Texas — Debt Collection Act (Fin. Code ch. 392) + SOL

Authority

Texas Finance Code chapter 392 (the Texas Debt Collection Act, "TDCA") — prohibited practices, the third-party surety bond, and the file-dispute/correction procedure. Enforced by the Texas Attorney General (§392.403(d)), by private civil action (§392.403), and as a per-se DTPA violation (§392.404). Criminal misdemeanor penalty in §392.402. Statute of limitations for suit on a debt: Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code §16.004 (4 years).

Verification note: statutes.capitol.texas.gov is now a JS app; the official statute text is served from its file server at https://tcss.legis.texas.gov/resources/FI/htm/FI.392.htm and .../CP/htm/CP.16.htm (same official publisher, Texas Legislative Council). Text below was pulled from those files on 2026-07-03.

Operative text

Scope — §392.001 definitions (TDCA covers original creditors)

(1) "Consumer" means an individual who has a consumer debt. (2) "Consumer debt" means an obligation, or an alleged obligation, primarily for personal, family, or household purposes and arising from a transaction or alleged transaction. (3) "Creditor" means a party, other than a consumer, to a transaction or alleged transaction involving one or more consumers. … (5) "Debt collection" means an action, conduct, or practice in collecting, or in soliciting for collection, consumer debts that are due or alleged to be due a creditor. (6) "Debt collector" means a person who directly or indirectly engages in debt collection and includes a person who sells or offers to sell forms represented to be a collection system, device, or scheme intended to be used to collect consumer debts. (7) "Third-party debt collector" means a debt collector, as defined by 15 U.S.C. Section 1692a(6), but does not include an attorney collecting a debt as an attorney on behalf of and in the name of a client unless the attorney has nonattorney employees who: (A) are regularly engaged to solicit debts for collection; or (B) regularly make contact with debtors for the purpose of collection or adjustment of debts. — Tex. Fin. Code §392.001

Surety bond — §392.101 (third-party collectors only)

Sec. 392.101. BOND REQUIREMENT. (a) A third-party debt collector or credit bureau may not engage in debt collection unless the third-party debt collector or credit bureau has obtained a surety bond issued by a surety company authorized to do business in this state as prescribed by this section. A copy of the bond must be filed with the secretary of state. (b) The bond must be in favor of: (1) any person who is damaged by a violation of this chapter; and (2) this state for the benefit of any person who is damaged by a violation of this chapter. (c) The bond must be in the amount of $10,000. — Tex. Fin. Code §392.101

Dispute / correction procedure — §392.202 (30-day mechanics)

(a) An individual who disputes the accuracy of an item that is in a third-party debt collector's or credit bureau's file on the individual and that relates to a debt being collected by the third-party debt collector may notify in writing the third-party debt collector of the inaccuracy. The third-party debt collector shall make a written record of the dispute. If the third-party debt collector does not report information related to the dispute to a credit bureau, the third-party debt collector shall cease collection efforts until an investigation of the dispute described by Subsections (b)-(e) determines the accurate amount of the debt, if any. … (b) Not later than the 30th day after the date a notice of inaccuracy is received, a third-party debt collector who initiates an investigation shall send a written statement to the individual: (1) denying the inaccuracy; (2) admitting the inaccuracy; or (3) stating that the third-party debt collector has not had sufficient time to complete an investigation of the inaccuracy. (c) If the third-party debt collector admits that the item is inaccurate under Subsection (b), the third-party debt collector shall: (1) not later than the fifth business day after the date of the admission, correct the item in the relevant file; and (2) immediately cease collection efforts related to the portion of the debt that was found to be inaccurate … (d) If the third-party debt collector states that there has not been sufficient time to complete an investigation, the third-party debt collector shall immediately: (1) change the item in the relevant file as requested by the individual; (2) send to each person who previously received the report containing the information a notice that is equivalent to a notice under Subsection (c) and a copy of the changed report; and (3) cease collection efforts. (e) On completion by the third-party debt collector of the investigation, the third-party debt collector shall inform the individual of the determination of whether the item is accurate or inaccurate. If the third-party debt collector determines that the information was accurate, the third-party debt collector may again report that information and resume collection efforts. — Tex. Fin. Code §392.202

Prohibited practices — §§392.301–392.306

The five prohibited-practice sections (all applying to "a debt collector," which includes original creditors per §392.001(6)):

• §392.301 Threats or coercion — no violence, false accusations of crime, arrest threats without proper court proceedings, seizure threats without proper court proceedings, or "threatening to take an action prohibited by law"; (b) preserves the right to threaten a civil suit or lawful repossession.
• §392.302 Harassment; abuse:

In debt collection, a debt collector may not oppress, harass, or abuse a person by: (1) using profane or obscene language or language intended to abuse unreasonably the hearer or reader; (2) placing telephone calls without disclosing the name of the individual making the call and with the intent to annoy, harass, or threaten a person at the called number; (3) causing a person to incur a long distance telephone toll, telegram fee, or other charge by a medium of communication without first disclosing the name of the person making the communication; or (4) causing a telephone to ring repeatedly or continuously, or making repeated or continuous telephone calls, with the intent to harass a person at the called number. — Tex. Fin. Code §392.302

• §392.303 Unfair or unconscionable means — key fee rule:

(a) In debt collection, a debt collector may not use unfair or unconscionable means that employ the following practices: … (2) collecting or attempting to collect interest or a charge, fee, or expense incidental to the obligation unless the interest or incidental charge, fee, or expense is expressly authorized by the agreement creating the obligation or legally chargeable to the consumer; … — Tex. Fin. Code §392.303(a)(2)

• §392.304 Fraudulent, deceptive, or misleading representations — 19 enumerated practices, including the Texas mini-Miranda for third-party collectors:

(5) in the case of a third-party debt collector, failing to disclose, except in a formal pleading made in connection with a legal action: (A) that the communication is an attempt to collect a debt and that any information obtained will be used for that purpose, if the communication is the initial written or oral communication between the third-party debt collector and the debtor; or (B) that the communication is from a debt collector, if the communication is a subsequent written or oral communication between the third-party debt collector and the debtor; — Tex. Fin. Code §392.304(a)(5)

• §392.305 Deceptive use of credit bureau name; §392.306 — a creditor may not use an independent debt collector it actually knows repeatedly violates the chapter.

Debt buyers and time-barred debt — §392.307 (added 2019)

(c) A debt buyer may not, directly or indirectly, commence an action against or initiate arbitration with a consumer to collect a consumer debt after the expiration of the applicable limitations period provided by Section 16.004, Civil Practice and Remedies Code, or Section 3.118, Business & Commerce Code. (d) If an action to collect a consumer debt is barred under Subsection (c), the cause of action is not revived by a payment of the consumer debt, an oral or written reaffirmation of the consumer debt, or any other activity on the consumer debt. — Tex. Fin. Code §392.307

§392.307(e) then requires one of three verbatim notices in the debt buyer's initial written communication on time-barred debt (text varies by whether the debt is still credit-reportable under FCRA §605), e.g.:

"THE LAW LIMITS HOW LONG YOU CAN BE SUED ON A DEBT. BECAUSE OF THE AGE OF YOUR DEBT, WE WILL NOT SUE YOU FOR IT. IF YOU DO NOT PAY THE DEBT, [INSERT NAME OF DEBT BUYER] MAY CONTINUE TO REPORT IT TO CREDIT REPORTING AGENCIES AS UNPAID FOR AS LONG AS THE LAW PERMITS THIS REPORTING. THIS NOTICE IS REQUIRED BY LAW." — Tex. Fin. Code §392.307(e)(1); (f) requires at least 12-point conspicuous type

Identity theft — §392.308 (NEW, effective Sept. 1, 2025)

(d) A creditor, debt collector, or third-party debt collector who receives notice that a consumer debt is a result of identity theft from a victim of identity theft in accordance with Subsection (c): (1) shall, not later than the seventh business day after the creditor, debt collector, or third-party debt collector receives the notice, cease efforts to collect the disputed debt or disputed portion of the debt from the victim of identity theft; … (3) may not sell the debt or transfer it for consideration, except to collect the debt from the alleged perpetrator … — Tex. Fin. Code §392.308 (Added by Acts 2025, 89th Leg., R.S., Ch. 453 (H.B. 4238), eff. September 1, 2025)

Statute of limitations — Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code §16.004

Sec. 16.004. FOUR-YEAR LIMITATIONS PERIOD. (a) A person must bring suit on the following actions not later than four years after the day the cause of action accrues: … (3) debt; … (c) A person must bring suit against his partner for a settlement of partnership accounts, and must bring an action on an open or stated account, or on a mutual and current account concerning the trade of merchandise between merchants or their agents or factors, not later than four years after the day that the cause of action accrues. For purposes of this subsection, the cause of action accrues on the day that the dealings in which the parties were interested together cease. — Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code §16.004

Tolling for absence from the state:

Sec. 16.063. TEMPORARY ABSENCE FROM STATE. The absence from this state of a person against whom a cause of action may be maintained suspends the running of the applicable statute of limitations for the period of the person's absence. — Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code §16.063

Promissory notes — Bus. & Com. Code §3.118 (6 years, not §16.004's 4)

(This subsection and the revival subsection below added 2026-08-12, pulled from the Texas Legislative Council file server — https://tcss.legis.texas.gov/resources/BC/htm/BC.3.htm and .../CP/htm/CP.16.htm, the same official publisher used for the rest of this page. The rest of the page carries the 2026-07-03 last_verified date.)

Texas adopted Revised UCC Article 3, so a negotiable note runs six years — §392.307(c) itself points at both statutes ("Section 16.004, Civil Practice and Remedies Code, or Section 3.118, Business & Commerce Code"):

Sec. 3.118. STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS. (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 10 years. — Tex. Bus. & Com. Code §3.118(a)–(b) (Amended by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 921, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1996; Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 219, §4; Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 279, §1)

Demand notes: no clock until demand, then six years from the demand, with an absolute 10-year no-payment backstop. §3.118(c)–(g) give shorter periods for drafts (3 years from dishonor or 10 years from the date of the draft, whichever expires first), certified/teller's/cashier's/traveler's checks (3 years from demand), certificates of deposit (6 years from demand), accepted drafts (6 years), and conversion/warranty/residual Article 3 claims (3 years). §3.118(h) excludes real-property lien actions (those go to Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code §§16.035–16.036).

Revival — Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code §16.065 (holders who are NOT debt buyers)

§392.307(d)'s flat no-revival rule (quoted above) applies only to a debt buyer. For every other holder — original creditors, agencies collecting for them, assignees who are not debt buyers under §392.001 — the governing rule is the general acknowledgment statute:

Sec. 16.065. ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF CLAIM. An acknowledgment of the justness of a claim that appears to be barred by limitations is not admissible in evidence to defeat the law of limitations if made after the time that the claim is due unless the acknowledgment is in writing and is signed by the party to be charged. — Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code §16.065 (Acts 1985, 69th Leg., ch. 959, §1, eff. Sept. 1, 1985)

Plain English (interpretation — the quote wins). §16.065 is an evidentiary bar: an acknowledgment of a time-barred Texas claim counts only if it is in writing and signed by the debtor. An oral acknowledgment, a recorded call, or a promise made on the phone is inadmissible to defeat limitations. The section speaks to acknowledgments and is silent on the effect of a bare part payment; UNVERIFIED — no Texas statute states whether a post-expiry payment alone revives a non-debt-buyer claim. Attorney review; do not auto-re-age. The safe posture across all TX holders is the debt-buyer rule: treat expiry as final.

Plain English

Interpretation — the quotes above win on any conflict.

• The TDCA covers everyone collecting a consumer debt, including original creditors — "debt collector" is anyone who engages in debt collection, and only the bond (§392.101) and a few disclosure rules are limited to "third-party debt collectors."
• Texas has no debt-collector license. The entry gate for a third-party agency is a $10,000 surety bond filed with the Texas Secretary of State. Collecting without it violates §392.101 and carries a minimum $100/violation statutory damage (§392.403(e)).
• §392.202 is a Texas-specific dispute engine that runs alongside FDCPA/Reg F validation: written dispute → written record → cease collection during investigation → answer within 30 days → if inaccurate, fix within 5 business days; if inconclusive, change the item as the consumer requested and stop collecting. Only accuracy-confirmed debts can resume collection.
• No numeric call-frequency cap — §392.302(4) is an intent-to-harass standard, so Reg F's 7-in-7 presumption is the operative frequency limit in Texas.
• No call-time window in ch. 392 — the FDCPA/Reg F 8am–9pm rule governs.
• SOL on debt is 4 years. For debt buyers, expiry of the 4 years is a hard bar on suit/arbitration, payments do not revive it, and a statutory time-barred notice is mandatory in the first written communication.

Traps / edge cases

• Original creditors are in scope for §§392.301–306 — an agency's creditor clients collecting their own paper in Texas are also bound (and §392.306 makes a creditor liable for knowingly using a repeatedly-violating agency).
• The §392.202 cease-collection obligation triggers on a file-accuracy dispute, is broader than FDCPA §1692g (no 30-day window limitation on when the consumer can dispute), and continues until the investigation completes.
• §392.307's no-revival rule (2019) means a partial payment on out-of-stat Texas debt does not restart the clock for a debt buyer — do not re-age SOL on payment for TX debt-buyer claims.
• §16.063 tolls limitations while the defendant is absent from Texas; treat any tolling adjustment as attorney-review territory rather than automatic (federal courts have narrowed its application to nonresidents amenable to service — interpretation, not statute text).
• Violations are also DTPA violations (§392.404(a)), which is the usual vehicle for treble-damage exposure.

Related

• ../federal/reg-f/call-frequency.md
• ../federal/reg-f/time-barred-debt.md
• ../federal/fdcpa/overview.md
• ./ca.md · ./ny.md · ./fl.md · ./ma.md · ./_matrix.md