State complaint profile

Debt collection complaints in Iowa

3,765 CFPB complaints filed against 674 debt collectors active in Iowa.

Complaints
3,765
Collectors
674
Top collector
Encore Capital Group Inc.

This data comes from the CFPB Consumer Complaint Database and reflects consumer complaints, not proven violations.

Iowa at a glance

Iowa consumers have filed 3,765 CFPB debt-collection complaints against 674 collectors.

3,765
CFPB complaints filed
674
collectors active here
#1
most-complained: Encore Capital Group Inc.

State-of-residence is the consumer's address at filing, not the collector's. A complaint is a consumer filing, not a proven violation.

Iowa Debt Collection Laws

Federal FDCPA protections apply. Some states have additional laws, contact the Iowa Attorney General for state-specific information.

Insights: Debt Collection in Iowa

Consumers in Iowa have filed 3,765 CFPB debt collection complaints against 674 different collectors. Complaint volume reflects both the size of the collection industry operating in Iowa and the willingness of residents to escalate disputes through the federal regulatory process rather than handle them privately with the collector.

Higher per-capita complaint counts in some states correlate with a combination of stronger state-level consumer-protection statutes (which often add private rights of action on top of the federal FDCPA), more active state attorneys general, and more public outreach from the CFPB itself, not necessarily worse collector behavior. The pattern can also reflect debt-buyer concentration: states where large secondary-market buyers route accounts tend to generate elevated complaint flow regardless of the underlying account's origin.

The most-complained-about collector active in Iowa is Encore Capital Group Inc., but national-scale buyers and servicers typically dominate complaint volume in every state. For the practical Iowa-specific protections that go beyond the federal FDCPA, licensing requirements, statute-of-limitations rules, and exempt-property thresholds, see the state rights note above and our FDCPA rights guide.

Most-complained-about collectors in Iowa

By complaints filed from this state

complaints

What this shows These eight collectors draw the most complaints from Iowa residents, usually national bureaus and large debt buyers operating in every state.

Source CFPB Consumer Complaint Database

Active Debt Collectors

Sorted by most complaints

Encore Capital Group Inc.

D
175 total complaints ↑ rising

Resurgent Capital Services L.P.

D
160 total complaints ↑ rising

Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC

D
134 total complaints ↑ rising

CL Holdings LLC

D
119 total complaints ↑ rising

I.C. System, Inc.

D
90 total complaints ↑ rising

CCS Financial Services, Inc.

F
78 total complaints ↑ rising

Capital ONE Financial Corporation

D
74 total complaints → stable

Avadyne Health Holdings, Inc

C
59 total complaints ↓ falling

Synchrony Financial

D
57 total complaints → stable

Transworld Systems Inc

D
57 total complaints → stable

Bread Financial Holdings, Inc.

D
55 total complaints ↑ rising

Hauge Associates, Inc.

C
47 total complaints ↓ falling

Citibank, N.a.

D
44 total complaints → stable

Equifax, Inc.

D
42 total complaints ↑ rising

Experian Information Solutions Inc.

D
41 total complaints ↑ rising

Transunion Intermediate Holdings, Inc.

D
41 total complaints ↑ rising

ERC

D
37 total complaints ↓ falling

National Credit Systems,Inc.

D
37 total complaints ↑ rising

Abbott Osborn Jacobs PLC

C
33 total complaints ↓ falling

Caine & Weiner Company, Inc.

D
33 total complaints ↑ rising

HW Holding, Inc

D
33 total complaints → stable

Kriya Capital, LLC

D
33 total complaints ↑ rising

The CBE Group, Inc.

D
33 total complaints → stable

Automated Accounts Management Services

C
30 total complaints ↓ falling

Diversified Adjustment Service, Inc.

D
30 total complaints → stable

Jpmorgan Chase & Co.

D
28 total complaints ↑ rising

Radius Global Solutions LLC

D
28 total complaints ↑ rising

Credit Bureau Services of Iowa Inc.

D
27 total complaints → stable

ProCollect, Inc.

F
27 total complaints ↑ rising

Central Portfolio Control Inc.

D
25 total complaints ↑ rising

Discover Bank

D
25 total complaints ↓ falling

Wells Fargo & Company

D
25 total complaints ↑ rising

Gurstel Law Firm, P.C.

D
24 total complaints → stable

NCS, Inc

D
24 total complaints ↓ falling

National Credit Adjusters, LLC

D
22 total complaints ↑ rising

Bank of America, National Association

D
21 total complaints → stable

Convergent Resources, Inc.

D
21 total complaints ↓ falling

Blitt and Gaines, P.C.

D
20 total complaints → stable

Revco Management, LLC

F
19 total complaints ↑ rising

Afni Inc.

D
18 total complaints ↓ falling

Navient Solutions, LLC.

D
18 total complaints ↓ falling

Phoenix Financial Services LLC

D
16 total complaints ↓ falling

Rowland Avenue Management, Inc. A/KA Columbia Debt Recovery, LLC d/b/a Genesis

F
16 total complaints ↑ rising

T.S. Holdings

F
16 total complaints ↑ rising

The Stark Collection Agency, Inc.

F
16 total complaints ↑ rising

Cavalry Investments, LLC

D
15 total complaints → stable

CLGF Holdco 1, LLC

F
15 total complaints ↑ rising

Credit Protection Association, L.P.

D
15 total complaints ↓ falling

Diversified Consultants, Inc.

D
15 total complaints ↓ falling

Expert Global Solutions, Inc.

D
15 total complaints ↓ falling

If a collector is contacting you in Iowa

Federal FDCPA rights apply everywhere; some state protections go further.

  • Check the collector's national record and grade before you respond or pay. Browse rankings
  • Demand written debt validation within 30 days of first contact. Validation letter
  • File with the CFPB, your Iowa attorney general, or the state finance regulator, the three channels run in parallel. Your rights

Per-capita rate reflects where consumers file, not collector misconduct. Not legal advice, for your situation, consult a licensed attorney.

Data sourced from the CFPB Consumer Complaint Database. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainCollector Editorial

About These Collectors

Every collector listed for Iowa appears here because at least one consumer from this state filed a complaint with the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) naming that company. The page is a per-state slice of the federal Consumer Complaint Database. Most entries are credit-reporting agencies (Equifax, TransUnion, Experian) and large national debt-buyers (Encore Capital, Portfolio Recovery, Resurgent Capital). Smaller regional collectors appear only when complaint volume from Iowa residents passes the dataset's inclusion threshold.

What the Grade Means

Each company's letter grade combines four signals: total CFPB complaint volume normalized against company activity (size-adjusted), timely-response rate (the share of complaints answered within the federal 15-day window), consumer-dispute rate (the share of company responses consumers flagged as inadequate), and complaint trend (whether recent volume is rising, stable, or falling). The composite is bucketed A through F on a curve, each grade holds roughly a fifth of the 5,283 graded collectors, so an F reflects the weakest ~20% relative to peers, not an absolute threshold. Click any company to see the breakdown.

Filing a Complaint as a Iowa Resident

If you believe a collector named on this page has violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) or otherwise mishandled your account, you have three parallel channels. First, the CFPB at consumerfinance.gov/complaint - the federal channel that powers this dataset. Second, the Iowa attorney general's consumer protection division, which enforces state-level debt-collection statutes. Third, the state banking-and-finance regulator (which may license debt collectors operating in Iowa). The three channels serve different purposes and can be pursued in parallel; we recommend the CFPB first because it produces a public record and a required company response within 15 days.

Methodology Note

State-of-residence in the CFPB record is the consumer's address at the time of complaint, not the collector's address. National collectors operate from a small number of corporate centers (typically Texas, Arizona, Florida, California) but appear on every state's per-state page when consumers from that state file. The state ranking and the per-state collector counts therefore reflect consumer experience, not corporate footprint. For collector headquarters and licensing detail, see the individual collector detail page.

Reading This Page Alongside the National View

Every collector listed here also appears on the national rankings page and on the recent-12-month leaderboard. The state-page slice gives you the Iowa-specific complaint volume and per-state collector mix; the national pages give you the full nationwide context for understanding whether a collector's behavior in Iowa reflects a structural pattern or a localized issue. We recommend reading both before deciding whether to file a complaint or pursue state-channel remedies, a collector with high state volume but low national volume points toward a regional portfolio acquisition or enforcement gap, while a collector with high state AND national volume points toward a structural compliance issue.

What the Per-Capita Rate Means

The complaints-per-100,000-residents rate normalizes absolute complaint volume against Iowa's population, which makes cross-state comparison meaningful. Populous states naturally generate higher absolute complaint counts, but per-capita rate surfaces states where consumers are disproportionately likely to file federal complaints. A high per-capita rate typically reflects some combination of (a) higher uninsured-rate medical-debt activity, (b) weaker state-level debt-collection licensing enforcement, (c) longer statute-of-limitations periods on consumer debt, or (d) active consumer-advocacy infrastructure that directs residents toward the federal complaint channel. None of these factors implies misconduct by any specific collector, they shape the volume at which consumers in a state are willing and able to file complaints with the federal government.

Every figure on PlainCollector is rendered directly from federal source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on federal source data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.