State complaint profile
Debt collection complaints in Washington
14,503 CFPB complaints filed against 1,146 debt collectors active in Washington.
- Complaints
- 14,503
- Collectors
- 1,146
- Top collector
- Encore Capital Group Inc.
This data comes from the CFPB Consumer Complaint Database and reflects consumer complaints, not proven violations.
Washington at a glance
Washington consumers have filed 14,503 CFPB debt-collection complaints against 1,146 collectors.
- 14,503
- CFPB complaints filed
- 1,146
- 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.
Washington Debt Collection Laws
Washington Collection Agency Act requires all collectors operating in the state to be licensed.
Contact your state attorney general for current enforcement information.
Insights: Debt Collection in Washington
Consumers in Washington have filed 14,503 CFPB debt collection complaints against 1,146 different collectors. Complaint volume reflects both the size of the collection industry operating in Washington 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 Washington is Encore Capital Group Inc., but national-scale buyers and servicers typically dominate complaint volume in every state. For the practical Washington-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 Washington
By complaints filed from this state
- Encore Capital Group Inc.
Encore Capital Group Inc.
720 complaints
- Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC
Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC
711 complaints
- CL Holdings LLC
CL Holdings LLC
535 complaints
- Resurgent Capital Services L.P.
Resurgent Capital Services L.P.
406 complaints
- Equifax, Inc.
Equifax, Inc.
309 complaints
- Rowland Avenue Management, Inc. A/KA Columbia Debt Recovery, LLC d/b/a Genesis 284
Rowland Avenue Management, Inc. A/KA Columbia Debt Recovery, LLC d/b/a Genesis
284 complaints
- Transunion Intermediate Holdings, Inc. 252
Transunion Intermediate Holdings, Inc.
252 complaints
- CCS Financial Services, Inc. 249
CCS Financial Services, Inc.
249 complaints
What this shows These eight collectors draw the most complaints from Washington residents, usually national bureaus and large debt buyers operating in every state.
Active Debt Collectors
Sorted by most complaintsEncore Capital Group Inc.
DPortfolio Recovery Associates, LLC
DCL Holdings LLC
DResurgent Capital Services L.P.
DEquifax, Inc.
DRowland Avenue Management, Inc. A/KA Columbia Debt Recovery, LLC d/b/a Genesis
FTransunion Intermediate Holdings, Inc.
DCCS Financial Services, Inc.
FExperian Information Solutions Inc.
DT.S. Holdings
FP.S.C., Inc
DTransworld Systems Inc
DCitibank, N.a.
DCapital ONE Financial Corporation
DI.C. System, Inc.
DBread Financial Holdings, Inc.
DSynchrony Financial
DRenton Collections Inc.
FI.q. Data International, Inc.
DBank of America, National Association
DERC
DAldous & Associates, PLLC
DNational Credit Systems,Inc.
DAlliance One, Inc.
DConvergent Resources, Inc.
DKriya Capital, LLC
DCaine & Weiner Company, Inc.
DEvergreen Professional Recoveries, Inc.
CHW Holding, Inc
DJpmorgan Chase & Co.
DNavient Solutions, LLC.
DMerchants Credit Corporation
DArmada Corp.
DWells Fargo & Company
DAmerican Express Company
DSuttell, Hammer & White, P.S
DAfni Inc.
DRadius Global Solutions LLC
DNCB Management Services Inc.
DRay Klein, Inc.
DBonneville Billing and Collections
DU.s. Bancorp
DWaypoint Resource Group, LLC
FSunrise Credit Services, Inc
DDiversified Consultants, Inc.
DHarris & Harris, Ltd.
DSouthwest Credit Systems, L.P.
DSpring Oaks Capital, LLC
FAudit & Adjustment Co. Inc.
DSequium Asset Solutions, LLC
FIf a collector is contacting you in Washington
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 Washington 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.
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
Related
About These Collectors
Every collector listed for Washington 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 Washington 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 Washington 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 Washington 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 Washington). 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 Washington-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 Washington 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 Washington'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.
| Publisher | PlainCollector |
| Sources | the CFPB Consumer Complaint Database |