Oregon — two entry gates (collection agency registration + debt buyer license), unified 6-year SOL

Authority

Oregon splits collections law across four instruments:

1. Entry gate #1 — ORS ch. 697 (Collection Agencies), §§ 697.005–697.095. Registration with the Department of Consumer and Business Services (DCBS), administered by the Division of Financial Regulation (DFR) through NMLS. Rules at OAR ch. 441, div. 810.
2. Entry gate #2 — ORS 646A.640–646A.673 (Debt Buyers). A separate license, also DCBS/DFR via NMLS, created by HB 2356 (2017 Or. Laws ch. 625), license required since January 1, 2018.
3. Conduct — ORS 646.639 (Unlawful Collection Practices) + private action ORS 646.641; also an unlawful trade practice under ORS 646.607(6) (UTPA → Attorney General).
4. Statute of limitations — ORS ch. 12, principally §12.080 (6 years, no written/oral split), with the accounts accrual rule in §12.090, revival in §§12.230/12.240, and the negotiable-note period in ORS 73.0118 (Oregon's UCC 3-118).

Verification note: text below was pulled on 2026-08-12 from oregonlegislature.gov's own ORS chapter files (2025 Edition) and from the official Oregon Laws session-law PDFs at oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/lawsstatutes/. Administrative rules come from the Secretary of State's Oregon Administrative Rules Database (secure.sos.state.or.us/oard). Licensing figures come from DCBS/DFR's own licensing pages. All fetched cleanly — Oregon is not a bot-blocked source.

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Operative text

Entry gate #1 — collection agency registration (ORS 697.015)

697.015 Registration requirement. A person shall not operate as a collection agency in this state unless the person registers with the Department of Consumer and Business Services under ORS 697.031 and maintains the registration in accordance with that section. — Or. Rev. Stat. §697.015 [1981 c.85 §3; 1995 c.622 §2]

Who is a "collection agency" (note subparagraph (C) — a first-party creditor using an alias is a collection agency):

(1)(a) "Collection agency" means: (A) A person that engages directly or indirectly in soliciting a claim for collection, or collecting or attempting to collect a claim that is owed, due or asserted to be owed or due to another person or to a public body at the time the person solicits, collects or attempts to collect the claim; (B) A person that directly or indirectly furnishes, attempts to furnish, sells or offers to sell forms represented to be a collection system even if the forms direct the debtor to pay the creditor and even if the creditor may or does use the forms in the creditor's own name; (C) A person that, in attempting to collect or in collecting the person's own claim, uses a fictitious name or any name other than the person's own name that indicates to the debtor that a third person is collecting or attempting to collect the claim; (D) A person that engages in the business of soliciting the right to repossess or in repossessing collateral security due or asserted to be due to another person; or (E) A person that, in collecting claims from another person: (i) Uses any name other than the name regularly used in conducting the business out of which the claim arose; and (ii) Engages in any action or conduct that tends to convey the impression that a third party has been employed or engaged to collect the claim. — Or. Rev. Stat. §697.005(1)(a)

The exclusion that matters most for debt buyers:

(b) "Collection agency" does not include: … (R) A person that receives an assignment of debt in any form without an obligation to pay the assignor any of the proceeds resulting from a collection of all or a portion of the debt. — Or. Rev. Stat. §697.005(1)(b)(R)

Other exclusions in §697.005(1)(b): employees of a registrant (A); an employee collecting for not more than three employers in the employer's own name (B); statement-mailing services with no other collection effort (C); attorneys practicing law (D); CPAs (E); banks, savings institutions, consumer finance companies, trust companies, credit unions, debt consolidation agencies (F); real estate brokers/escrow agents in escrow (G)–(H); an in-house credit person for one non-agency employer (I); public officers and court-appointed persons (J); property managers collecting rent (K); billing services with no personal or telephone contact with the debtor (L); factoring services (M); a licensee's employees (N); mortgage bankers (O); utilities and telecom/electric cooperatives (P); public bodies and their employees (Q); and any person the DCBS Director exempts by rule or order (S).

The narrow "out-of-state collection agency" definition — it is narrower than it looks:

(7)(a) "Out-of-state collection agency" means a collection agency located outside of this state the activities of which, within this state, are limited to collecting a debt that a debtor located in this state incurs outside this state. (b) As used in this subsection, "collecting a debt" means collecting a debt on behalf of clients located outside this state by means of interstate communications, including telephone, mail or facsimile transmission from the collection agency's location in another state. — Or. Rev. Stat. §697.005(7) (emphasis added)

Bond, fees, records (ORS 697.031, 697.058; OAR 441-810)

(2)(a) The director shall require any person who applies for registration as a collection agency, other than an out-of-state collection agency, to file with the director a bond or an irrevocable letter of credit in the sum of $10,000 executed by the applicant as obligor, together with one or more corporate sureties or financial institutions authorized to do business in this state. … (c) The bond or an irrevocable letter of credit required by this subsection must be continuously maintained in the amount required by this subsection. … — Or. Rev. Stat. §697.031(2) [2019 c.106 §2]

Reciprocity and fee relief for genuinely out-of-state agencies:

(4) An out-of-state collection agency is exempt from the registration fee under this section if the out-of-state collection agency is registered in another state and the other state does not require payment of an initial fee by a person who collects debts in the other state only by means of interstate communications from the person's location in another state. (6) If another state exempts a collection agency that is located and registered in this state from a requirement to register in the other state, the director shall exempt a collection agency that is located and, if necessary, registered in the other state from the requirement to register in this state under ORS 697.005 to 697.095. — Or. Rev. Stat. §697.031(4), (6)

ORS 697.058(1) requires every collection agency to keep records and all customers' funds within Oregon, with a 6-year retention period for collection/payment accounting records and 2 years for other records. The rule waiving the in-state office and trust account carries an extra $5,000 bond:

441-810-0160 Office and Trust Account Location. (1) The provisions of ORS 697.058(1), (2), (4), and (5) requiring that a registrant maintain an office location and client trust account in this state are waived provided the registrant submits a written request for waiver; and, (a) Has been registered by the State of Oregon for the two years immediately preceding the request; or (b) Has been subject to regulation of the registrant's collection agency activities by another state with laws substantially similar to Oregon's Collection Agency Act for at least five years immediately preceding the request. (2) Persons who do not qualify for a waiver pursuant to subsection 1 of this section may qualify for a waiver provided they: (a) Submit a written request for waiver; (b) Agree to pay the cost of out of state audits; and (c) Submit an additional $5,000 bond, which is in addition to the bonding requirements of ORS 697.031(2)(a). — OAR 441-810-0160

441-810-0150 Fees. (1) Fees established for the Program are: (a) Initial registration, $350; (b) Registration renewal, $120; (c) Duplicate registration, $10; (d) Certification of registration, $5. — OAR 441-810-0150

DFR's own licensing page states the combined result:

Provide through NMLS an electronic surety bond in the amount of $15,000 for a company located out of state that has no location or trust account in Oregon. All other applicants submit a $10,000 electronic surety bond through NMLS. … Complete the application in NMLS, including paying the registration fee of $350. — DCBS/DFR, "Collection agencies," dfr.oregon.gov/business/licensing/financial/pages/collection-agencies.aspx

Registration term: issued before November 1 → expires at the end of that calendar year; issued on or after November 1 → expires at the end of the following calendar year (OAR 441-810-0020).

Penalty for operating unregistered (ORS 697.045, 697.087, 697.091, 697.095, 697.990)

The court-access bar — the sharpest of the four:

(4) No collection agency is entitled to bring or maintain an action involving the collection of a claim or account on behalf of its customers in any courts of this state without alleging and proving that it is duly registered under ORS 697.015 and 697.031. A registration certificate or a certification of registration by the Director of the Department of Consumer and Business Services for any designated time period shall be received by the court as prima facie evidence of the collection agency's registration for the time period designated. — Or. Rev. Stat. §697.045(4)

Fee forfeiture and disgorgement:

(1) A person who violates any provision of ORS 697.015 or 697.058 or any rule adopted under ORS 697.031 or 697.085 shall not charge or receive any fee or compensation on any moneys received or collected while in violation … (3) All moneys collected or received in violation of this section shall be immediately returned to the assignors, or their assigns, of the account on which the moneys were paid. — Or. Rev. Stat. §697.091(1), (3)

Private action, civil penalty, criminal penalty:

(1) Any person injured as a result of the violation of any provision of ORS 697.015 or 697.058 or any rule adopted under ORS 697.031 or 697.085 may bring an action in an appropriate court to enjoin the practice or to recover actual damages or $200, whichever is greater. The court or the jury may award punitive damages … (4) Actions brought under this section shall be commenced within one year from the date the violation occurs. — Or. Rev. Stat. §697.087(1), (4)

(1) In addition to any other penalty provided by law, a person who violates any provision of ORS 697.015 or 697.058 or any rule adopted under ORS 697.031, 697.085 or 697.086 is subject to forfeiture and payment of a civil penalty to the Department of Consumer and Business Services in an amount of not more than $1,000 for each offense. — Or. Rev. Stat. §697.095(1)

441-810-0140 Civil Penalties. Civil penalties shall be $400 for the first offense and $1,000 for each subsequent offense. — OAR 441-810-0140

(1) Violation of ORS 697.015 or 697.058 by an individual is a Class A violation. (2) Violation of ORS 697.015 or 697.058 by a corporation or association is a Class A violation. Any officer or agent of a corporation or association who personally participates in any violation … is subject to the penalty prescribed in subsection (1) … — Or. Rev. Stat. §697.990(1), (2)

Registration preempts local licensing (§697.053), except general non-discriminatory business fees and taxes.

Entry gate #2 — debt buyer license (ORS 646A.643)

(1) Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, a person may not engage in debt buying in this state unless the person obtains or renews a license under ORS 646A.646. (2)(a) A person need not obtain or renew a license … if the person is: (A) A financial institution, as defined in ORS 706.008; (B) A mortgage banker or a mortgage broker …; (C) A person that has a license the Director … issued under ORS 725.140; (D) A company that the director has authorized to transact trust business …; (E) A debt management service provider …; (F) An attorney who is authorized to practice law in this state, if the attorney engages in debt buying only incidentally in the practice of law; or (G) A person that the director exempts … — Or. Rev. Stat. §646A.643 [2017 c.625 §4]

"Debt buyer" is defined by cross-reference to the conduct statute:

(g)(A) "Debt buyer" means a person that regularly engages in the business of purchasing charged-off debt for the purpose of collecting the charged-off debt or hiring another person to collect or bring legal action to collect the charged-off debt. (B) "Debt buyer" does not include a person that acquires charged-off debt as an incidental part of acquiring a portfolio of debt that is predominantly not charged-off debt. — Or. Rev. Stat. §646.639(1)(g); adopted by §646A.640(3)

Instead of a bond, debt buyers post errors and omissions insurance:

(3) In addition to the requirements set forth in subsections (1) and (2) of this section, an applicant or licensee shall file with the director proof that the applicant or licensee maintains an errors and omissions insurance policy from an insurer that the department has authorized to transact insurance in this state with limits that the director determines by rule. — Or. Rev. Stat. §646A.646(3)

(5)(a) A license the director issues or renews under this section: (A) Must display a unique identifying number …; and (B) Expires on December 31 of the calendar year in which the director issues the license. … — Or. Rev. Stat. §646A.646(5)(a)

DFR's own figures:

Include an errors and omissions insurance policy in the amount of $1,000,000 or $500,000 if the company provides an attestation that they have annual receipts of less than $10 million. … Pay the nonrefundable application fee of $450. — DCBS/DFR, "Debt buyer," dfr.oregon.gov/business/licensing/financial/Pages/debt-buyer.aspx

And DFR's official guidance on which gate applies:

The debt buyer license is different than the collection agency registration for persons collecting on third party debt. While some businesses may engage in activity regulated by both HB 2356 and ORS 697 and will need both the license and registration, many businesses will need either a debt buyer license or a collection agency registration. … To determine whether you need a debt buyer license or a collection agency registration, first ask: is the debt collection related to a debt which I now own due to purchase or assignment? If the answer is yes, you likely need a debt buyer license. — DCBS/DFR, "Debt Buyer License or Collection Agency Registration – Which do you need?" (PDF)

Debt buyer enforcement is heavier than the agency side:

(c) Impose a civil penalty of not more than $5,000 for each violation … (d) Order the licensee or the person to disgorge and return all payments the licensee or person obtained from a debtor … (3) Each instance in which the director determines a violation has occurred is a separate violation, and each day in which a person engages in a continuous violation is a separate violation. The director may not impose a penalty that exceeds $20,000 for a continuous violation. — Or. Rev. Stat. §646A.664(1)(c)–(d), (3)

The licensing act also imposes an affirmative SOL-monitoring duty (and names ORS 12.080 as the governing period for purchased consumer debt):

A licensee or a person that engages in debt buying shall comply with standards that the Director … adopts by rule. The standards, at a minimum, must require the licensee or the person to: … (5) Establish and maintain procedures for withdrawing or dismissing any legal action the debt buyer or person brings to collect a debt if ORS 12.080 or another applicable statute of limitations bars the legal action. — Or. Rev. Stat. §646A.655(5) [2017 c.625 §8]

Conduct — ORS 646.639 (Unlawful Collection Practices)

Scope. "Debt collector" is defined without a third-party limitation, and paragraph (2)(g)(A) refers to "a debt collector other than the person that provided the goods, services or credit from which the debt arose" — an internal reference that only makes sense if that person is itself a debt collector:

(e) "Creditor" means a person that, in the ordinary course of the person's business, engages in consumer transactions that result in a consumer owing a debt to the person. (f) "Debt" means an obligation or alleged obligation that arises out of a consumer transaction. (h) "Debt collector" means a person that by direct or indirect action, conduct or practice collects or attempts to collect a debt owed, or alleged to be owed, to a creditor or debt buyer. (k) "Original creditor" means the last entity that extended credit to a consumer to purchase goods or services, to lease goods or as a loan of moneys. — Or. Rev. Stat. §646.639(1)

The frequency/inconvenient-time standard (no numeric cap):

(2) A debt collector engages in an unlawful collection practice if the debt collector, while collecting or attempting to collect a debt, does any of the following: … (e) Communicates with a debtor or any member of the debtor's family repeatedly or continuously or at times known to be inconvenient to the debtor or any member of the debtor's family and with intent to harass or annoy the debtor or any member of the debtor's family. — Or. Rev. Stat. §646.639(2)(e)

The workplace rule — stricter than the FDCPA, with a hard once-per-week cap and an evening-attempt precondition:

(f) Communicates or threatens to communicate with a debtor's employer concerning the nature or existence of the debt. (g) Communicates without a debtor's permission or threatens to communicate with the debtor at the debtor's place of employment if the place of employment is other than the debtor's residence, except that the debt collector may: (A) Write to the debtor at the debtor's place of employment if a home address is not reasonably available and if the envelope does not reveal that the communication is from a debt collector other than the person that provided the goods, services or credit from which the debt arose. (B) Telephone a debtor's place of employment without informing any other person of the nature of the call or identifying the caller as a debt collector but only if the debt collector in good faith has made an unsuccessful attempt to telephone the debtor at the debtor's residence during the day or during the evening between the hours of 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. The debt collector may not contact the debtor at the debtor's place of employment more frequently than once each business week and may not telephone the debtor at the debtor's place of employment if the debtor notifies the debt collector not to telephone at the debtor's place of employment or if the debt collector knows or has reason to know that the debtor's employer prohibits the debtor from receiving such communication. For the purposes of this subparagraph, any language in any agreement, contract or instrument … that purports to authorize telephone calls at the debtor's place of employment does not give permission to the debt collector to call the debtor at the debtor's place of employment. — Or. Rev. Stat. §646.639(2)(g)

Identification duties — written and a 30-second oral rule with no FDCPA analog:

(h) Communicates with a debtor in writing without clearly identifying the name of the debt collector, the name of the person, if any, for whom the debt collector is attempting to collect the debt and the debt collector's business address, on all initial communications. In subsequent communications involving multiple accounts, the debt collector may eliminate the name of the person, if any, for whom the debt collector is attempting to collect the debt and substitute the term "various" in place of the person's name. (i) Communicates with a debtor orally without disclosing to the debtor, within 30 seconds after beginning the communication, the name of the individual who is initiating the communication and the true purpose of the communication. — Or. Rev. Stat. §646.639(2)(h), (i)

Fees and amounts:

(m) Represents that an existing debt may be increased by the addition of attorney fees, investigation fees or any other fees or charges if the fees or charges may not legally be added to the existing debt. (n) Collects or attempts to collect, by any means, including through legal action, interest or other charges or fees that exceed the actual debt unless the agreement, contract or instrument that creates the debt expressly authorizes, or a law expressly allows, the interest or other charges or fees. A debt collector may not be held liable in any action brought under this paragraph if the debt collector shows by a preponderance of evidence that the violation was not intentional and resulted from a bona fide error notwithstanding the maintenance of procedures reasonably adapted to avoid any such error. … — Or. Rev. Stat. §646.639(2)(m), (n)

Medicaid / Oregon Health Plan debt — an outright collection ban:

(q) Collects or attempts to collect any debt that the debt collector knows, or after exercising reasonable diligence would know, arises from medical expenses that qualify for reimbursement under the Oregon Health Plan or under Medicaid, except that: (A) The debt collector does not engage in an unlawful collection practice if the debt collector can produce an affidavit or certificate from the original creditor that shows that the original creditor complied with Oregon Health Authority rules barring payments for services that Medicaid fee-for-service plans or contracted health care plans cover; and (B) … — Or. Rev. Stat. §646.639(2)(q)

Time-barred debt — a suit-filing ban, no disclosure duty:

(r) Files a legal action to collect or files a legal action to attempt to collect a debt if the debt collector knows, or after exercising reasonable diligence would know, that an applicable statute of limitations bars the collection or the collection attempt. — Or. Rev. Stat. §646.639(2)(r)

(4) A debt buyer or debt collector acting on behalf of a debt buyer engages in an unlawful collection practice if the debt buyer or debt collector: (a) Files legal action against a debtor or files legal action to attempt to collect a debt if the debt buyer or debt collector knows or after exercising reasonable diligence would know that an applicable statute of limitations bars the legal action … — Or. Rev. Stat. §646.639(4)(a)

"Legal action" is defined broadly enough to catch arbitration:

(j) "Legal action" means a lawsuit, mediation, arbitration or any other proceeding in any court, including a small claims court. — Or. Rev. Stat. §646.639(1)(j)

Debt-not-owed rule (new in 2024, SB 1595 replaced the former paragraph (s)):

(s) Collects or attempts to collect or threatens to collect a debt by any means, including through legal action, if the debt collector knows, or through the exercise of reasonable care should know, that the debt does not exist or is not owed by the debtor. A debt collector may not be held liable … if the debt collector shows by a preponderance of evidence that the violation was not intentional and resulted from a bona fide error … — Or. Rev. Stat. §646.639(2)(s) (as amended by 2024 c.100 §29 (SB 1595))

Debt-buyer documentation gate — collection is unlawful until documents are produced on request:

(t) Collects or attempts to collect a debt if the debt collector is a debt buyer, or is acting on a debt buyer's behalf, and collects or attempts to collect purchased debt before providing to a debtor, within 30 days after the date of the debtor's request, all of the documents listed in subsection (4)(b) of this section. — Or. Rev. Stat. §646.639(2)(t)

§646.639(4)(b) lists what a debt buyer must possess before bringing a legal action: the original creditor's name as used with the debtor; the debtor's name and address; the name/address/phone of the debt's owner and whether it is a debt buyer; the last four digits of the original account number; an itemized statement of last payment amount/date, last pre-default/pre-charge-off payment, charge-off balance, and every interest/fee/charge imposed by the original creditor and by each subsequent owner; attorney fees sought; evidence that the debt buyer and only the debt buyer owns the debt; the purchase date; and a copy of the signed contract — or, for credit card debt with no such writing, the most recent monthly statement showing a purchase, balance transfer, or the debtor's last payment. §646.639(4)(c) adds a cash-payment receipt duty; (4)(d) bars collection before the documents are furnished on request.

§646.639(5) carves out third-party agencies working for an owner that retains a direct interest:

(5) A debt collector is not acting on a debt buyer's behalf, and is not subject to the duties to which a debt buyer is subject under this section and ORS 646A.670, if the debt collector collects or attempts to collect a debt on behalf of an owner that retains a direct interest in the debt or if the debt is not a debt that a debt buyer purchased. — Or. Rev. Stat. §646.639(5)

Pleading requirements and the judgment bar (ORS 646A.670)

(1) A debt buyer that brings legal action to collect or brings legal action to attempt to collect purchased debt, or a debt collector that brings legal action on the debt buyer's behalf, shall include in an initial pleading that begins the legal action: (a) The original creditor's name …; (b) The name, address and telephone number of the person that owns the debt and a statement as to whether the person is a debt buyer; (c) The last four digits of the original creditor's account number …; (d) A detailed and itemized statement that shows [last payment amount/date; last payment before default or charge-off; charge-off balance; original creditor's interest/fees/charges; subsequent owners' interest/fees/charges; attorney fees sought; any other fee, cost or charge]; and (e) The date on which the debt buyer purchased the debt. (2)(a) A court may not enter a judgment for a debt buyer or debt collector that has not complied with the requirements set forth in this section. (b) If a court grants a judgment for a debt buyer or debt collector that does not comply …, the debtor in a motion under ORCP 71 may petition the court for relief from the judgment or the court may grant relief on the court's own motion. (3) A debt buyer or debt collector may obtain attorney fees … only if: (a) The debt buyer or debt collector prevails …; and (b) The contract or writing described in ORS 646.639 (4)(b) provides that the creditor may obtain attorney fees … or another provision of law allows an award … (4) A debt buyer or a debt collector that acts on the debt buyer's behalf shall provide to a debtor all of the documents described in ORS 646.639 (4)(b) within 30 days after receiving a request for information about the debt from the debtor. — Or. Rev. Stat. §646A.670 [2017 c.625 §1]

Private right of action and AG enforcement

(1) Any person injured as a result of willful use or employment by another person of an unlawful collection practice may bring an action in an appropriate court to enjoin the practice or to recover actual damages or $1,000, whichever is greater. The court or the jury may award punitive damages, and the court may provide such equitable relief as it deems necessary or proper. (2) In any action brought by a person under this section, the court may award reasonable attorney fees and costs at trial and on appeal to a prevailing plaintiff. The court may award reasonable attorney fees and costs … to a prevailing defendant only if the court finds that the plaintiff had no objectively reasonable basis for bringing the action or asserting the ground for appeal. (3) Actions brought under this section shall be commenced within three years from the date of the injury. — Or. Rev. Stat. §646.641 (as amended by 2024 c.100 §30 (SB 1595); previously $200 / one year)

The UTPA overlay (Attorney General + district attorneys):

A person engages in an unlawful trade practice if in the course of the person's business, vocation or occupation the person: (1) Employs any unconscionable tactic in connection with selling, renting or disposing of real estate, goods or services, or collecting or enforcing an obligation. … (6) Employs a collection practice that is unlawful under ORS 646.639. — Or. Rev. Stat. §646.607(1), (6)

UTPA remedies: §646.638(1) private action for actual damages or $200 statutory (one-year limitations period under §646.638(6), running from discovery), with fee-shifting and class actions under ORCP 32; §646.632 AG/DA injunction and assurance of voluntary compliance; §646.642 civil penalties of up to $25,000 per violation for willful UTPA violations and injunction/AVC breaches.

Medical debt — ORS 646A.677

(7) If a patient qualifies for financial assistance under ORS 442.614 (1)(a)(A), a hospital, nonprofit hospital-affiliated clinic or other debt collector may not charge interest on the patient's medical debt. (8)(a) Except as provided in paragraph (b) …, the interest that a hospital, nonprofit hospital-affiliated clinic or other debt collector may charge on a medical debt owed by a patient who does not qualify for financial assistance … may not exceed the weekly average one-year constant maturity Treasury yield … for the week preceding the date when the patient was first billed, except that the interest may not be less than two percent per annum or more than five percent per annum. (b) Upon entry of a judgment against a patient described in paragraph (a) …, [the creditor] may increase the interest charged … up to the amount specified in ORS 82.010. (9) A hospital, nonprofit hospital-affiliated clinic or other debt collector may not attempt to collect a medical debt from a patient's child or other family member who is not financially responsible for the debt under ORS chapter 108. (10) A hospital, nonprofit hospital-affiliated clinic or other debt collector engages in an unlawful debt collection practice under ORS 646.639 if [it] collects or attempts to collect a medical debt in a manner that [it] knows, or after exercising reasonable diligence would know, is in violation of this section. — Or. Rev. Stat. §646A.677(7)–(10)

The 2025 change — a flat ban on reporting Oregon medical debt, with voiding as a remedy:

(11)(a) A person may not report to a consumer reporting agency the amount or existence of any medical debt that a resident of this state owes or is alleged to owe. (b) A violation of paragraph (a) of this subsection is an unlawful practice under ORS 646.608. (c) In an action under paragraph (b) of this subsection, in addition to any other relief a court may grant, the court may declare the medical debt void and uncollectible. (12) A consumer reporting agency may not include in a consumer report an item that the consumer reporting agency knows or reasonably should know is medical debt. A violation of this subsection is an unlawful practice under ORS 646.608. — Or. Rev. Stat. §646A.677(11)–(12) (added by 2025 c.343 §1 (SB 605); effective January 1, 2026)

Cross-referenced into the UTPA list:

(eeee) Violates ORS 646A.677 (11)(a) or (12). — Or. Rev. Stat. §646.608(1)(eeee)

Pre-referral screening duty on the provider side (from HB 3320, 2023 c.263 §4):

(4) Before transferring an unpaid charge for services to a debt collector or referring an unpaid charge for collection, a hospital or nonprofit hospital-affiliated clinic shall: (a) Conduct a screening to determine if the patient qualifies for financial assistance as described in ORS 442.614 (1)(a)(A), if applicable; and (b) Provide a copy of its financial assistance policy to the patient along with an application for financial assistance. — Or. Rev. Stat. §646A.677(4)

"Medical debt" is defined broadly in §646A.677(1)(g) — it reaches amounts owed to a provider or its agent or assignee, and amounts on a medical-specific credit card (open- or closed-end), including amounts not past due or already partly paid.

Collecting a medical debt "without complying with the requirements of ORS 646A.677" is itself an unlawful collection practice: §646.639(2)(u).

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Statute of limitations — ORS ch. 12

The general contract period — one bucket, six years, no written/oral split:

12.080 Action on certain contracts or liabilities. (1) An action upon a contract or liability, express or implied, excepting those mentioned in ORS 12.070, 12.110 and 12.135 and except as otherwise provided in ORS 72.7250; (2) An action upon a liability created by statute, other than a penalty or forfeiture, excepting those mentioned in ORS 12.110; (3) An action for waste or trespass upon or for interference with or injury to any interest of another in real property, excepting those mentioned in ORS 12.050, 12.060, 12.135, 12.137 and 273.241; or (4) An action for taking, detaining or injuring personal property, including an action for the specific recovery thereof, excepting an action mentioned in ORS 12.137; shall be commenced within six years. — Or. Rev. Stat. §12.080 [Amended by 1957 c.374 §3; 1961 c.726 §396; 1973 c.363 §1; 1983 c.437 §2; 1987 c.705 §3; 1991 c.968 §2]

§12.080 has not been amended since 1991 — no 2023–2025 change.

Accrual on accounts (the credit-card rule that matters):

12.090 Accounts; accrual of cause of action. In an action to recover a balance due upon an account, the cause of action shall be deemed to have accrued from the time of the last charge or payment proved in the account. Interest, financing and carrying charges shall not be deemed such a charge. — Or. Rev. Stat. §12.090 [Amended by 1973 c.204 §1]

Sale-of-goods carve-out — four years, and shortenable by agreement:

(1) An action for breach of any contract for sale must be commenced within four years after the cause of action has accrued. By the original agreement the parties may reduce the period of limitation to not less than one year but may not extend it. (2) A cause of action accrues when the breach occurs, regardless of the aggrieved party's lack of knowledge of the breach. … — Or. Rev. Stat. §72.7250 (UCC 2-725), expressly excepted from §12.080(1)

Negotiable instruments — ORS 73.0118 (Oregon's UCC 3-118), six years:

(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 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. (2) Except as provided in subsection (4) or (5) …, if demand for payment is made to the maker of a note payable on demand, an action … must 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. (3) … an action to enforce the obligation of a party to an unaccepted draft to pay the draft must be commenced within six years after dishonor of the draft or 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 six years after the demand for payment … (5) An action to enforce the obligation of a party to a certificate of deposit … within six years after demand … (6) An action to enforce the obligation of a party to pay an accepted draft, other than a certified check, must be commenced: (a) Within six years after the due date or dates stated …; or (b) Within six 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 for any of the following must be commenced within six years after the claim for relief accrues: (a) Conversion of an instrument, for money had and received, or like action based on conversion; (b) Breach of warranty; or (c) Enforcement of an obligation, duty or right arising under this chapter and not governed by this section. (8) The circumstances under which the running of a limitation period may be tolled shall be determined by other law. — Or. Rev. Stat. §73.0118 [1993 c.545 §21]

Judgments and old sealed instruments — ten years:

(1) An action upon a judgment or decree of any court of the United States, or of any state or territory within the United States; or (2) An action upon a sealed instrument entered into before August 13, 1965, shall be commenced within 10 years. — Or. Rev. Stat. §12.070

Revival — two statutes that split acknowledgment from payment:

12.230 Acknowledgment or promise taking contract case out of statute; effect of payment. No acknowledgment or promise shall be sufficient evidence of a new or continuing contract, whereby 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 this section shall not alter the effect of any payment of principal or interest. — Or. Rev. Stat. §12.230

12.240 Effect of payment after obligation becomes due. Whenever any payment of principal or interest is made after it has become due, upon an existing contract, whether it is a bill of exchange, promissory note, bond, or other evidence of indebtedness, the limitation shall commence from the time the last payment was made. — Or. Rev. Stat. §12.240

(4) In a suit upon a new promise, fraud or mistake, the limitation shall only be deemed to commence from the making of the new promise or the discovery of the fraud or mistake. — Or. Rev. Stat. §12.040(4)

Tolling — absence or concealment (uncapped):

12.150 Suspension of running of statute by absence or concealment. If, when a cause of action accrues against any person, the person is out of the state and service cannot be made within the state or the person is concealed therein, such action may be commenced within the applicable period of limitation in this chapter after the return of the person into the state, or after the termination of the concealment of the person; and if, after a cause of action has accrued against a person, the person shall depart from and reside out of this state, or if the person is concealed therein, the time of the absence or concealment of the person shall not be deemed or taken as any part of the time limited for the commencement of such action. — Or. Rev. Stat. §12.150 [Amended by 1973 c.206 §1; 1987 c.158 §4]

Minority/disabling mental condition tolling: §12.160 (capped at five years, or one year past the disability's end, whichever comes first).

Borrowing statute — Oregon applies the other state's period, not the shorter of the two:

12.430 Claims based on law of other states; limitation period. (1) Except as provided by ORS 12.450, if a claim is substantively based: (a) Upon the law of one other state, the limitation period of that state applies; or (b) Upon the law of more than one state, the limitation period of one of those states, chosen by the law of conflict of laws of this state, applies. (2) The limitation period of this state applies to all other claims. — Or. Rev. Stat. §12.430 (Uniform Conflict of Laws–Limitations Act) [1987 c.536 §2]

12.440. If the statute of limitations of another state applies to the assertion of a claim in this state, the other state's relevant statutes and other rules of law governing tolling and accrual apply in computing the limitation period, but its statutes and other rules of law governing conflict of laws do not apply. — Or. Rev. Stat. §12.440 [1987 c.536 §3]

§12.450 is the escape hatch: if the borrowed period is "substantially different" and "has not afforded a fair opportunity to sue upon, or imposes an unfair burden in defending against the claim," Oregon's own period applies.

Filing vs. service:

(1) … an action shall be deemed commenced as to each defendant, when the complaint is filed, and the summons served on the defendant … (2) If the first publication of summons or other service of summons in an action occurs before the expiration of 60 days after the date on which the complaint in the action was filed, the action against each person of whom the court by such service has acquired jurisdiction shall be deemed to have been commenced upon the date on which the complaint in the action was filed. — Or. Rev. Stat. §12.020

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Plain English

Interpretation — the quotes above win on any conflict.

• Oregon has no written/oral SOL split. Everything contractual runs six years under §12.080(1) — written contracts, oral contracts, implied contracts, open accounts, credit cards. The only buckets that differ are negotiable notes and drafts (also six, but under §73.0118 with its own accrual rules), sale-of-goods contracts (four, §72.7250), judgments and pre-1965 sealed instruments (ten, §12.070).
• Credit cards are §12.080(1) claims accruing under §12.090. ORS 646A.655(5) — the debt buyer standards statute — names ORS 12.080 as the limitations statute a debt buyer must monitor for purchased (i.e., charged-off consumer) debt. Combined with §12.090's "balance due upon an account" language, the six-year answer for cards is well anchored in statute, which is unusual among states.
• The §12.090 accrual clock is a last-activity clock, not a default clock: it runs from the last charge or payment proved in the account — and interest, financing and carrying charges do not count as a charge. A dormant account that a servicer keeps posting interest to is still accruing from the last real charge or payment.
• Revival is split. A written, signed acknowledgment or promise restarts the clock (§12.230, with §12.040(4) starting the new period at the new promise). A payment of principal or interest made after the obligation became due restarts the clock all by itself, with no writing required (§12.240; §12.230 expressly preserves it). This makes Oregon a "payment revives" state on the face of the statutes.
• Two separate entry gates, and you may need both. Collecting third-party paper → collection agency registration (ORS 697.015). Buying charged-off debt → debt buyer license (ORS 646A.643). A business that does both needs both, per DFR's own guidance. An original creditor collecting its own paper in its own name needs neither — but the moment it uses an alias, §697.005(1)(a)(C) makes it a collection agency.
• The out-of-state exemption is almost never available. ORS 697.005(7) defines an "out-of-state collection agency" as one whose Oregon activity is limited to collecting a debt the Oregon debtor incurred outside Oregon, on behalf of out-of-state clients. An agency in another state calling Oregon consumers about debts they incurred in Oregon is an ordinary collection agency: full registration, full bond, and (because it has no Oregon office or trust account) DFR's $15,000 bond tier under OAR 441-810-0160(2)(c).
• Conduct law reaches original creditors. §646.639 regulates any "debt collector," defined as anyone collecting a debt owed to a creditor or debt buyer, with no carve-out for the creditor itself; §646.639(2)(g)(A) refers to "a debt collector other than the person that provided the goods, services or credit," which presupposes that person is covered. (Interpretation — the statute has no express first-party statement. Treat as covered.)
• No numeric call-frequency cap and no general call-time window. §646.639(2)(e) is an intent-to-harass standard, so Reg F's 7-in-7 presumption is the operative Oregon frequency limit, and the FDCPA/Reg F 8am–9pm rule supplies the window. The one Oregon-specific window (OAR 441-810-0220) applies only to agencies collecting child support under an ORS 25.020 agreement.
• Oregon's workplace rule is stricter than federal. Once per business week maximum, and a workplace call is permitted only after a good-faith failed attempt at the residence during the day or between 6pm and 9pm. Contract language purporting to consent to workplace calls is void for this purpose.
• No time-barred-debt disclosure requirement. Oregon bans filing suit or arbitration on a known-or-reasonably-discoverable time-barred debt (§646.639(2)(r), (4)(a)) but imposes no mandatory notice in the first written communication, unlike TX/CA/NY. Continued non-litigation collection is not itself banned by (2)(r).
• Debt buyers cannot collect at all until they produce documents on request. A debtor request triggers a 30-day production clock, and collection during that window is unlawful (§646.639(2)(t), (4)(d); §646A.670(4)). Suits require the §646A.670(1) pleading contents or the court may not enter judgment, and a non-compliant judgment is vulnerable to ORCP 71 relief on the court's own motion.
• Medical debt is the most restrictive area. Since January 1, 2026 no one may report any Oregon resident's medical debt to a CRA, and a court may declare the reported debt void and uncollectible (§646A.677(11)). Interest is capped at 2–5% (0% for financial-assistance-eligible patients), family members who aren't legally responsible may not be pursued, and OHP/Medicaid- reimbursable debt may not be collected at all (§646.639(2)(q)).

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Traps / edge cases

• The unregistered-agency court bar (§697.045(4)) is a pleading element. An unregistered agency cannot bring or maintain a collection action for a client in any Oregon court, and must plead and prove registration. Layer on §697.091: fees or compensation earned while unregistered must be returned to the assignor. Being out of registration for even part of a period contaminates the compensation earned in it.
• The out-of-state $15,000 bond is a rule, not a statute. ORS 697.031(2)(a) says $10,000. The extra $5,000 comes from OAR 441-810-0160(2)(c) as the price of waiving the in-state office and client trust account required by ORS 697.058. An agency that qualifies for the no-cost waiver route (2 years Oregon-registered, or 5 years regulated in a substantially-similar state — OAR 441-810-0160(1)) posts only the $10,000. Model the bond as a function of waiver route, not of headquarters location.
• §12.240 restarts the clock; whether it revives an already-expired claim is not answered by the statute. §12.240 speaks of payment "upon an existing contract" and does not say what happens after the six years have run. UNVERIFIED — attorney review; do not auto-re-age post-expiry Oregon accounts. The safe posture is the one the conduct statute already forces: §646.639(2)(r) makes filing suit unlawful whenever the collector "after exercising reasonable diligence would know" the SOL bars it, so betting on revival to justify a suit is exactly the bet that creates liability.
• §12.090 and §12.240 are different clocks and can disagree. §12.090 fixes accrual on an account at the last charge or payment (ignoring interest and carrying charges). §12.240 restarts the limitation from a post-due payment on any "evidence of indebtedness." On a revolving account both generally point at the last payment — but a post-charge-off payment on a closed account is a §12.240 event even though there is no longer an "account" being charged.
• Sale-of-goods paper may be four years, not six (§72.7250), and the contract may lawfully shorten it to as little as one year. Retail installment contracts and direct goods-sale accounts need a contract read before the six-year default is applied. (Whether a general-purpose credit card used to buy goods is an Article 2 "contract for sale" is an interpretation question Oregon's statutes do not answer — the mainstream view treats card debt as a separate credit contract under §12.080(1), which is what §646A.655(5) presupposes. Flagged, not resolved.)
• The borrowing statute imports the other state's period wholesale — including a longer one. §12.430 is not a "shorter of the two" rule; §12.440 imports that state's tolling and accrual rules too. A claim substantively governed by, say, Kentucky or Louisiana law can run well past six years in an Oregon court, subject only to §12.450's fairness escape. This is the opposite of the borrowing statutes in most states and must not be modeled as a cap.
• §12.150 tolling is uncapped for absence from the state or concealment. Unlike the minority/ disability tolling in §12.160 (five-year cap), nothing limits how long an absent debtor's clock stays frozen. Treat as attorney-review territory rather than an automatic calculator adjustment.
• Filing does not stop the clock unless service follows within 60 days (§12.020(2)). A complaint filed on day 2,190 with service on day 2,255 relates back; service on day 2,251+ does not.
• The 30-second oral disclosure rule (§646.639(2)(i)) has no federal analog. Federal mini-Miranda has no timer. An Oregon script must name the individual caller and the true purpose within 30 seconds of the call starting.
• Private-action exposure roughly quintupled in 2024. SB 1595 (2024 c.100, effective April 4, 2024, applying to collection attempts on or after that date) raised §646.641 statutory damages from $200 to $1,000, extended the limitations period from one year to three years, and removed the defendant's symmetric fee entitlement. The same act repealed ORS 646.643 and rewrote §646.639(2)(s) into a debt-not-owed rule with a bona fide error defense.
• "Willful" is still the §646.641 gate. The private action requires willful use of an unlawful practice — but the UTPA route (§646.607(6) → §646.638) is available in parallel, with its own $200 floor, its own one-year-from-discovery period, and class-action availability under ORCP 32.
• Medical debt furnishing is now a strict prohibition with a debt-killing remedy. §646A.677(11)(a) bans reporting any Oregon resident's medical debt — not just charged-off, not just hospital, not just past-due (the §646A.677(1)(g) definition expressly includes amounts "not past due or that [were] paid in part or in full," and medical-specific credit cards). Reporting is a UTPA violation (§646.608(1)(eeee)) and the court may declare the debt void. Any Oregon medical furnishing pipeline must be off by 2026-01-01.
• Medicaid/OHP debt is uncollectible unless you hold the creditor's affidavit. §646.639(2)(q) places the burden on the collector: absent an affidavit or certificate from the original creditor showing OHA-rule compliance, collecting an OHP/Medicaid-reimbursable medical debt is itself the violation, judged on a "reasonable diligence would know" standard.
• DCBS and the DOJ can both act. §646A.664 gives the DCBS Director cease-and-desist, license revocation, $5,000-per-violation penalties (per-day continuing violations, $20,000 cap), and disgorgement; §646A.664(4) contemplates joint DOJ/DCBS actions with one of the two imposing the penalty. The AG separately has the UTPA arsenal (§§646.632, 646.642 — up to $25,000/violation).

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Related

• ../federal/reg-f/call-frequency.md — the operative Oregon frequency limit
• ../federal/reg-f/time-barred-debt.md — §1006.26 suit ban; Oregon layers §646.639(2)(r) on top
• ../federal/fdcpa/communications.md — the 8am–9pm window Oregon does not displace
• ../federal/fcra-furnishing.md — Oregon's medical-debt furnishing ban overrides the federal baseline
• ./wa.md · ./ca.md · ./nv.md · ./mn.md · ./_matrix.md