Updated on
Author: Sergei Lemberg
When Does a Debt Expire?
Short Answer: Never. Unless you pay a debt, you will always owe that debt. However, every debt has a statute of limitations.
What is the statute of limitations on debt?
You may have heard the term “statute of limitations,” before, perhaps in criminal contexts, i.g., Harvey Weinstein cannot be charged with a crime committed in the nineties because it happened too long ago. In criminal law, the statute of limitations refers to the number of years the state has to prosecute a wrongdoer for a crime. Statutes of limitations exist to prevent swamped district attorneys from pursuing cases they probably cannot win, because with time evidence, witnesses, memories, etc. degrade and become unreliable, so it would wind up wasting time and resources. In debt collection, the statute of limitations operates on a similar principle. After a certain number of years have passed, a debt collector cannot bring you to court and sue you for the debt. Once the statute of limitations has expired, the debt is no longer legally enforceable. You still owe the debt. You just cannot be taken to court to force you to collect.
What happens if a creditor sues me for a debt after the statute of limitations has expired?
If a creditor sues you for a debt after the statute of limitations has expired, you can raise the statute of limitations as a defense. If the court finds in your favor, the creditor will be barred from collecting the debt.
What are some complications with the statute of limitations on debt?
The first complication is some collection agencies will file suit against you in court for an old debt anyway. This is because the court views it as your responsibility to raise the expired statute of limitations as a defense and provide evidence supporting your claim. Many consumers either do not show up in court, or simply do not know they need to present the judge with evidence that the debt is time barred. The collection agency then ends up getting a judgment against the consumer anyway. In Sykes v. Mel S. Harris and Associates, LLC 780 F.3d 70, 2nd Cir. (2015), the defendant collection agency was found to have secured judgments against over 100,000 consumers by buying old debts for pennies on the dollar, filing lawsuits in court, then never notifying the debtors they were being sued. Once you have a judgment against you, the debt is no longer time barred.
A second complication is debt collectors are allowed to call to collect on a debt with an expired statute of limitations. Many collection agencies run their business by buying old debts for pennies on the dollar and then persuading the consumers to pay it. Although the 15 U.S.C. 1692e of the FDCPA specifically forbids them from threatening to sue you over the old debt or use any kind of language that might cause you to believe you can be sued, they can still try to convince you to pay it. And if they talk you into paying a few dollars, the trap snaps shut. In many states, the statute of limitations starts ticking the day of your last payment. Even if it’s been many years, making a new payment can start the clock ticking again, making the debt legally enforceable.
A third complication is not all debts are equal and the statute of limitations vary. IRS debts, for instance, have a much longer statute of limitations than ordinary debts-ten years. And federal student loan debts have no statute of limitations, a debt collector can always file in court to collect these debts.
Statute Of Limitations By State:
| State Statutes of Limitations |
| State |
Written contracts |
Oral contracts |
Promissory notes |
Revolving accounts
(including credit cards) |
| Alabama |
6 |
6 |
6 |
3 |
| Alaska |
6 |
6 |
3 |
3 |
| Arizona |
5 |
3 |
6 |
3 |
| Arkansas |
5 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
| California |
4 |
2 |
4 |
4 |
| Colorado |
6 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
| Connecticut |
6 |
3 |
6 |
3 |
| D.C. |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
| Florida |
5 |
4 |
5 |
4 |
| Georgia |
6 |
4 |
6 |
4 or 6** |
| Hawaii |
6 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
| Idaho |
5 |
4 |
5 |
5 |
| Illinois |
10 |
5 |
10 |
5 |
| Indiana |
10 |
6 |
10 |
6 |
| Iowa |
10 |
5 |
5 |
5 |
| Kansas |
5 |
3 |
5 |
3 |
| Kentucky |
5 |
3 |
5 |
3 |
| Louisiana |
10 |
10 |
10 |
3 |
| Maine |
6 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
| Maryland |
3 |
3 |
6 |
6 |
| Massachusetts |
6 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
| Michigan |
6 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
| Minnesota |
6 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
| Mississippi |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
| Missouri |
10 |
5 |
10 |
5 |
| Montana |
8 |
5 |
8 |
5 |
| Nebraska |
5 |
4 |
5 |
4 |
| Nevada |
6 |
4 |
3 |
4 |
| New Hampshire |
3 |
3 |
6 |
3 |
| New Jersey |
6 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
| New Mexico |
6 |
4 |
6 |
4 |
| New York |
6 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
| North Carolina |
3 |
3 |
5 |
3 |
| North Dakota |
6 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
| Ohio |
6 |
15 |
15 |
6 |
| Oklahoma |
3 |
5 |
5 |
3 |
| Oregon |
6 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
| Pennsylvania |
4 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
| Rhode Island |
10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
| South Carolina |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
| South Dakota |
6 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
| Tennessee |
6 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
| Texas |
4 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
| Utah |
6 |
4 |
6 |
4 |
| Vermont |
6 |
6 |
5 |
3 |
| Virginia |
5 |
3 |
6 |
3 |
| Washington |
6 |
3 |
6 |
3 |
| West Virginia |
10 |
5 |
6 |
5 |
| Wisconsin |
6 |
6 |
10 |
6 |
| Wyoming |
10 |
8 |
10 |
8 |
** The Georgia Court of Appeals decided in 2008 that the statute of limitations on credit cards is six years rather than the four years set by the Legislature.
About the author:
Sergei Lemberg is a consumer rights attorney, practicing since 2006, whose practice focuses on consumer law, class actions and personal injury litigation. He is known for a United States Supreme Court case (Facebook v. Duguid) defending consumers from autodialers under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 to send unsolicited text messages. He is also the author of Defanging Debt Collectors, a book that teaches consumers how to battle debt collectors and win.
See more posts from Sergei Lemberg