Personal Loan State Guides
Find official state lender-verification and complaint resources, then compare clearly labeled borrowing examples. Each guide follows its state’s agency routes rather than treating one regulator or rate rule as universal.
Published October 22, 2026 · Updated October 23, 2026 · Source-check dates: see individual guides · Borrow Your Loan
How should you use these state resources?
Start with the state where the borrowing issue arises, then identify the actual lender and product category. A state agency does not necessarily regulate every bank or nonbank lender operating there. The guides explain the official lookup and complaint routes and their limits; they do not promise a loan or approval.
Payment examples are clearly identified as national mathematics, not local rate surveys. The state-specific value comes from separately checked official regulator resources and different routing instructions.
Which state guides are available?
50 reviewed guides are available below. All 50 U.S. states are represented. Each guide identifies its official resource routes and source-check date.
California
California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI)
Locate the lender named in the agreement, separately from the website that introduced it.
Texas
Texas Office of Consumer Credit Commissioner (OCCC)
Identify whether your lender is a nonbank consumer lender before choosing OCCC’s route.
Florida
Florida Office of Financial Regulation (OFR)
Use REAL for the consumer-finance-company category where applicable.
New York
New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS)
Identify the supervised category and legal company name in Who We Supervise.
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania Department of Banking and Securities (DoBS)
Use PA Financial Entities Search for the relevant entity category, including consumer discount companies where applicable.
Illinois
Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR), Division of Financial Institutions
Choose DFI’s consumer-credit lookup when that is the contract’s lender category.
Ohio
Ohio Department of Commerce, Division of Financial Institutions (DFI)
Choose the Ohio bank, credit-union or non-depository search appropriate to the lender.
Georgia
Georgia Department of Banking and Finance (DBF)
Check whether the contract fits the Georgia installment-lender category described by DBF.
North Carolina
North Carolina Office of the Commissioner of Banks (NCCOB)
Match the product to NCCOB’s consumer-finance scope before using that licensee list.
Michigan
Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services (DIFS)
Identify the claimed Michigan license category before choosing among the DIFS locators.
New Jersey
New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance (DOBI)
Distinguish a consumer loan from sales financing before selecting the DOBI category.
Virginia
Virginia State Corporation Commission, Bureau of Financial Institutions (BFI)
Use BFI Company Search for the consumer-finance category where applicable.
Washington
Washington State Department of Financial Institutions (DFI)
Use DFI’s consumer-loan-company gateway to identify the category.
Arizona
Arizona Department of Insurance and Financial Institutions (DIFI)
Use the financial-services section rather than the insurance complaint route.
Massachusetts
Massachusetts Division of Banks (DOB)
Separate bank and non-depository lender categories before searching.
Tennessee
Tennessee Department of Financial Institutions (TDFI)
Identify industrial loan and thrift, flexible credit or another applicable TDFI category.
Indiana
Indiana Department of Financial Institutions (DFI)
Distinguish the actual lender from a loan broker or collection agency.
Maryland
Maryland Office of Financial Regulation (OFR), Department of Labor
Identify whether the entity is a consumer lender, installment lender, bank or credit union.
Missouri
Missouri Division of Finance
Identify consumer-credit versus consumer-installment or another licensing category.
Colorado
Colorado Department of Law, Consumer Credit Unit
Identify whether the transaction falls within the UCCC resource’s stated scope.
Oregon
Oregon Division of Financial Regulation (DFR)
Identify the Consumer Finance Lending category rather than generic business registration.
Wisconsin
Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions (DFI), Licensed Financial Services
Choose LFS, mortgage banking or a depository complaint route by lender type.
Minnesota
Minnesota Department of Commerce
Distinguish regulated lending from consumer small-loan and industrial-loan categories.
South Carolina
South Carolina Office of the Commissioner of Consumer Finance
Identify the consumer-finance category and legal company in the licensee gateway.
Alabama
Alabama State Banking Department, Bureau of Loans
Identify the Bureau of Loans product category relevant to the agreement.
Connecticut
Connecticut Department of Banking (DOB)
Read the defined small-loan activities and exemptions before choosing a category.
Rhode Island
Rhode Island Department of Business Regulation, Banking Division
Start in DBR Banking rather than a general commercial-license category.
Louisiana
Louisiana Office of Financial Institutions (OFI), Non-Depository Division
Confirm whether the loan is non-real-estate lending, brokerage or another product.
Kentucky
Kentucky Department of Financial Institutions (DFI)
Use the Consumer Loan Company category and its official legal references.
Oklahoma
Oklahoma Department of Consumer Credit
Separate supervised or small lending from a state-bank complaint.
Iowa
Iowa Division of Banking (IDOB)
Identify Regulated Loan, Industrial Loan or a depository institution as appropriate.
Kansas
Kansas Office of the State Bank Commissioner (OSBC)
Separate a consumer-credit filing from the lending category actually claimed.
Nebraska
Nebraska Department of Banking and Finance (NDBF)
Identify installment lending, sales finance or loan brokerage separately.
Nevada
Nevada Financial Institutions Division (FID)
Distinguish installment lending from deferred-deposit and other categories.
Utah
Utah Department of Financial Institutions (DFI)
Identify whether the transaction falls within the UCCC activities described by DFI.
Idaho
Idaho Department of Finance
Identify the actual lender behind an Idaho loan mailer or advertisement.
Montana
Montana Division of Banking and Financial Institutions (DBFI)
Match the contract to consumer lending, sales finance or a depository institution.
New Mexico
New Mexico Financial Institutions Division (FID)
Check whether the real loan falls within the small-loan amount and provider category.
Arkansas
Arkansas State Bank Department
Identify whether the contracting institution is a bank or a nonbank provider.
Mississippi
Mississippi Department of Banking and Consumer Finance (DBCF)
Separate Small Loan, Consumer Loan Broker and Credit Availability categories.
West Virginia
West Virginia Division of Financial Institutions (DFI)
Identify the Regulated Consumer Lender, bank, credit-union or mortgage category.
Delaware
Delaware Office of the State Bank Commissioner (OSBC)
Distinguish a Licensed Lender from a Mortgage Loan Broker.
New Hampshire
New Hampshire Banking Department
Check RSA 399-A’s category and exemptions rather than relying only on loan size.
Maine
Maine Bureau of Consumer Credit Protection
Do not infer license status from the presence or absence of a Maine office.
Vermont
Vermont Department of Financial Regulation (DFR)
Identify the legal lender and the relevant Vermont financial category.
North Dakota
North Dakota Department of Financial Institutions (DFI)
Recognize that Money Brokering can include the lender itself.
South Dakota
South Dakota Division of Banking
Identify the actual product within the Money Lender or depository categories.
Wyoming
Wyoming Division of Banking
Distinguish personal-loan origination from retail installment-contract purchasing.
Alaska
Alaska Division of Banking and Securities
Separate Small Loan Companies from Premium Finance Companies.
Hawaii
Hawaii Division of Financial Institutions (DFI)
Identify the actual Hawaii institution and financial-service category.
What information should you have ready for a lender check?
| Record | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Legal company and any trading name | Match the entity in the contract, not just an advertisement. |
| Product and license category | A bank, installment lender and mortgage business can have different supervisors. |
| License or registry identifier, if supplied | Helps distinguish businesses with similar names. |
| Contract, disclosures and dated correspondence | Helps explain a specific issue and its requested resolution. |
Never post private application or account records to a public page. Go directly to the official agency’s instructions when submitting a complaint.
Where can you compare payment and loan cost?
Use the personal loan calculator and Loan Cost Index with stated hypothetical assumptions. Read requirements, APR and the national personal-loan guide before interpreting a payment as affordable or an amount as available.
For a cross-state comparison and downloadable source list, use the U.S. Consumer Lending Resource Directory.