Debt collectors in Indiana: your rights

Your federal rights

These federal rules apply in Indiana and every other state. Indiana's own law, below, can add more.

• Who the federal law covers. The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) covers debt collectors who collect for someone else and companies that buy debts, not usually the original creditor collecting its own debt (15 U.S.C. 1692a(6)). Some state laws also cover original creditors.
• A validation notice. A collector must give you a validation notice, in its first message or within 5 days after it, with the amount, the creditor and how to dispute (15 U.S.C. 1692g(a); 12 CFR 1006.34).
• Your right to dispute. If you dispute the debt in writing within the validation period (30 days after you get the notice), the collector must stop collecting until it mails you verification (15 U.S.C. 1692g(b); 12 CFR 1006.38).
• When collectors can contact you. No calls before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. your time, or at work if your employer doesn't allow it (15 U.S.C. 1692c(a)). More than 7 calls in 7 days about one debt is presumed to break the law (12 CFR 1006.14(b)(2)).
• Telling a collector to stop. If you tell a collector in writing to stop contacting you, it must stop, except to tell you it is ending collection or will take a specific step such as a lawsuit (15 U.S.C. 1692c(c)).
• What collectors can't do. No threats, obscene language, false statements (for example pretending to be a lawyer or the government, or threatening arrest) and no unfair practices such as collecting fees your contract doesn't allow (15 U.S.C. 1692d, 1692e, 1692f). A collector generally can't discuss your debt with your family, neighbors or employer (15 U.S.C. 1692c(b)).

Read how to dispute a debt or stop collector calls.

Indiana law and extra protections

State law

Indiana Deceptive Consumer Sales Act (debt collection provisions) and the Indiana collection agency licensing law

Law

IC 24-5-0.5-3(b)(20); IC 24-5-0.5-4; IC 25-11-1

Covers original creditors

No

Extra protections

• A debt collector's violation of the federal FDCPA or its rules is also a deceptive act under Indiana law, which the Attorney General can enforce (IC 24-5-0.5-3(b)(20)).
• Collection agencies must be licensed by the Indiana Secretary of State, must keep money they collect in a separate account and must pay clients within 60 days (IC 25-11-1-7).
• A court can lower a wage garnishment below 25% (to as little as 10%) if you show good cause (IC 37-2-6-4(b)).

Can you sue under it?

Not under the Indiana act for FDCPA-type violations: its private-lawsuit section excludes them (IC 24-5-0.5-4(a)). You can still sue under the federal FDCPA (actual damages, up to $1,000 extra, and attorney's fees).

Official text

Read the law

Old debts in Indiana

Written contracts

6 years

Open accounts and unwritten agreements

6 years

Does a payment restart the clock?

A promise or acknowledgment only restarts the clock if it is in writing and signed by you (IC 34-11-9-1). The statute keeps whatever effect a payment has under other law (IC 34-11-9-3), but a note of a payment written on the paperwork by or for the creditor does not count by itself. Indiana has no statute that says a payment never restarts the clock.

Law

IC 34-11-2-9(b) (6 years: promissory notes and other written contracts to pay money made after Aug. 31, 1982); IC 34-11-2-7 (6 years: accounts and contracts not in writing); IC 34-11-9-1 (acknowledgment must be written and signed)

Official text

Read the law

The time limit is the statute of limitations. Once it runs out, the debt is “time-barred”: a collector must not sue or threaten to sue you, but the debt still exists. Read more about time-barred debt.

Is my debt too old? Check Indiana's time limit

Every state limits how long a creditor or collector has to sue you over a debt. This is the statute of limitations. Choose your state, the type of debt and the date of your last payment to see the limit and an estimated end date. Nothing you type here is sent anywhere.

Wage garnishment and bank accounts in Indiana

Wage limit

Same cap as federal law: no more than 25% of your disposable earnings, or the amount above 30 times the federal minimum wage ($217.50 a week), whichever is less. But you can ask the court to lower it to between 10% and 25% if you show good cause.

Bank account

$450 of intangible property, which includes bank (deposit) accounts and cash. The statute says $300 (IC 34-55-10-2(c)(3)), but that amount applies only until the Department of Financial Institutions sets a new one by rule (IC 34-55-10-2(b)); its rule (750 IAC 1-1-1(c)) has set $450 since March 1, 2022, next review by March 1, 2028.

Law

IC 37-2-6-4 (formerly IC 24-4.5-5-105); IC 34-55-10-2; 750 IAC 1-1-1(c)

Federal benefits such as Social Security, SSI and VA benefits that were directly deposited are protected in your bank account up to two months' worth (31 CFR 212.6). A creditor usually needs a court judgment before it can garnish your wages or bank account.

Property you can keep in Indiana

You can protect up to $22,750 in your home, $12,100 in other real estate or personal property, and $450 in cash and bank accounts, plus most retirement accounts and health savings accounts. These are the amounts set by Department of Financial Institutions rule since March 1, 2022 (750 IAC 1-1-1(c)); the statute itself still shows the older $15,000 / $8,000 / $300 figures, which apply only until such a rule is adopted (IC 34-55-10-2(b), 34-55-10-2.5).

Collector licensing in Indiana

License required

Yes

Who licenses

Indiana Secretary of State, Securities Division (applications through NMLS)

Check a license

Official license lookup

If you are sued in Indiana

Time to answer

20 days after you are served in circuit or superior court (Ind. Trial Rule 6(C)(1)); add 3 days if the papers were served by U.S. mail (T.R. 6(G)). In small claims court you usually just need to go to the hearing on the date in the notice.

If you don't answer

If you do not answer or do not show up, the court can enter a default judgment. The collector can then garnish your wages or bank account.

Court self-help

Indiana court self-help (official)

Don't ignore court papers. Read what to do if a debt collector sues you.

Where to complain in Indiana

• Indiana: Indiana Attorney General, Consumer Protection Division
• Federal: the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau takes complaints about debt collectors at consumerfinance.gov/complaint · (855) 411-2372.
• You can also report a collector to the Federal Trade Commission at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

Free help in Indiana

• Indiana Attorney General – File a Complaint
• Indiana Legal Help (free legal information and aid)
• Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (federal complaint)

Good to know in Indiana

• In 2026 Indiana moved its consumer credit code to a new Title 37; the wage garnishment limit is now IC 37-2-6-4 (P.L.115-2026).
• Indiana gives written-contract and unwritten-account debts the same 6-year limit (IC 34-11-2-7, 34-11-2-9).
• Lawsuits over a bank deposit account (for example, an overdrawn account) must be filed within 2 years (IC 34-11-2-9(c), added in 2024).

Changes in 2024–2026

P.L.115-2026 recodified Indiana's Uniform Consumer Credit Code from IC 24-4.5 to IC 37-2. The garnishment limit (old IC 24-4.5-5-105) is now IC 37-2-6-4 with the same wording, and 'no garnishment before judgment' is IC 37-2-6-3. IC 34-11-2-9 was amended in 2024 (P.L.77-2024, deposit accounts).

Free letters to send a collector

Questions about debt collection in Indiana

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