New Jersey bars anyone from operating a collection agency, collection bureau or collection office — or collecting accounts, bills and other indebtedness for others — without a $5,000 bond on file under N.J.S.A. 45:18-1. Ours is $100 flat, the price you see is the checkout price, and the bond issues the moment you pay. Any credit screen is a soft pull only — it never affects your score.
















The collection agency bond is one of the simplest filings in New Jersey surety. Here is the entire process:
Agency details, an effective date, and a term. That is the entire application — no financial statements, and any credit screen is a soft pull that never shows as a hard inquiry.
This bond is checkout-priced at $100 flat, so it issues the moment you pay — your executed bond and power of attorney generate on the spot.
Your executed bond arrives by email for the Collection Agency Bond Application — a Deputy Attorney General approves it as to form and the Division of Revenue files it with the Secretary of State. Wet-ink original mailed on request.
New Jersey does not license collection agencies through a board — it bonds them. Under N.J.S.A. 45:18-1, no person may operate a collection agency, collection bureau or collection office, or engage in the business of collecting or receiving payment for others of any account, bill or other indebtedness, without a $5,000 bond on file with the Secretary of State.
It is a three-party arrangement: you (the principal), the surety carrier, and the State of New Jersey (the obligee). The bond is conditioned on paying over the proceeds of every collection to the creditor who placed the account, in accordance with your agreement, and on faithfully observing the laws governing the business — and any party aggrieved within the meaning of N.J.S.A. 45:18 et seq. can proceed against it.
It is not insurance for you — if the surety pays a claim, you repay the surety. The bond application is filed annually with the Division of Revenue and Enterprise Services, so the coverage has to stay continuous; we track your term and send renewal notices 60 and 30 days out.
These are the actual issuing fields — agency details, an effective date, and a term. That is the entire application.
Start the application →$100 flat, issued the moment you pay, soft pull only. Free until issued.