2) times the average monthly net collections for the preceding year computed to the next highest one thousand dollars ($1,000), whichever sum is greater, up to a maximum of one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000). — Idaho Code §26-2232

Application, fees, renewal

(1) Every applicant for a license under this chapter shall file an application through an electronic system of licensing prescribed by the director that shall include: … (f) Copies of all contracts, forms, form letters, and advertisements or solicitations to be used by the applicant in its business activities under this chapter, which must accompany the application and be identified as exhibits by number. … (h) A list of the names, business addresses, and telephone numbers of all agents who will contact persons or solicit business for the applicant in this state. (i) The name and business address of the applicant's agent for service of process located in this state. (j) A nonrefundable application fee of one hundred fifty dollars ($150). (k) An agreement of consent authorizing the director to examine any and all of the applicant's financial accounts used for business activities under this chapter. … (2) A license application shall be deemed withdrawn and void if an applicant submits an incomplete license application and, after receipt of a written notice of the application deficiency, fails to provide the director with information necessary to complete the application within sixty (60) days of receipt of the deficiency notice. — Idaho Code §26-2224

(1) On or before December 31 of each year, each licensee shall pay to the director a nonrefundable license renewal fee of one hundred dollars ($100) and shall file, through an electronic system of licensing as prescribed by the director, a license renewal providing complete information as required by the director. (2) Failure to fully comply with the license renewal requirements of this section by December 31 of each year shall result in automatic expiration of the license as of that date. (3) The director may reinstate an expired license within sixty (60) days immediately following license expiration if the director finds that the applicant meets the requirements for licensure under this chapter and after submission to the director of: (a) A complete application for renewal; (b) The fee required to apply for license renewal, unless previously paid; and (c) A reinstatement fee of fifty dollars ($50.00). — Idaho Code §26-2231

Each applicant for a license under this act, with its initial license application, and each licensee at annual renewal, shall file with the director a list of all agents including the name of each agent and any other identifying information the director may require. A fee of twenty dollars ($20.00) for each listed agent shall accompany the list. Each licensee shall notify the director in writing of any additions to its agent list no less often than every calendar quarter. A fee of twenty dollars ($20.00) shall be paid to the director for each additionally identified agent in the quarterly notification of additions to a licensee's agent list. An agent is not required to be listed, nor the fee paid therefor, unless the agent acted for the licensee for more than thirty (30) business days. — Idaho Code §26-2240

Physical presence — §26-2223A

Each licensee shall maintain a home office licensed under this chapter as the licensee's principal location for collection activities. Each licensee must maintain a listed telephone number and must be open to the public during normal business hours on each business day, provided, however, that the director may in his discretion approve a request for opening during hours other than normal business hours or a portion of a business day. A business day within the meaning of this section does not include Saturdays, Sundays, or legal holidays. — Idaho Code §26-2223A

Prohibited practices — §26-2229A

(1) Every licensee or person required to be licensed under this chapter and its agents shall deal openly, fairly, and honestly without deception in the conduct of its business activities in this state under this chapter. (2) When not inconsistent with the statutes of this state, the provisions of the federal fair debt collection practices act, 15 U.S.C. 1692 et seq., as amended, may be enforced by the director against collection agencies licensed or required to be licensed under the provisions of this chapter. (3) In every instance where a collection agency licensee has a managerial or financial interest in a creditor client, or where a creditor client has a managerial or financial interest in a collection agency licensee, disclosure of such interest must be made on each and every contact with a debtor in seeking to make a collection of any account, claim, or other indebtedness. (4) No collection agency licensee, or collection agency required to be licensed under this chapter, or agent of such collection agency shall collect or attempt to collect any interest or other charges, fees, or expenses incidental to the principal obligation unless such interest or incidental fees, charges, or expenses: (a) Are expressly authorized by statute; (b) Are allowed by court ruling against the debtor; (c) Are expressly authorized by the agreement creating the debt, except as otherwise prohibited by law. Provided, however, that no person shall collect any attorney's fees or litigation costs unless such attorney's fees or litigation costs are reasonable, are for actual attorney services performed, and are limited to those costs actually incurred; (d) Have been judicially determined; (e) Are provided for in a written form agreement that is signed by both the debtor and the licensee and has the prior approval of the director with respect to the terms of the agreement and amounts of the fees, interest, charges, and expenses; or (f) Reasonably relate to the actual cost associated with processing a demand draft or other form of electronic payment on behalf of a debtor for a debt payment, provided that the debtor has preauthorized the method of payment and has been notified in advance that such payment may be made by reasonable alternative means that will not result in additional charges, fees, or expenses to the debtor. (5) No person shall sell, distribute, or make use of solicitations, collection letters, demand forms, or other printed matter that are made similar to or resemble governmental forms or documents or legal forms used in civil or criminal proceedings. (6) No person shall use any trade name, address, insignia, picture, emblem, or any other means that creates any impression that such person is connected with or is an agency of government. (7) No person licensed or required to be licensed under this chapter shall misappropriate, transfer, or convert to his own use or benefit funds belonging to or held for another person in connection with business activities authorized under this chapter. … (9) No person licensed or required to be licensed under this chapter shall make a representation or statement of material fact, or omit to state a material fact, in connection with the offer, sale, or performance of any service authorized under this chapter, if the representation, statement, or omission is false or misleading or has the tendency or capacity to be misleading. — Idaho Code §26-2229A

Contract terms and the 50% commission cap — §26-2229

(1) Contracts between collection agency licensees or collection agencies required to be licensed under this act and creditor clients shall be in writing. (2) It shall be a violation of this act for any collection agency contract to: (a) Authorize a collection agency to retain any sums collected on behalf of a creditor client, other than the regular collection fees or commissions authorized by this act; (b) Penalize a creditor client for any unintentional error, mistake or omission in furnishing the correct name or address of any debtor to a collection agency; or (c) Require the payment of any fee, commission or compensation in excess of fifty percent (50%) of the amount actually collected on any account, bill, claim or other indebtedness entrusted to the collection agency for collection. However, in the case that a collection agency collects interest on an account, the creditor client and the collection agency may agree in writing for division of such interest between them without such percentage limitation. Furthermore, in the case of the collection of checks dishonored by nonacceptance or nonpayment, the creditor client and the collection agency, by written agreement between them, may provide, in place of a percentage fee, for the payment of a set dollar amount collection fee not to exceed the amount provided in section 28-22-105, Idaho Code, which shall not be subject to the fifty percent (50%) limitation. … (3)(a) No debt counselor, credit counselor or credit repair organization licensed or required to be licensed under this act shall take or receive for services performed for any one (1) person more than fifteen percent (15%) of the amount received by it at any one (1) time from or on behalf of that person for payment or prorating to creditors, and no other charges shall be made or received for any such service. (b) Debt counselors or credit counselors who do not receive, hold or disburse funds from debtors for payment to creditors shall not charge or accept as a fee for their services more than twenty percent (20%) of the principal amount of the debtor's unsecured debt at the time of contracting for services for the management of debt. In the event of cancellation of the contract by the debtor prior to its successful completion, the debt counselor or credit counselor shall refund fifty percent (50%) of any collected fees associated with the amount of debt remaining unsettled at the time of the termination of the contract. — Idaho Code §26-2229

False debt-elimination claims — §26-2226

(1) No person shall obtain or attempt to obtain a fee, compensation or consideration from a person through a false or fraudulent representation or statement that a debt, loan, or extension of credit could or would be eliminated, reduced or substituted, if the representation or statement is false or misleading or has the tendency or capacity to be misleading, or if the person making the representation or statement does not have sufficient information upon which a reasonable belief in the truth of the representation or statement could be based. — Idaho Code §26-2226(1)

Penalties — §26-2238 (unlicensed collection is a FELONY)

(1) Any person who engages in activities authorized under this act, who fails to establish and maintain a separate trust account as required under this act, or fails to disburse funds in accordance with the requirements of this act, or misappropriates, transfers, or converts to his own use or benefit, funds belonging to or held for another person, shall, upon conviction, be guilty of a felony punishable by a fine not to exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000) per violation or by imprisonment for not more than five (5) years, or both. (2) Any person, except a person exempt under section 26-2239, Idaho Code, who engages in activities authorized under this act without first obtaining a license as required by this act shall, upon conviction, be guilty of a felony punishable by a fine not to exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000) or by imprisonment for not more than five (5) years, or both. (3) Any person who shall fail to comply with any of the other provisions of this act shall, upon conviction, be guilty of a misdemeanor. — Idaho Code §26-2238

Administrative enforcement — §26-2244

(1) Whenever it appears to the director that it is in the public interest, he may order any person to cease and desist from acts, practices, or omissions which constitute a violation of this act or a rule adopted or an order issued under this act. (2) Whenever, after notice and the opportunity for a hearing, the director finds that any person has engaged in any act, practice, or omission constituting a violation of any provision of this act or a rule adopted or an order issued under this act, the director may order the person to cease and desist from such acts, practices or omissions and: (a) Impose a civil penalty of not more than five thousand dollars ($5,000) for each violation upon any person found to have violated any provision of this act or a rule adopted or an order issued under this act; (b) Issue an order restoring to any person in interest any consideration that may have been acquired or transferred in violation of this act or a rule adopted or an order issued under this act; and (c) Issue an order that the person violating this act or a rule adopted or an order issued under this act pay costs, which in the discretion of the director may include an amount representing reasonable attorney's fees and reimbursement for investigative efforts. — Idaho Code §26-2244

Plus injunction and receivership (§26-2245), and criminal referral:

The director may refer such evidence as may be available concerning violations of this act or of any rule or order hereunder to the attorney general or the proper prosecuting attorney, either of whom may in his discretion, with or without such a reference, institute appropriate criminal proceedings under this act. — Idaho Code §26-2247

Practice of law — §26-2243

A licensee under this act shall have a property right in any account assigned to it for collection; provided, however, no right herein granted shall authorize such licensee to engage in the practice of law. — Idaho Code §26-2243

Idaho Credit Code — unconscionable collection conduct (§28-46-111)

The Department of Finance's own statutes page also points collection licensees at the Idaho Credit Code's administrator-injunction provision:

(1) The administrator may bring a civil action to restrain a person to whom this part applies from engaging in a course of: … (d) Fraudulent or unconscionable conduct in the collection of debts arising from regulated consumer credit transactions. (2) In an action brought pursuant to this section, the court may grant relief only if it finds: (a) That the respondent has made unconscionable agreements or has engaged or is likely to engage in a course of fraudulent or unconscionable conduct; (b) That the respondent's agreements have caused or are likely to cause, or the conduct of the respondent has caused or is likely to cause, injury to debtors; and (c) That the respondent has been able to cause or will be able to cause the injury primarily because the transactions involved are consumer credit transactions. — Idaho Code §28-46-111

Statute of limitations — written contracts (5 years)

5-216. Action on written contract. Within five (5) years: An action upon any contract, obligation or liability founded upon an instrument in writing. The limitations prescribed by this section shall never apply to actions in the name or for the benefit of the state and shall never be asserted nor interposed as a defense to any action in the name or for the benefit of the state although such limitations may have become fully operative as a defense prior to the adoption of this amendment. — Idaho Code §5-216

Statute of limitations — oral / non-written contracts (4 years)

5-217. Action on oral contract. Within four (4) years: An action upon a contract, obligation or liability not founded upon an instrument of writing. — Idaho Code §5-217

Residual catch-all, also 4 years:

An action for relief not hereinbefore provided for must be commenced within four (4) years after the cause of action shall have accrued. — Idaho Code §5-224

General accrual rule:

Civil actions can only be commenced within the periods prescribed in this chapter after the cause of action shall have accrued, except when, in special cases, a different limitation is prescribed by statute. — Idaho Code §5-201

Open accounts — accrual only, and only for MUTUAL accounts (§5-222)

5-222. Actions on open accounts — Accrual of cause. In an action brought to recover a balance due upon a mutual, open and current account, where there have been reciprocal demands between the parties, the cause of action is deemed to have accrued from the time of the last item proved in the account on either side. — Idaho Code §5-222

§5-222 sets no limitation period of its own — it is an accrual rule only. Idaho has no separate "open account" SOL bucket; an open account runs 5 years or 4 years depending on whether it is "founded upon an instrument in writing" under §5-216.

Negotiable / promissory notes — §28-3-118 (SIX years, not five)

Idaho enacted Revised UCC Article 3 in 1993 and did not blank §3-118:

28-3-118. Statute of limitations. (1) Except as provided in subsection (5) of this section, an action to enforce the obligation of a party to pay a note payable at a definite time must be commenced within six (6) years after the due date or dates stated in the note or, if a due date is accelerated, within six (6) years after the accelerated due date. (2) Except as provided in subsection (4) or (5) of this section, 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 must be commenced within six (6) 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 ten (10) years. (3) Except as provided in subsection (4) of this section, an action to enforce the obligation of a party to an unaccepted draft to pay the draft must be commenced within three (3) years after dishonor of the draft or ten (10) years after the date of the draft, whichever period expires first. (4) An action to enforce the obligation of the acceptor of a certified check or the issuer of a teller's check, cashier's check, or traveler's check must be commenced within three (3) years after demand for payment is made to the acceptor or issuer, as the case may be. (5) An action to enforce the obligation of a party to a certificate of deposit to pay the instrument must be commenced within six (6) years after demand for payment is made to the maker, but if the instrument states a due date and the maker is not required to pay before that date, the six (6) year period begins when a demand for payment is in effect and the due date has passed. (6) An action to enforce the obligation of a party to pay an accepted draft, other than a certified check, must be commenced (i) within six (6) years after the due date or dates stated in the draft or acceptance if the obligation of the acceptor is payable at a definite time, or (ii) within six (6) years after the date of the acceptance if the obligation of the acceptor is payable on demand. (7) Unless governed by other law regarding claims for indemnity or contribution, an action (i) for conversion of an instrument, for money had and received, or like action based on conversion, (ii) for breach of warranty, or (iii) to enforce an obligation, duty or right arising under this chapter and not governed by this section must be commenced within three (3) years after the cause of action accrues. — Idaho Code §28-3-118 (added 1993, ch. 288, §2)

Tolling — absence from the state (§5-229)

If, when the cause of action accrues against a person, he is out of the state, the action may be commenced within the term herein limited, after his return to the state, and if, after the cause of action accrues, he departs from the state, the time of his absence is not part of the time limited for the commencement of the action. — Idaho Code §5-229

Borrowing statute (§5-239)

When a cause of action has arisen in another state or territory, or in a foreign country, and by the laws thereof an action thereon can not 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. — Idaho Code §5-239

Revival — §5-238 (payment alone IS enough; no writing needed)

5-238. Acknowledgment or new promise — Effect on operation of statute — Effect of partial payment. 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 chapter, unless the same is contained in some writing, signed by the party to be charged thereby; but any payment of principal or interest is equivalent to a new promise in writing, duly signed, to pay the residue of the debt. — Idaho Code §5-238

Plain English

Interpretation — the quotes above win on any conflict.

• Idaho is a license state, and the license is a real gate. A third-party agency, a debt buyer, a debt/credit counselor, a debt settlement company, and a credit repair organization all need the same collection agency license from the Department of Finance, plus a $15,000 surety bond that scales at renewal to 2× average monthly net collections up to $100,000. Cost of entry: $150 application, $100/year renewal, $20 per agent listed at application and at each quarterly addition, $50 to reinstate a lapsed license.
• Unlicensed collection in Idaho is a felony — up to a $5,000 fine and 5 years' imprisonment (§26-2238(2)). That is materially harsher than most states, where unlicensed collection is a misdemeanor or a civil penalty. Everything else in the ICAA that isn't the trust-account/ conversion felony is a misdemeanor (§26-2238(3)).
• Debt buyers are squarely in scope (§26-2223(6)). Buying delinquent paper and working it yourself is licensable activity, and the Department of Finance lists "debt buyer" on its own licensing page.
• First-party original creditors are outside the Act. "Collection agency" is defined only by reference to §26-2223(2)–(6) — collecting for others, soliciting to collect for others, distributing third-party-looking letter systems, implying third-party involvement, or collecting acquired delinquent paper. A creditor collecting its own, never-assigned debt does none of those. Banks, credit unions, insurers, and regulated lenders are separately exempt anyway (§26-2239(2)–(3)), as are in-house affiliates whose principal business is not collections (§26-2239(10)). This is a reading of the definitional text, not a statement in the statute.
• Idaho has no mini-FDCPA. Instead §26-2229A(2) lets the Department of Finance director enforce the federal FDCPA against Idaho licensees as a state licensing matter. The practical effect is that a federal FDCPA violation by an Idaho licensee is also a license-jeopardy event, on top of the $5,000-per-violation administrative penalty in §26-2244(2)(a).
• The Idaho-specific conduct deltas that add to federal law are: the affiliate-interest disclosure on every debtor contact (§26-2229A(3)); the fee/interest authorization list in §26-2229A(4) — notably §26-2229A(4)(e), which requires the director's prior approval of a signed debtor fee agreement, a state-level pre-clearance federal law has no analog for; the government-lookalike-form ban (§26-2229A(5)–(6)); and the 50% cap on the agency's commission from a creditor client (§26-2229(2)(c)).
• No call-frequency cap and no call-time window. Reg F's 7-in-7 presumption and the FDCPA's 8am–9pm window are the operative limits in Idaho.
• No time-barred-debt disclosure, no time-barred suit bar, and no medical-debt rules anywhere in Idaho's collection statutes. Reg F §1006.26 governs.
• SOL: 5 years written (§5-216), 4 years not-written (§5-217), 6 years on a negotiable note (§28-3-118), 4 years residual (§5-224). There is no separate open-account period — §5-222 only fixes when a mutual account accrues.
• Revival is generous and payment-driven. §5-238's default is the usual written-and-signed rule for acknowledgments and new promises, but the second clause makes a bare payment of principal or interest legally equivalent to a signed written promise. A recorded phone payment, an auto-debit, or a $5 good-faith payment restarts the clock on the residue with no writing at all.

Traps / edge cases

• The "notes collapse" trap. Idaho's written-contract period is 5 years, but a negotiable promissory note runs 6 under §28-3-118(1). Any tool that folds notes into the written-contract bucket under-states Idaho by a full year. Demand notes have no clock until demand, then 6 years from demand, with an absolute 10-year no-payment backstop (§28-3-118(2)).
• §5-222 is not a credit-card rule. It applies only to a "mutual, open and current account, where there have been reciprocal demands between the parties." A consumer credit card is one-way — the consumer never renders a demand against the issuer in the account sense — so the "last item on either side" accrual rule should not be assumed to apply to card debt. Interpretation; Idaho case law on this point was not reachable (see the verification note).
• Which bucket a credit card falls in is UNVERIFIED for Idaho. The statutes give only "founded upon an instrument in writing" (5 years) versus "not founded upon an instrument of writing" (4 years). Whether a cardholder agreement makes card debt "founded upon an instrument in writing" is a case-law question and Idaho case law was not reachable. Treat the 5-year figure as the working assumption for accounts backed by a produced written agreement, and understand a 4-year exposure exists where the agreement cannot be produced.
• Payment revives — this is the single most operationally dangerous Idaho rule. §5-238's final clause is unconditional: "any payment of principal or interest is equivalent to a new promise in writing, duly signed, to pay the residue of the debt." Idaho is the opposite of Texas/New York here. Any payment-driven re-aging logic must be on for Idaho.
• But whether payment revives an ALREADY-EXPIRED claim is UNVERIFIED. §5-238 speaks of taking a case "out of the operation of this chapter" and is silent on whether the claim must still be alive when the payment lands. That distinction — tolling/restart before expiry versus resurrection after expiry — is resolved by case law in most states, and Idaho case law was not reachable here. Do not auto-revive an expired Idaho claim; attorney review.
• §5-229 tolling is unusually broad on its face — absence from Idaho after accrual is simply not counted. Applied literally this means the clock never runs against an out-of-state debtor. Courts in other states with identical language have narrowed this where the defendant remained amenable to service; treat any Idaho tolling adjustment as attorney-review territory, not an automatic calculation.
• §5-239 borrows the other state's expiry, not its period. If the claim arose elsewhere and is time-barred there, it cannot be sued on in Idaho — but the exception preserves the claim for a plaintiff who has been an Idaho citizen holding it since accrual.
• §26-2229A(4)(e) requires the director's prior approval of a signed debtor fee agreement before the fees in it are collectible. A collector relying on a self-drafted fee addendum without DOF pre-clearance is collecting unauthorized fees.
• The affiliate-disclosure rule in §26-2229A(3) is per-contact, not once at the outset — "on each and every contact with a debtor." Agencies with common ownership with a creditor client need this baked into every script and template, not just the initial notice.
• The ICAA has no express private right of action. The one private remedy in the chapter is the action on the bond in §26-2232(2), which a creditor or debtor may bring in their own name without joining the licensee — and it is limited to failures to account for, pay over, or return money. Everything else is director enforcement (§§26-2244, 26-2245) plus criminal referral (§26-2247).
• Whether the Idaho Consumer Protection Act reaches collection conduct is UNVERIFIED. ICPA §48-608(1) gives a private action, $1,000 statutory minimum, attorney fees, and an enhanced $15,000/treble penalty for elderly or disabled victims (§48-608(2)) — but by its terms it runs to a person "who purchases or leases goods or services," which does not obviously describe a collection target, and §48-605(1) exempts "actions or transactions permitted under laws administered by … other regulatory body … acting under statutory authority of this state," which the Department of Finance arguably is for licensed collectors. Both questions are case-law questions; not resolved here.
• No IDAPA rules implement the ICAA. IDAPA title 12 (Department of Finance) currently has only three rule chapters — 12.01.04 (Credit Union Act), 12.01.08 (Uniform Securities Act), and 12.01.10 (Residential Mortgage Practices Act). Collection-agency regulation in Idaho is statute-only, so there is no rule-level layer to check for call caps, windows, or disclosures.
• License renewal date conflict. §26-2231 says the renewal fee and filing are due "on or before December 31 of each year," with automatic expiration on that date. The Department of Finance's own page says licensees "must file a license renewal application annually prior to March 15 (paper) or December 31 (NMLS)" and separately requires an annual activity report, bond calculation, and fee "prior to March 15 of each year." The statute controls the license's expiration; the March 15 date appears to be the annual-report deadline. Confirm with DOF before relying on March 15 for renewal.

Related

• ../federal/fdcpa/overview.md — §26-2229A(2) makes the federal FDCPA directly enforceable by the Idaho DOF director against licensees
• ../federal/reg-f/call-frequency.md — governs, unmodified, in Idaho
• ../federal/reg-f/time-barred-debt.md — the only time-barred disclosure rule reaching Idaho
• ./tx.md — the revival contrast: Texas bars post-expiry revival by statute, Idaho makes payment a deemed written promise
• ./ut.md · ./wa.md · ./_matrix.md