South Dakota — no collection-agency act; money-lender licensing reaches debt buyers; 6-year SOL

Authority

South Dakota has no mini-FDCPA and no collection agency licensing statute. The closest thing to a state debt-collection statute is SDCL 54-4-77, a prohibited-practices section sitting inside ch. 54-4 (Money Lending Licenses) — the Division of Banking's lender-licensing chapter, not a collections act. The entry gate that actually bites collections businesses is the Money Lender license (SDCL 54-4-52), because SDCL 54-4-36(2) defines "business of lending money" to include acquiring or purchasing loans and retail installment contracts — which reaches debt buyers. Statute of limitations on debt: SDCL 15-2-13(1) (6 years). General consumer enforcement is the Attorney General under SDCL ch. 37-24 (Deceptive Trade Practices).

Verification note: sdlegislature.gov is a JS app; official statute text was pulled from the South Dakota Legislative Research Council's own JSON API at https://sdlegislature.gov/api/Statutes/Statute/<cite> (same official publisher that serves the /Statutes/<cite> pages listed in source_urls), fetched 2026-08-11. Negative findings below ("no collection agency chapter", "no borrowing statute") were established by enumerating full chapter/title tables of contents from that API — Titles 36, 37, and 54, and every section of ch. 15-2 — not by keyword search alone.

UNVERIFIED / open items (excluded from every operative claim above):

1. Does "servicing … of any loan" in SDCL 54-4-36(2) capture a contingency-fee collection agency that never buys the paper? The statute does not define "servicing," and no Division of Banking interpretive guidance, administrative rule (ARSD art. 20:07), or South Dakota case law was located resolving it. Consequential — see Traps.
2. Whether SDCL 54-4-77 creates a private right of action. The section states prohibitions but no remedy. 54-4-42's bond runs "in favor of this state … and any person who has a cause of action under this chapter," which implies some private claim exists, but the source of that cause of action was not traced to text.
3. Whether debt collection is actionable under SDCL ch. 37-24. 37-24-6(1) is tied to "the sale or advertisement of any merchandise"; no official source was found applying it to collection conduct.
4. Current force of SDCL 15-2-20's absence tolling. Statutory text verified; constitutional narrowing by case law was not researched.
5. Borrowing statute — ruled out across all of ch. 15-2 by full enumeration; not exhaustively excluded elsewhere in the SDCL.

No fact in the Operative text section depends on any of these.

Operative text

There is no collection-agency licensing chapter

Enumerated from the official title tables of contents on 2026-08-11:

• Title 36 (Professions and Occupations) — 60+ licensed professions (abstracters through behavior analysts). No collection agency chapter.
• Title 54 (Debtor and Creditor) — chapters: 01 Definitions, 02 Payment of Debts, 03 Interest and Usury, 03A Consumer Installment Sales Contracts, 04 Money Lending Licenses, 06A Lease-Purchase, 08/08A Fraudulent Transfers, 09 Assignment for Benefit of Creditors, 10 Secured Creditors' Claims, 11 Credit Cards and Revolving Charge Accounts, 12 Reverse Mortgage, 13 State Farm Mediation Board, 14 Mortgage Lender Business, 15/16 Security Freeze. No collection agency chapter.
• Title 37 (Trade Regulation) — includes 23 Consumer Affairs, 24 Deceptive Trade Practices, 30 Telephone Solicitation, 30A Telemarketing, 34 Debt Adjusting. No collection agency chapter.

The Division of Banking's own licensing menu lists only Banks, Money Lenders, Money Transmitters, Mortgage Licenses, and Trust Companies — no collector license.

Entry gate — Money Lender license (SDCL 54-4-52), and why it catches debt buyers

54-4-52. License required. No person may engage in the business of lending money without a license. A violation of this section is a Class 1 misdemeanor. — SDCL 54-4-52

(2) "Business of lending money," includes the originating, selling, servicing, acquiring, or purchasing of any loan involving a borrower who is a person other than a family member, or the servicing, acquiring, or purchasing of a retail installment contract a party to which is a person other than a family member. … … (13) "Loan," any installment loan, single pay loan, or open-end loan which may be unsecured or secured by real or personal property. … — SDCL 54-4-36

The regulator states the same reading on its official licensing page:

The State of South Dakota considers anyone engaged in the business of lending money, including creating and holding or purchasing or acquiring retail installment contracts, to be a Money Lender and subject to the licensing requirements of South Dakota Codified Laws (SDCL) Chapter 54-4. — SD Division of Banking, "Money Lenders" (dlr.sd.gov/banking/money_lenders/default.aspx), retrieved 2026-08-11

Regulator: Director of the Division of Banking, Department of Labor and Regulation (SDCL 54-4-36(4), (5)); commission = State Banking Commission (54-4-36(3)). Applications run through NMLS (54-4-40).

Bond:

The applicant shall submit with the application for a license a bond in an amount not to exceed the total of ten thousand dollars for the first license and two thousand five hundred dollars for each additional license. … The bond shall be in favor of this state for the use of this state and any person who has a cause of action under this chapter against the licensee. — SDCL 54-4-42

Fees / term: original license fee "not to exceed one thousand dollars" (54-4-40); license expires December 31, renewal filed by December 1, renewal fee not to exceed $1,000, 25% late fee if filed after December 1 (54-4-45).

De minimis exemption:

Any person who, on, before, or after July 1, 2017, originates, sells, services, or acquires five or fewer loans in a twelve-month period is exempt from this chapter, except for the provisions of chapter 10-43 as referenced in § 54-4-54, as long as the total amount of the loans outstanding does not exceed four million dollars. … — SDCL 54-4-37.1

Entity exemptions (54-4-37): state banks, national banks, bank holding companies and their subsidiaries, other federally insured financial institutions, and SD chartered trust companies. But:

The exemptions under this chapter do not apply to any debt-collection tactic prohibited in § 54-4-77. — SDCL 54-4-77.1

Penalty for operating without a license: Class 1 misdemeanor (54-4-52), plus:

Any loan made in South Dakota after June 30, 2015, to a resident of South Dakota, by an entity organized to engage in the business of lending money not licensed or exempt from licensure pursuant to this chapter is unenforceable and uncollectible except as to any principal extended by the entity to the borrower. — SDCL 54-4-76

Director may also issue cease-and-desist orders (54-4-48), seek injunction (54-4-50), and seek a court-appointed receiver (54-4-51).

Prohibited practices — SDCL 54-4-77

54-4-77. Debt collection--Prohibitions. No person employed by a licensee to collect or attempt to collect any debt owed or due or asserted to be owed or due may: (1) Harass, oppress, or abuse a borrower by: (a) Using any threat of violence or harm; (b) Publishing a list of names of borrowers who refuse to pay their debts absent providing such information to credit reporting companies; (c) Using obscene or profane language; or (d) Repeatedly using the phone with the intent to annoy borrowers; (2) Use any false statement when attempting to collect a debt by falsely: (a) Claiming to be an attorney or government representative; (b) Claiming that the borrower has committed a crime; (c) Representing that the licensee operates or any person employed by the licensee works for a credit reporting company; (d) Representing the amount the borrower owes; (e) Representing the nature and character of any forms sent to the borrower in order to collect a debt; (f) Indicating that the borrower will be arrested if the debt isn't paid; (g) Using a company name; (h) Indicating that the licensee will seize, garnish, attach, or sell a borrower's property or wages unless the licensee is permitted by law to take the action and the licensee intends to do so; (i) Indicating that legal action will be taken against the borrower, if doing so would be illegal or if the licensee does not intend to take the action; (3) Give false credit information about the borrower to anyone, including a credit reporting company; (4) Attempt to collect any interest, fee, or other charge on top of the amount a borrower owes unless the contract that created the debt or state law allows the charge; (5) Deposit a post-dated check early; (6) Take or threaten to take the borrower's property unless it can be done legally; or (7) Cause misleading information to be transmitted to users of caller identification technologies or otherwise block or misrepresent the identity of the caller or entity as described in subdivision 37-24-6 (16). — SDCL 54-4-77

The caller-ID cross-reference, 37-24-6(16), makes it a deceptive act or practice to:

(16) Cause misleading information to be transmitted to users of caller identification technologies or otherwise block or misrepresent the origin of a telephone solicitation. … It is not a violation of this subdivision: (a) For a telephone solicitor to utilize the name and number of the entity the solicitation is being made on behalf of rather than the name and number of the telephone solicitor; (b) If an authorized activity of a law enforcement agency; or (c) If a court order specifically authorizes the use of caller identification manipulation; — SDCL 37-24-6(16)

Debt adjusting is a crime absent an exception — SDCL ch. 37-34

37-34-2. Debt adjusting--Misdemeanor. Except as provided in § 37-34-3, no person may engage in the business of debt adjusting. A violation of this section is a Class 2 misdemeanor. — SDCL 37-34-2

"Debt adjusting" is defined as contracting with a debtor to receive periodic payments and distribute them among creditors, including "debt adjustment, budget counseling, debt management, or debt-pooling service" (37-34-1). Exceptions (37-34-3) include lawful practice of law, banks and fiduciaries, nonprofit/charitable corporations, "bona fide trade or mercantile associations in the course of arranging adjustments of debts with business establishments," and:

(10) Any person who files and maintains with the attorney general a bond to be approved by the attorney general in the penal sum of fifty thousand dollars conditioned for the faithful performance and payment of obligations of such debt adjuster … — SDCL 37-34-3(10)

Call frequency and call times — no state rule for debt collection

South Dakota has no numeric call-frequency cap and no call-time window applicable to debt collection. The state's 9 a.m.–9 p.m. / no-Sunday rule lives in the telemarketing chapter:

A telemarketer may not: … (2) Place unsolicited consumer telephone communications to any residence which will be received before 9 a.m. or after 9 p.m. at the consumer's local time or place any unsolicited consumer telephone communications on Sunday; — SDCL 37-30A-3(2)

and that chapter's own definition carves debt calls out of the term it regulates:

(5) "Unsolicited consumer telephone communication," a consumer telephone call or text other than a communication made: … (b) Primarily in connection with an existing debt or contract, payment or performance of which has not been completed at the time of such communication; — SDCL 37-30A-1(5)(b)

Statute of limitations — SDCL 15-2-13 (6 years)

15-2-13. Contract obligation or liability--Statutory liability--Trespass--Personal property--Injury to noncontract rights--Fraud--Setting aside corporate instrument. Except where, in special cases, a different limitation is prescribed by statute, the following civil actions other than for the recovery of real property can be commenced only within six years after the cause of action shall have accrued: (1) An action upon a contract, obligation, or liability, express or implied, excepting those mentioned in §§ 15-2-6 to 15-2-8, inclusive, and subdivisions 15-2-15(3) and (4); (2) An action upon a liability created by statute other than a penalty or forfeiture; excepting those mentioned in subdivisions 15-2-15(3) and (4); (3) An action for trespass upon real property; (4) An action for taking, detaining, or injuring any goods or chattels, including actions for specific recovery of personal property; (5) An action for criminal conversation or for any other injury to the rights of another not arising on contract and not otherwise specifically enumerated in §§ 15-2-6 to 15-2-17, inclusive; (6) An action for relief on the ground of fraud, in cases which heretofore were solely cognizable by the court of chancery; (7) An action to set aside any instrument executed in the name of a corporation on the ground that the corporate charter had expired at the time of the execution of such instrument. — SDCL 15-2-13

Subdivision (1) is the correct pin cite for contract debt — written and oral alike, because it reads "express or implied" with no written/oral split.

Longer periods (the 15-2-6 to 15-2-8 carve-outs referenced in 15-2-13(1)):

… the following civil actions other than for the recovery of real property can be commenced only within twenty years after the cause of action shall have accrued: (1) An action upon a judgment or decree of any court of this state; (2) An action upon a sealed instrument, except a real estate mortgage. — SDCL 15-2-6

… the following civil actions other than for the recovery of real property can be commenced only within ten years after the cause of action shall have accrued: (1) An action upon a judgment or decree of any court of the United States, or any state or territory other than this state within the United States; … — SDCL 15-2-8

Negotiable instruments / promissory notes — UCC §3-118 analog:

(a) Except as provided in subsection (e), 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. (b) Except as provided in subsection (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 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 ten years. … (g) 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 article and not governed by this section must be commenced within three years after the (cause of action) accrues. — SDCL 57A-3-118

Accrual — general rule and the open-account rule:

15-2-1. Civil actions can only be commenced within the periods prescribed in this title after the cause of action shall have accrued except where in special cases a different limitation is prescribed by statute. The objection that the action was not commenced within the time limited can only be taken by answer or other responsive pleading. — SDCL 15-2-1

15-2-4. Accrual of cause of action on open account. 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 shall be deemed to have accrued from the time of the last item proved in the account on either side. — SDCL 15-2-4

15-2-3. In an action for relief on the ground of fraud the cause of action shall not be deemed to have accrued until the aggrieved party discovers, or has actual or constructive notice of, the facts constituting the fraud. — SDCL 15-2-3

Revival — writing required for acknowledgment/promise, but payment is expressly preserved:

15-2-29. Writing required for acknowledgment or promise to take case out of operation of chapter. No acknowledgment or promise is sufficient evidence of a new or continuing contract, whereby to take the case out of the operation of this chapter, unless the same be 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. — SDCL 15-2-29

Tolling:

15-2-20. If when the cause of action shall accrue against any person he shall be out of the state, such action may be commenced within the terms herein respectively limited after the return of such person into this state; and if after such cause of action shall have accrued, such person shall depart from and reside out of the state, the time of his absence shall not be deemed or taken as any part of the time limited for the commencement of such action; provided that the provisions of this section shall not apply to an action for the foreclosure of any real estate mortgage … — SDCL 15-2-20

15-2-22. If a person entitled to bring an action … was at the time the cause of action accrued, either: (1) Within the age of minority as defined in chapter 26-1; or (2) Mentally ill; the time of the person's disability is not a part of the time limited for the commencement of the action. The period within which the action shall be brought cannot be extended more than five years by any disability except infancy, nor can it be extended in any case longer than one year after the disability ceases. … — SDCL 15-2-22

15-2-25. When the commencement of an action is stayed by injunction or statutory prohibition, the time of the continuance of the injunction or prohibition is not part of the time limited for the commencement of the action. — SDCL 15-2-25

Commencement — service, not filing:

15-2-30. Commencement of action by service of summons--Summons on codefendant. An action is commenced as to each defendant when the summons is served on him, or on a codefendant who is a joint contractor or otherwise united in interest with him. — SDCL 15-2-30

15-2-31. An attempt to commence an action is deemed equivalent to the commencement thereof when the summons is delivered, with the intent that it shall be actually served, to the sheriff or other officer of the county in which the defendants or one of them, usually or last resided … Such an attempt must be followed by the first publication of the summons, or the service thereof, within sixty days. — SDCL 15-2-31

Enforcement — AG and private actions

37-24-23. If the attorney general has reason to believe that any person is using, has used, or is about to use any act or practice declared to be unlawful by § 37-24-6 and that proceedings would be in the public interest, the attorney general may bring an action in the name of the state against the person to restrain by temporary or permanent injunction the use of the act or practice … The attorney general, if the prevailing plaintiff, may also recover reasonable attorney's fees and costs. — SDCL 37-24-23

37-24-27. In any action brought under § 37-24-23, if the court finds that a person is intentionally using or has intentionally used an act or practice declared to be unlawful by § 37-24-6, the attorney general, upon petition to the court, may recover, on behalf of the state, a civil penalty of not more than two thousand dollars per violation. … — SDCL 37-24-27

37-24-31. Action for damages brought by person adversely affected. Any person who claims to have been adversely affected by any act or a practice declared to be unlawful by § 37-24-6 shall be permitted to bring a civil action for the recovery of actual damages suffered as a result of such act or practice. — SDCL 37-24-31

37-24-33. Limitation of actions. No action under this chapter may be brought more than four years after the occurrence or discovery of the conduct which is the subject of the action. — SDCL 37-24-33

37-24-7. The acts or practices listed in § 37-24-6 are in addition to and do not limit the types of practices actionable at common law or under other statutes of this state; provided, however, that actions brought pursuant to this chapter shall relate exclusively to practices declared to be unlawful by § 37-24-6. — SDCL 37-24-7

Criminal grading under 37-24-6: each act under $1,000 is a Class 1 misdemeanor; over $1,000 and under $100,000 a Class 6 felony; over $100,000 a Class 5 felony.

Plain English

Interpretation — the quotes above win on any conflict.

• South Dakota has no collection agency license and no mini-FDCPA. For a straight contingency-fee agency collecting someone else's paper, there is no state registration, no bond, and no state prohibited-practices code that clearly applies. Federal law (FDCPA + Reg F) does essentially all the work.
• Debt buyers are the exception, and this is the finding that matters. Buying South Dakota consumer loan paper — including credit-card receivables, which are "open-end loans" under 54-4-36(13) — is "the business of lending money" under 54-4-36(2) because that definition expressly covers acquiring or purchasing loans. That means a Money Lender license from the Division of Banking, filed through NMLS, with a $10,000 surety bond, and unlicensed operation is a Class 1 misdemeanor. Most states put debt buyers under a collections statute; South Dakota puts them under the lender statute, which is easy to miss.
• The de minimis escape hatch is narrow: five or fewer loans in a rolling twelve months and under $4M outstanding, and even then you must file an annual report with the Division (54-4-37.1). A portfolio purchase is many loans, not one — so a single tranche buy blows past this immediately.
• SOL is 6 years across the board for ordinary consumer debt: written contracts, oral contracts, open accounts, and promissory notes all land at six years (15-2-13(1) for contracts; 57A-3-118(a) for notes). There is no written/oral split in South Dakota.
• Partial payment can restart the clock in South Dakota. 15-2-29 requires a signed writing for an acknowledgment or promise — but it closes with an express carve-out preserving "the effect of any payment of principal or interest." This is the mirror image of Texas, where §392.307(d) bars revival by payment for debt buyers. Treat SD as a payment-revives state.
• The clock stops on service, not filing (15-2-30). Filing a complaint on day 2,189 does not save a claim if the summons is served on day 2,192. The only relief is 15-2-31's delivery-to-the-sheriff rule, which requires service or first publication within 60 days.
• No time-barred-debt disclosure requirement and no state validation-notice deltas — the Reg F disclosures are the whole requirement in South Dakota.
• No call-frequency cap and no state call-time window for collections. Reg F's 7-in-7 presumption and 8am–9pm rule are the operative limits. Do not import the 9am–9pm / no-Sunday telemarketing rule — 37-30A-1(5)(b) expressly excludes calls about an existing debt.

Traps / edge cases

• 54-4-77's scope is textually narrow. It reads "No person employed by a licensee…" — on its face it binds employees of Money Lender licensees, not every collector in the state. 54-4-77.1 patches one hole (chapter exemptions like banks can't dodge it) but does not extend the section to persons who were never within the chapter at all. A third-party agency that holds no license and buys no paper is likely outside 54-4-77 entirely, leaving federal law as the only constraint. Interpretation — no case law verified.
• "Servicing" is the unresolved edge. 54-4-36(2) includes "servicing … of any loan." Whether contingency-fee collection on another's account constitutes "servicing" — and therefore requires a Money Lender license even without buying the debt — is not answered by the statute text and was not verified against Division of Banking guidance or case law. This is the single most consequential open question for an agency entering South Dakota. Get counsel or a Division no-action position before assuming a contingency collector is unlicensed-safe. See UNVERIFIED note below.
• 15-2-4 is an accrual rule, not a separate limitations period, and it is narrower than it looks. It applies only to a "mutual, open, and current account where there have been reciprocal demands between the parties" — the classic mutual-account doctrine, where both sides run charges against each other. A one-directional consumer credit-card account has no reciprocal demands, so 15-2-4's "last item on either side" accrual should not be assumed to apply to card debt. Classifying credit cards under 15-2-13(1) with ordinary breach accrual is interpretation, not statutory text.
• The 20-year sealed-instrument period (15-2-6(2)) is live in South Dakota and is expressly carved out of 15-2-13(1). Sealed paper is rare in consumer collections but is a 20-year exposure if present.
• 15-2-20's absence tolling is broad on its face — it has two independent limbs (out of state when the claim accrues; departing and residing out of state afterward) and, unlike the mortgage-specific sections, contains no cap. It is unamended since 1949. Constitutional limits (Bendix Autolite dormant-commerce-clause problems that have narrowed similar statutes elsewhere) were not researched here; treat any tolling adjustment as attorney-review territory rather than automatic calculator behavior.
• Foreign judgments get 10 years (15-2-8(1)), South Dakota judgments 20 (15-2-6(1)). Do not use one number for both.
• Demand notes have a hard 10-year backstop (57A-3-118(b)) that runs independently of whether demand was ever made.
• Unlicensed lending poisons the debt, not just the lender — 54-4-76 makes loans by unlicensed lenders "unenforceable and uncollectible except as to any principal." A buyer acquiring paper originated by an unlicensed lender after June 30, 2015 inherits an account stripped of all interest and fees.
• SDCL 37-24 may not reach collection conduct. 37-24-6(1)'s hook is deception "in connection with the sale or advertisement of any merchandise," and 37-24-7 confines chapter actions "exclusively to practices declared to be unlawful by § 37-24-6." Whether collecting a debt is such a practice is interpretation — do not promise consumers or clients a South Dakota UDAP claim for collection conduct without counsel.
• The private remedy, where it exists, is thin: 37-24-31 gives actual damages only — no statutory damages, no fee-shifting to the consumer (37-24-23's fee award runs to the AG).
• South Dakota has no borrowing statute. Every section of ch. 15-2 was enumerated and none adopts another state's limitations period for claims arising elsewhere. So an out-of-state claim brought in South Dakota gets South Dakota's 6 years, with no shortening for a shorter foreign period. Verified negative as to ch. 15-2; a borrowing provision elsewhere in the SDCL was not exhaustively excluded.

Related

• ../federal/fdcpa/overview.md
• ../federal/reg-f/call-frequency.md
• ../federal/reg-f/time-barred-debt.md
• ./tx.md — contrast: TX bars revival by payment for debt buyers; SD preserves it
• ./_matrix.md