Debt Settlement Services

Debt settlement services means providing advice, or offering to act or acting as an intermediary, between a consumer and one or more of the consumer’s creditors for the primary purpose of obtaining a settlement for less than the full amount of debt or obtaining a reduced interest rate or payment amount.  This includes, but not limited to, offering debt negotiation, debt reduction, or debt relief services in connection with consumer non-mortgage debt.

In addition, any person advising, encouraging, assisting, or counseling a consumer to accumulate funds in an account for the purpose of future payment of a reduced amount of debt to creditors is providing debt settlement services.

For more information, see California Code of Regulations, title 10, section 1001.

Debt settlement services offered or provided to California residents under the authority of another state agency’s license are not subject to registration under the CCFPL.  This includes attorneys acting under the authority of their license to practice law in California.

A licensee offering to provide or providing debt settlement services within the scope of its Check Sellers, Bill Payers, and Proraters (CSBPP) license is exempt from CCFPL registration.

A nonprofit community service organization, offering to provide or providing debt settlement services, that has submitted to the Department an audit report under Financial Code section 12104(i) within the previous 12 months is exempt from CCFPL registration.

Any nonprofit organization exempt from federal taxation that provides debt settlement services to consumers free of charge is exempt from CCFPL registration.

For more information, see Financial Code section 90002, Financial Code section 12104, and  California Code of Regulations, title 10, section 1010.

Any person who engages in the business of collecting consumer debt, on their own behalf or on the behalf of others, is required to be licensed under the DCLA.  This includes “debt buyers”.  Debt collectors licensed under the DCLA are not exempt from the CCFPL or registration when offering or providing debt settlement services, as defined in the regulations.

Any person offering or providing debt settlement services, including, but not limited to, debt negotiation, debt reduction, or debt relief services in connection with a consumer’s non-mortgage debt, is required to register under the CCFPL.

For more information on the DCLA and debt collection, please visit the Debt Collectors webpage.

Yes.  A separate registration is required for each subject product offered or provided.

Any person that offers or provides debt settlement services in connection with student debt arising from education financing, as defined in the regulations, needs a CCFPL Student Debt Relief Services registration.  Debt settlement services for all other non-mortgage debt requires the separate CCFPL Debt Settlement Services registration.

For more information, see California Code of Regulations, title 10, sections 1001, 1002, 1003, 1010, and 1021.  Also, visit the Student Debt Relief Services webpage.

Yes.  A debt settlement services registrant is required to file an annual report on or before March 15 of each calendar year, starting in 2026.

No. Only CCFPL debt settlement services registrants are required to file the CCFPL Debt Settlement Services annual report.