Statute of Limitations on Debt: How Long Can You Be Sued?

A debt too old to sue over does not defend itself. If a collector files anyway and nobody tells the court the deadline has passed, the collector wins, and the judgment that follows is exactly as enforceable as one entered on a debt from last month.

That single fact is why this is worth an hour of your attention. The statute of limitations is the strongest protection most people in debt have, and it is also the easiest one to give away by accident: by ignoring a summons, by sending $20 to get somebody off the phone, or by signing a settlement letter that says more than you meant it to.

Here is what the deadline does, what your state's is, what starts and restarts it, and what to do when a collector tests it.

What a statute of limitations on debt actually does

It sets a deadline for filing a lawsuit. That is the whole job.

It does not erase the debt. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau puts it plainly: a debt does not generally expire or disappear until it is paid, and in most states a collector may keep contacting you about an old account, keep asking for payment, and keep reporting it for as long as the credit reporting rules allow. What runs out is the ability to take you to court and win.

A debt past that deadline has a name in federal regulation. Regulation F defines time-barred debt as "a debt for which the applicable statute of limitations has expired," and defines the statute of limitations itself as "the period prescribed by applicable law for bringing a legal action against the consumer to collect a debt."

Three things follow from that, and they are the three things people get wrong.

You still owe it. Morally, contractually, and on your credit report. In most states the obligation survives; only the courtroom remedy weakens.

Nothing announces it. No letter arrives saying the period has run. Collectors are not required to volunteer it in most states, and the account keeps circulating between buyers exactly as it did the day before, which is one reason the difference between an original creditor, an agency, and a debt buyer matters here. If you want to know how old your accounts really are, start with the sequence a debt travels after you fall behind and work back to your last payment date.

It only helps if you use it. An expired limitations period is an affirmative defense. Courts do not apply it on their own initiative. That is the entire subject of the section further down about being sued, and it is the reason this whole article is not academic.

How long is the statute of limitations on debt in your state?

Most states land between three and six years for ordinary consumer debt. The outliers matter, though, and the map is messier than most summaries admit, because plenty of states set one period for a signed written contract and a shorter one for an open account, which is the category most credit card claims fall into.

• 3 years
• 4 years
• 5 years
• 6 years
• 8–10 years

Each state's own limitations statute, cited in the table below. Where a state sets separate periods for written contracts and open accounts, the open-account period is shown. Verify against the current statute before relying on it.

The table below gives both periods and the section you can look up yourself. Read the statute cell as the starting point for your own research, not as the final word: courts interpret these sections, some states have separate rules for consumer credit specifically, and the answer for your account can turn on facts a table cannot hold.

State	Written contract	Open account / credit card	Statute
Alabama	6 years	3 years	Ala. Code §§ 6-2-34, 6-2-37
Alaska	3 years	3 years	Alaska Stat. § 09.10.053
Arizona	6 years	3 years; credit cards 6	Ariz. Rev. Stat. §§ 12-548, 12-543
Arkansas	5 years	3 years	Ark. Code Ann. §§ 16-56-111, 16-56-105
California	4 years	4 years	Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 337
Colorado	6 years	6 years	Colo. Rev. Stat. § 13-80-103.5
Connecticut	6 years	6 years	Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-576
Delaware	3 years	3 years	Del. Code tit. 10, § 8106
District of Columbia	3 years	3 years	D.C. Code §§ 12-301, 28-3814(o)
Florida	5 years	4 years	Fla. Stat. § 95.11(2)(b), (3)(j)
Georgia	6 years	4 years; credit cards 6	Ga. Code Ann. §§ 9-3-24, 9-3-25
Hawaii	6 years	6 years	Haw. Rev. Stat. § 657-1
Idaho	5 years	4 years	Idaho Code §§ 5-216, 5-217
Illinois	10 years	5 years	735 Ill. Comp. Stat. 5/13-206, 5/13-205
Indiana	6 years	6 years	Ind. Code §§ 34-11-2-9, 34-11-2-7
Iowa	10 years	5 years	Iowa Code § 614.1(4), (5)
Kansas	5 years	3 years	Kan. Stat. Ann. §§ 60-511, 60-512
Kentucky	10 years	5 years	Ky. Rev. Stat. §§ 413.160, 413.120
Louisiana	10 years	3 years	La. Civ. Code arts. 3494, 3499
Maine	6 years	6 years	Me. Rev. Stat. tit. 14, § 752
Maryland	3 years	3 years	Md. Code, Cts. & Jud. Proc. §§ 5-101, 5-1202
Massachusetts	6 years	6 years	Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 260, § 2
Michigan	6 years	6 years	Mich. Comp. Laws § 600.5807(9)
Minnesota	6 years	6 years	Minn. Stat. § 541.05, subd. 1(1)
Mississippi	3 years	3 years	Miss. Code Ann. §§ 15-1-29, 15-1-49, 15-1-3
Missouri	10 years (narrow)	5 years	Mo. Rev. Stat. §§ 516.110, 516.120
Montana	6 years	5 years	Mont. Code Ann. § 27-2-202
Nebraska	5 years	4 years	Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 25-205, 25-206
Nevada	6 years	4 years	Nev. Rev. Stat. § 11.190
New Hampshire	3 years	3 years	N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 508:4
New Jersey	6 years	6 years	N.J. Stat. Ann. § 2A:14-1
New Mexico	6 years	4 years	N.M. Stat. Ann. §§ 37-1-3, 37-1-4
New York	6 years (non-consumer)	3 years	N.Y. C.P.L.R. §§ 213(2), 214-i
North Carolina	3 years	3 years	N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1-52(1)
North Dakota	6 years	6 years	N.D. Cent. Code § 28-01-16(1)
Ohio	6 years	6 years	Ohio Rev. Code §§ 2305.06, 2305.07(C)
Oklahoma	5 years	3 years	Okla. Stat. tit. 12, § 95(A)
Oregon	6 years	6 years	Or. Rev. Stat. § 12.080(1)
Pennsylvania	4 years	4 years	42 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 5525
Rhode Island	10 years	10 years	R.I. Gen. Laws § 9-1-13(a)
South Carolina	3 years	3 years	S.C. Code Ann. § 15-3-530(1)
South Dakota	6 years	6 years	S.D. Codified Laws § 15-2-13(1)
Tennessee	6 years	6 years	Tenn. Code Ann. § 28-3-109(a)(3)
Texas	4 years	4 years	Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.004
Utah	6 years	4 years	Utah Code §§ 78B-2-309, 78B-2-307
Vermont	6 years	6 years	Vt. Stat. tit. 12, § 511
Virginia	5 years	3 years	Va. Code § 8.01-246
Washington	6 years	6 years	Wash. Rev. Code § 4.16.040
West Virginia	10 years	5 years	W. Va. Code § 55-2-6
Wisconsin	6 years	6 years	Wis. Stat. §§ 893.43, 893.05
Wyoming	10 years	8 years	Wyo. Stat. § 1-3-105(a)

• StateAlabama

  Written contract

  6 years

  Open account / credit card

  3 years

  Statute

  Ala. Code §§ 6-2-34, 6-2-37

• StateAlaska

  Written contract

  3 years

  Open account / credit card

  3 years

  Statute

  Alaska Stat. § 09.10.053

• StateArizona

  Written contract

  6 years

  Open account / credit card

  3 years; credit cards 6

  Statute

  Ariz. Rev. Stat. §§ 12-548, 12-543

• StateArkansas

  Written contract

  5 years

  Open account / credit card

  3 years

  Statute

  Ark. Code Ann. §§ 16-56-111, 16-56-105

• StateCalifornia

  Written contract

  4 years

  Open account / credit card

  4 years

  Statute

  Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 337

• StateColorado

  Written contract

  6 years

  Open account / credit card

  6 years

  Statute

  Colo. Rev. Stat. § 13-80-103.5

• StateConnecticut

  Written contract

  6 years

  Open account / credit card

  6 years

  Statute

  Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-576

• StateDelaware

  Written contract

  3 years

  Open account / credit card

  3 years

  Statute

  Del. Code tit. 10, § 8106

• StateDistrict of Columbia

  Written contract

  3 years

  Open account / credit card

  3 years

  Statute

  D.C. Code §§ 12-301, 28-3814(o)

• StateFlorida

  Written contract

  5 years

  Open account / credit card

  4 years

  Statute

  Fla. Stat. § 95.11(2)(b), (3)(j)

• StateGeorgia

  Written contract

  6 years

  Open account / credit card

  4 years; credit cards 6

  Statute

  Ga. Code Ann. §§ 9-3-24, 9-3-25

• StateHawaii

  Written contract

  6 years

  Open account / credit card

  6 years

  Statute

  Haw. Rev. Stat. § 657-1

• StateIdaho

  Written contract

  5 years

  Open account / credit card

  4 years

  Statute

  Idaho Code §§ 5-216, 5-217

• StateIllinois

  Written contract

  10 years

  Open account / credit card

  5 years

  Statute

  735 Ill. Comp. Stat. 5/13-206, 5/13-205

• StateIndiana

  Written contract

  6 years

  Open account / credit card

  6 years

  Statute

  Ind. Code §§ 34-11-2-9, 34-11-2-7

• StateIowa

  Written contract

  10 years

  Open account / credit card

  5 years

  Statute

  Iowa Code § 614.1(4), (5)

• StateKansas

  Written contract

  5 years

  Open account / credit card

  3 years

  Statute

  Kan. Stat. Ann. §§ 60-511, 60-512

• StateKentucky

  Written contract

  10 years

  Open account / credit card

  5 years

  Statute

  Ky. Rev. Stat. §§ 413.160, 413.120

• StateLouisiana

  Written contract

  10 years

  Open account / credit card

  3 years

  Statute

  La. Civ. Code arts. 3494, 3499

• StateMaine

  Written contract

  6 years

  Open account / credit card

  6 years

  Statute

  Me. Rev. Stat. tit. 14, § 752

• StateMaryland

  Written contract

  3 years

  Open account / credit card

  3 years

  Statute

  Md. Code, Cts. & Jud. Proc. §§ 5-101, 5-1202

• StateMassachusetts

  Written contract

  6 years

  Open account / credit card

  6 years

  Statute

  Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 260, § 2

• StateMichigan

  Written contract

  6 years

  Open account / credit card

  6 years

  Statute

  Mich. Comp. Laws § 600.5807(9)

• StateMinnesota

  Written contract

  6 years

  Open account / credit card

  6 years

  Statute

  Minn. Stat. § 541.05, subd. 1(1)

• StateMississippi

  Written contract

  3 years

  Open account / credit card

  3 years

  Statute

  Miss. Code Ann. §§ 15-1-29, 15-1-49, 15-1-3

• StateMissouri

  Written contract

  10 years (narrow)

  Open account / credit card

  5 years

  Statute

  Mo. Rev. Stat. §§ 516.110, 516.120

• StateMontana

  Written contract

  6 years

  Open account / credit card

  5 years

  Statute

  Mont. Code Ann. § 27-2-202

• StateNebraska

  Written contract

  5 years

  Open account / credit card

  4 years

  Statute

  Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 25-205, 25-206

• StateNevada

  Written contract

  6 years

  Open account / credit card

  4 years

  Statute

  Nev. Rev. Stat. § 11.190

• StateNew Hampshire

  Written contract

  3 years

  Open account / credit card

  3 years

  Statute

  N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 508:4

• StateNew Jersey

  Written contract

  6 years

  Open account / credit card

  6 years

  Statute

  N.J. Stat. Ann. § 2A:14-1

• StateNew Mexico

  Written contract

  6 years

  Open account / credit card

  4 years

  Statute

  N.M. Stat. Ann. §§ 37-1-3, 37-1-4

• StateNew York

  Written contract

  6 years (non-consumer)

  Open account / credit card

  3 years

  Statute

  N.Y. C.P.L.R. §§ 213(2), 214-i

• StateNorth Carolina

  Written contract

  3 years

  Open account / credit card

  3 years

  Statute

  N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1-52(1)

• StateNorth Dakota

  Written contract

  6 years

  Open account / credit card

  6 years

  Statute

  N.D. Cent. Code § 28-01-16(1)

• StateOhio

  Written contract

  6 years

  Open account / credit card

  6 years

  Statute

  Ohio Rev. Code §§ 2305.06, 2305.07(C)

• StateOklahoma

  Written contract

  5 years

  Open account / credit card

  3 years

  Statute

  Okla. Stat. tit. 12, § 95(A)

• StateOregon

  Written contract

  6 years

  Open account / credit card

  6 years

  Statute

  Or. Rev. Stat. § 12.080(1)

• StatePennsylvania

  Written contract

  4 years

  Open account / credit card

  4 years

  Statute

  42 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 5525

• StateRhode Island

  Written contract

  10 years

  Open account / credit card

  10 years

  Statute

  R.I. Gen. Laws § 9-1-13(a)

• StateSouth Carolina

  Written contract

  3 years

  Open account / credit card

  3 years

  Statute

  S.C. Code Ann. § 15-3-530(1)

• StateSouth Dakota

  Written contract

  6 years

  Open account / credit card

  6 years

  Statute

  S.D. Codified Laws § 15-2-13(1)

• StateTennessee

  Written contract

  6 years

  Open account / credit card

  6 years

  Statute

  Tenn. Code Ann. § 28-3-109(a)(3)

• StateTexas

  Written contract

  4 years

  Open account / credit card

  4 years

  Statute

  Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.004

• StateUtah

  Written contract

  6 years

  Open account / credit card

  4 years

  Statute

  Utah Code §§ 78B-2-309, 78B-2-307

• StateVermont

  Written contract

  6 years

  Open account / credit card

  6 years

  Statute

  Vt. Stat. tit. 12, § 511

• StateVirginia

  Written contract

  5 years

  Open account / credit card

  3 years

  Statute

  Va. Code § 8.01-246

• StateWashington

  Written contract

  6 years

  Open account / credit card

  6 years

  Statute

  Wash. Rev. Code § 4.16.040

• StateWest Virginia

  Written contract

  10 years

  Open account / credit card

  5 years

  Statute

  W. Va. Code § 55-2-6

• StateWisconsin

  Written contract

  6 years

  Open account / credit card

  6 years

  Statute

  Wis. Stat. §§ 893.43, 893.05

• StateWyoming

  Written contract

  10 years

  Open account / credit card

  8 years

  Statute

  Wyo. Stat. § 1-3-105(a)

Each figure is the state's own limitations statute, cited in the last column. Periods differ by debt type and by which date the clock is measured from, and a court may apply another state's law under a choice-of-law clause or a borrowing statute. Statutes change; confirm the current text before relying on any row.

Four things in that table are worth pulling out.

New York is three years, not six. The Consumer Credit Fairness Act added C.P.L.R. § 214-i, effective in April 2022, requiring that an action arising out of a consumer credit transaction "must be commenced within three years." The old six-year contract period in C.P.L.R. § 213(2) still governs commercial contracts, which is why stale six-year figures for New York keep circulating. New York did more than shorten the clock, and that part comes up again below.

Roughly half the states don't split written from open account at all. Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Maine, New Jersey, Oregon, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Pennsylvania and others run one period for every contract claim. Where a state does split, whether a credit card counts as a written contract can be litigated. Georgia's appellate courts treat a card agreement as a simple contract in writing, putting it in the six-year bucket. Illinois courts have gone the other way where the creditor cannot produce a document containing all the essential terms, which pushes the claim into the shorter unwritten period.

Two states extinguish the debt outright. Most limitations statutes bar the remedy and leave the obligation standing. Wisconsin does not: Wis. Stat. § 893.05 says that when the period expires, "the right is extinguished as well as the remedy." Mississippi's § 15-1-3 is blunter still, providing that completion of the period "shall defeat and extinguish the right as well as the remedy." Read the rest of that Mississippi sentence, though, because it says the extinguished obligation is still "sufficient consideration to uphold a new promise." Even there, signing something can create fresh liability.

Some numbers you will see elsewhere are out of date. Montana's written-contract period was eight years for more than a century and is now six. Ohio's was cut from eight to six in 2021. Kentucky's dropped from fifteen to ten for contracts executed after July 15, 2014. Reference tables age badly on this subject, including this one, which is why every row above carries the section number you can go read yourself.

When does the clock actually start?

This is the question that decides real cases, and it is the one most articles skip.

The CFPB's summary is honest about the split: in some states the period begins when a required payment is missed, and in others it counts from the date of the most recent payment made. Those two dates can sit years apart on the same account, because a person who fell behind in 2022, made one $50 payment in 2024, and then stopped, has either a 2022 start date or a 2024 one depending on where they live.

Four accrual triggers show up across the country.

Date of default. The day the payment you were obligated to make was not made. Cleanest and most common.

Date of last payment. Nevada's statute is explicit about it: where a payment is made after the obligation is due, "the limitation shall commence from the time the last payment was made."

Date of last activity. A looser standard that can sweep in charges as well as payments. Ohio combines it with a grace period, giving consumer transactions six years and starting the clock 30 days after the last charge or payment, whichever is later.

Date of acceleration. On an installment contract, an auto loan for instance, the creditor often has the right to declare the whole balance due at once after default. In many states the clock on the full balance starts there rather than running separately on each missed installment.

None of those dates is the charge-off date, which is where people usually start counting. Charge-off is an accounting decision that lands around 180 days late, and what a charge-off actually means for the account has nothing to do with when a creditor's right to sue accrued.

Be careful with the phrase "date of last activity" if you see it on a credit report. That is a credit reporting field, not a legal finding, and debt buyers report it inconsistently. The date that governs a lawsuit is set by state law and the account's actual payment history, and the two do not always agree. The date of first delinquency that drives credit reporting is a third date again.

If you cannot reconstruct the real dates from your own records, the itemization a collector has to produce when you demand written validation of the debt is usually the fastest way to get them.

1 year left

on a 4-year limitations period

Three years since the default, one year of exposure remaining. The creditor can still file, and probably still will, right up until the last day.

A single partial payment can turn the hourglass over and start the four years again.

Illustrative. Periods and start dates vary by state and debt type — see the table above.

What restarts the statute of limitations?

A partial payment or a written acknowledgment. In many states either one restarts the period from zero, and in some states either one can revive a period that had already expired.

This is the single most expensive mistake in the subject. Nothing else on this page costs people as much money.

The rules vary in ways that matter, and a few states have moved in opposite directions on the same question.

Some states make revival easier than you would expect. Utah amended its written-contract statute in 2019 so that the six-year clock on a credit agreement restarts on the later of the day the debt arose, the day the debtor acknowledges it in writing, or the day "the debtor or a third party makes a payment on the debt." A relative paying something toward your account can reset it. Arkansas puts the rule in the statute itself: partial payment or written acknowledgment of default tolls the period.

Others require more before a revival counts. North Carolina and North Dakota both demand a signed writing for a new promise, though both expressly preserve the reviving effect of a payment. Vermont and Florida require an acknowledgment to be in writing and signed.

And a small group of jurisdictions has closed the door outright on expired consumer debt. New York's § 214-i states that once the period runs, "any subsequent payment toward, written or oral affirmation of or other activity on the debt does not revive or extend the limitations period." The District of Columbia adopted nearly identical language in D.C. Code § 28-3814(l), and Maryland did the same in Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 5-1202(b). Texas got to the same place for debt buyers specifically: under Tex. Fin. Code § 392.307(d), a time-barred consumer debt "is not revived by a payment of the consumer debt, an oral or written reaffirmation of the consumer debt, or any other activity on the consumer debt." Note the limit in the Texas version, which reaches debt buyers rather than original creditors.

The rest of the country runs on the older common-law rule, so unless you are in one of those four places, assume a payment can hurt you until a lawyer tells you otherwise.

What you do	Can it restart the period?	What to know
Send a partial payment	Yes, in many states	Including a small one made to stop the calls. This is the classic revival.
Agree to a payment plan	Yes, in many states	The agreement itself can count as a new promise, whether or not you ever pay under it.
Sign a settlement agreement	Yes, in many states	Read the recitals. Some contain an express acknowledgment of the full balance.
Admit the debt on a recorded call	Sometimes	Several states require a signed writing; others accept less. Assume the call is recorded.
Dispute the debt in writing	No	A dispute is the opposite of an acknowledgment. It is also how you force an itemization.
Request validation of the debt	No	Asking a collector to prove its claim concedes nothing about whether you owe it.
A collector selling the debt again	No	Ownership changes. The underlying default date does not.
A new 'date opened' on your report	No	That is a credit reporting field, not a legal event, and it is often reported wrong.

• What you doSend a partial payment

  Can it restart the period?

  Yes, in many states

  What to know

  Including a small one made to stop the calls. This is the classic revival.

• What you doAgree to a payment plan

  Can it restart the period?

  Yes, in many states

  What to know

  The agreement itself can count as a new promise, whether or not you ever pay under it.

• What you doSign a settlement agreement

  Can it restart the period?

  Yes, in many states

  What to know

  Read the recitals. Some contain an express acknowledgment of the full balance.

• What you doAdmit the debt on a recorded call

  Can it restart the period?

  Sometimes

  What to know

  Several states require a signed writing; others accept less. Assume the call is recorded.

• What you doDispute the debt in writing

  Can it restart the period?

  No

  What to know

  A dispute is the opposite of an acknowledgment. It is also how you force an itemization.

• What you doRequest validation of the debt

  Can it restart the period?

  No

  What to know

  Asking a collector to prove its claim concedes nothing about whether you owe it.

• What you doA collector selling the debt again

  Can it restart the period?

  No

  What to know

  Ownership changes. The underlying default date does not.

• What you doA new 'date opened' on your report

  Can it restart the period?

  No

  What to know

  That is a credit reporting field, not a legal event, and it is often reported wrong.

General patterns only. Revival rules are state-specific, and a few jurisdictions bar revival on consumer debt entirely (N.Y. C.P.L.R. § 214-i; D.C. Code § 28-3814(l); Md. Code, Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 5-1202(b); Tex. Fin. Code § 392.307). Confirm your state's rule with a lawyer before acting.

This is exactly why disputing beats talking. A written request that a collector prove what it is claiming does not acknowledge anything, and making a collector validate the debt is the move that gets you the itemization you need to work out how old the account really is. If a letter has already arrived, how you answer that first collection letter matters more on an old debt than on a fresh one. Keeping the conversation in writing also protects you in a second way, since the limits on what a collector can say to you are far easier to prove from a paper trail than from memory of a phone call.

It is also why a settlement conversation on an aging account needs care. Cutting a balance is usually good. Cutting a balance in a way that restarts a clock that was three months from expiring is not, and the arithmetic in negotiating a settlement yourself changes completely once the deadline is in view.

Which state's law applies to your debt?

Possibly not the one you live in. This is where the topic stops being a lookup table and starts being a legal argument.

Three candidates compete. The state where you live and were sued. The state where the account was opened. And the state named in the governing-law clause of the agreement you signed, which for a credit card is frequently the state where the issuing bank sits rather than anywhere you have ever been. Delaware, Utah, South Dakota, and Virginia turn up constantly for that reason. You can read the standard agreement for most issuers in the CFPB's credit card agreement database, though for the terms actually on your account you have to ask the issuer.

The clause

“This Agreement is governed by federal law and the law of the State of Utah, without regard to its conflict-of-laws principles.”

Plain English

The issuer is naming the state whose law it wants applied to your account, which can include how long it has to sue you. It is often not your state, and it is not automatically binding: courts weigh it against their own state's rules.

Read your agreement before assuming your state's period applies

The clause

“Upon default, we may declare the entire unpaid balance immediately due and payable.”

Plain English

This is acceleration. In many states the limitations clock on the whole balance starts running the moment the creditor exercises this, rather than restarting with each missed monthly payment.

The clause

“By making this payment you acknowledge the validity of this account and your obligation to pay the remaining balance.”

Plain English

Language like this in a settlement offer is what revives an expired period in states that allow revival. It is doing more work than the payment amount printed above it.

Revival language — do not sign it on an old debt without advice

Then there are borrowing statutes, which exist in most states and are simpler than they sound. A borrowing statute tells the local court to look at where the claim actually arose and, in most versions, apply whichever limitations period is shorter. Wyoming's is one line: "If by the laws of the state or country where the cause of action arose the action is barred, it is also barred in this state." Wisconsin's works the same way, barring a foreign claim if either state's period has run. Washington has adopted the Uniform Conflict of Laws-Limitations Act, which applies the other state's period when that state's law substantively governs.

A handful of states go the other way and legislate the answer. Arizona's statute, which is also the only one in the country that names credit cards outright, includes a subsection saying that where its period conflicts with another jurisdiction's on such a debt, Arizona's applies.

The practical effect is that a governing-law clause naming a state with a long period does not automatically buy the creditor that long period against you. It also does not automatically fail. Courts split, the reasoning is fact-specific, and the outcome can turn on whether the chosen state's limitations rule is treated as procedural or substantive.

Say this plainly: this is the part where general information stops being enough. If a real case turns on which state's clock applies, that is a question for a lawyer, not a blog post and not a debt negotiation service.

Does the limitations period depend on the type of debt?

Substantially, yes. The state period in the table above is the default for ordinary contract debt, but several categories run on their own rules, and one category is not really a debt claim at all.

Type of debt	Period that usually applies	Where it comes from
Credit card / open account	The state's open-account or contract period, commonly 3–6 years	State limitations statute; the cardholder agreement may name a different state
Personal loan or signed contract	The state's written-contract period, commonly 3–10 years	State limitations statute
Promissory note with a fixed due date	6 years from the due date, or from the accelerated due date	UCC § 3-118(a), adopted in nearly every state
Auto loan deficiency after repossession	Often 4 years, but states split on which rule governs	UCC § 2-725(1) or the general contract statute — genuinely contested
Medical bills	Usually the same contract period as any other unpaid bill	A few states now set a separate, shorter period: Va. Code § 8.01-246(B) and Fla. Stat. § 95.11(4), both 3 years
Federal student loans	None. There is no limitations period at all.	20 U.S.C. § 1091a(a)
Federal income tax	10 years from the date the tax was assessed	26 U.S.C. § 6502(a)(1)
A court judgment	Far longer, and renewable: 10 years in California, 20 in New York	Cal. Civ. Proc. Code §§ 683.020, 683.130; N.Y. C.P.L.R. § 211(b)

• Type of debtCredit card / open account

  Period that usually applies

  The state's open-account or contract period, commonly 3–6 years

  Where it comes from

  State limitations statute; the cardholder agreement may name a different state

• Type of debtPersonal loan or signed contract

  Period that usually applies

  The state's written-contract period, commonly 3–10 years

  Where it comes from

  State limitations statute

• Type of debtPromissory note with a fixed due date

  Period that usually applies

  6 years from the due date, or from the accelerated due date

  Where it comes from

  UCC § 3-118(a), adopted in nearly every state

• Type of debtAuto loan deficiency after repossession

  Period that usually applies

  Often 4 years, but states split on which rule governs

  Where it comes from

  UCC § 2-725(1) or the general contract statute — genuinely contested

• Type of debtMedical bills

  Period that usually applies

  Usually the same contract period as any other unpaid bill

  Where it comes from

  A few states now set a separate, shorter period: Va. Code § 8.01-246(B) and Fla. Stat. § 95.11(4), both 3 years

• Type of debtFederal student loans

  Period that usually applies

  None. There is no limitations period at all.

  Where it comes from

  20 U.S.C. § 1091a(a)

• Type of debtFederal income tax

  Period that usually applies

  10 years from the date the tax was assessed

  Where it comes from

  26 U.S.C. § 6502(a)(1)

• Type of debtA court judgment

  Period that usually applies

  Far longer, and renewable: 10 years in California, 20 in New York

  Where it comes from

  Cal. Civ. Proc. Code §§ 683.020, 683.130; N.Y. C.P.L.R. § 211(b)

Federal citations from Cornell LII; state citations from the state codes. Auto deficiency claims are the least settled category — courts disagree on whether the sale-of-goods rule or the general contract rule applies.

That last row is the one to sit with. A judgment is a different animal. Once a creditor sues and wins, the limitations period on the original contract stops being the question. What governs from then on is the enforcement period for judgments, which is measured in decades rather than years and which most states let the creditor renew before it lapses. California allows enforcement for ten years and lets the creditor apply to renew before that runs out. New York presumes a money judgment satisfied only after twenty years.

This is the practical reason the section below matters so much. Losing by default converts a three-year problem into a twenty-year one.

Federal student loans deserve their own note too: Congress eliminated the limitations period entirely in 20 U.S.C. § 1091a, so there is no year at which a defaulted federal student loan becomes unsuable. Nothing on this page about old debt applies to them.

For everything else, the age of the account is one input into the same decision you would be making anyway. Knowing the deadline does not tell you what to offer; it tells you how much leverage you are holding when you decide what percentage to put on the table.

What happens if a collector sues you on a time-barred debt?

You respond. On paper. By the deadline printed on the papers you were served with. Everything else is secondary to that.

Filing suit on a debt the collector cannot lawfully sue on is prohibited, and the rule is not subtle about it.

Several states have written the same prohibition into their own law. California's limitations statute now says directly that once the period has run, "a person shall not bring suit or initiate an arbitration or other legal proceeding to collect the debt." North Carolina makes suing on a debt the collector knows or should know is time-barred a prohibited practice under its Consumer Economic Protection Act.

A prohibition is not a filter, though. Nothing in any of those rules stops a complaint from being accepted by a clerk, and suits on old paper do get filed. Pew's 2020 review of state court records found that in jurisdictions with usable data, more than 70% of debt collection suits ended in a default judgment, and that the person being sued had no lawyer in more than 90% of cases. Those are not cases anyone argued and lost. They are cases nobody answered.

Here is the mechanic that turns a strong position into a loss.

An expired limitations period is an affirmative defense. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(c) lists "statute of limitations" among the defenses a party "must affirmatively state" in responding to a pleading, and state civil rules generally mirror it. The judge will not raise it. The clerk will not check it. If your written answer does not say the claim is time-barred, in most courts the defense is waived, and the court enters judgment on a debt that could never have been won on the merits.

The CFPB says the same thing in one line: it is the responsibility of the person being sued to point out that the statute of limitations has expired.

If a collector did sue or threaten to sue on a debt it should have known was too old, that is a potential FDCPA violation in its own right, and what debt collectors can and can't do under the FDCPA covers how those claims work. One correction worth carrying with you, because it is stated wrong everywhere: the statute's $1,000 figure is per lawsuit, not per violation. Section 1692k(a)(2)(A) allows "such additional damages as the court may allow, but not exceeding $1,000" in an action by an individual, on top of actual damages and, if you win, costs and a reasonable attorney's fee.

None of that happens automatically either. Somebody has to document what the collector did and file the claim, which is another version of the same point the guide to responding to a collection letter makes: the record you keep is the case you have.

What if the debt is time-barred and nobody has sued?

Then you have options, and unusually for debt, none of them is urgent. Take the time to pick deliberately.

Do nothing. Legitimate, and for many people correct. The debt keeps aging, the credit reporting clock keeps running toward its own expiry, and the risk of a lawsuit is materially lower than it was. The cost is continued contact, though you can limit that: a written instruction to stop contacting you has to be honored, with narrow exceptions.

Send a written response that raises the age without conceding anything. This is the middle path. It puts a collector on notice that you know the account is old, requests the documentation that would establish the actual dates, and states expressly that nothing in the letter acknowledges the debt. It is a variation on a standard written demand that the collector verify what it is claiming, with one extra paragraph.

Negotiate carefully, with the revival risk priced in. Sometimes there is a reason to settle an old account anyway, usually because a specific lender is about to look at your file. If you go that way, the age of the debt is leverage, and a debt buyer holding paper it cannot sue on knows what it is holding. Understanding who owns the account and what they paid for it matters more here than on any other kind of debt, and the rules for getting a settlement in writing before you pay apply with extra force. Get the reporting language and the "no revival" point settled in writing before any money moves.

[Your name] [Your address] [Date]

[Collector name] [Collector address]

Re: Account [account number], original creditor [original creditor name]

To whom it may concern:

I received your notice dated [date] regarding the account referenced above. I dispute this debt and request validation of it.

Please send me, in writing: the name of the original creditor, the account number as it appeared with that creditor, the amount claimed with an itemization of every charge, fee, and interest amount added since the last statement issued by the original creditor, documentation that you own this account or are authorized to collect it, and the date of the last payment and the date of default on the original account.

I have reason to believe the applicable statute of limitations on this account may have expired.

Nothing in this letter is an acknowledgment that I owe this debt, a promise to pay it, a waiver of any defense including the statute of limitations, or a renewal of any obligation.

Until you provide the documentation requested above, please direct all communication to the mailing address shown, in writing.

[Your name]

Replace everything in [brackets] with your own details. Keep a copy of what you send and the date you sent it.

That letter is correspondence with a collector. It is not a court filing, it is not legal advice, and it does nothing for you if a lawsuit has already been served. If papers have arrived, the answer goes to the court, on the court's schedule, and you want a lawyer.

One state-specific note worth knowing about: a handful of states require collectors to disclose that a debt is too old to sue on. California's Rosenthal Act is the clearest example, requiring a written notice that begins "The law limits how long you can be sued on a debt" in the first written communication after a debt becomes time-barred. Most states require nothing of the kind.

Is a time-barred debt still on your credit report?

Usually, yes, and this catches people who assume the two clocks run together.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act allows most collection accounts to remain for seven years plus 180 days from the date of the original delinquency. Your state's limitations period is unrelated to that, and in a three-year state the debt becomes unsuable roughly four years before it becomes unreportable. In a ten-year state the reverse happens: the account falls off your report while a lawsuit is still technically available.

Neither clock restarts when a debt is sold, and the seven-year credit reporting rule and what actually resets it is worth reading alongside this one, because debt buyers do report fresh "date opened" values that make old accounts look new. That is a reporting error, and it is disputable.

The one thing that genuinely changes both pictures is a judgment, which is why understanding where an account sits in the collections process is the first step rather than the last.

Where Felix fits

Felix negotiates debts. That is the lane, and the boundary is worth stating precisely on a page like this one: Felix is not a law firm, does not represent anyone in court, and cannot file an answer, raise a limitations defense, or advise you on which state's law governs your account. If you have been sued, the person you need is a lawyer or a legal aid office, and that is true regardless of what any service tells you.

What Felix does do is the work on the other side of that line. We identify who actually holds each of your accounts, what the documentation supports, and what a realistic outcome looks like, then bring you offers to approve or decline. Every letter that goes out is one you have read and signed yourself, mailed in your own name. Felix never takes power of attorney and never signs for you.

Checking what you would qualify for is free and uses a soft credit pull, so it does not affect your score. The FAQ covers what happens to your credit during negotiation, pricing is a flat subscription shown in full before you enroll anything, and the privacy policy explains what happens to the identity information a credit pull requires and when it is deleted.