Each state has its own law for how long a credit card company can sue a person for non-payment. This is a good consumer protection, but then we have to ask, which state does the law go by?
Most of the major credit card companies tell you in the contract which state applies to their agreement. Others go by the state the consumer lives in — but not all. So be careful and speak with an attorney in your state if you aren’t sure. (Charts below.)
Three main things to know:
- Just because the Statute of Limitations is reached, it doesn’t mean they still can’t contact you to ask for payment. The debt doesn’t magically disappear; it’s just that they cannot force you to pay by going to court.
- A collector might still file a lawsuit in an attempt to collect, even past the SOL. If you don’t show up in court to tell the judge the debt is old, you automatically lose and the creditor automatically wins. Therefore, you must never ignore a summons to court.
- The Statute of Limitations is different than the date a debt ages off your credit report. A debt past the SOL can remain on your credit report for seven years from the date of first delinquency or last payment or last acknowledgement of the debt.
This chart shows major credit card issuers, which state law they go by for SOL, and the years they can sue in court.
Issuer | State | Years credit card debt is collectible in court |
American Express | Utah | 6 |
Chase | Delaware | 3 |
Bank of America | North Carolina | 3 |
Citi | South Dakota | 6 |
Capital One | Virginia* | 3** |
Discover | Delaware | 3 |
US Bank | *** | *** |
Wells Fargo | South Dakota | 6 |
USAA | Nevada | 4 |
Barclays | Delaware | 3 |
*Capital One says Virginia law rules, unless the cardholder’s state has a longer statute.**5 years if creditor produces signed account agreement and documentation of interest rate and repayment terms.***US Bank’s terms and conditions agreement specifies which state law should apply to arbitration, but not for other matters, such as unpaid debt. |
Credit card debt statute of limitations, by state
State | Years | State statute | Source |
Alabama | 3 years | Title 6 Ch.2 Sec. 37 | State law |
Alaska | 3 years | 9.10.053 | State law |
Arizona | 6 years | HB 24121 | State law |
Arkansas | 5 years | 4-3-118 | State law |
California | 4 years | Code of Civil Procedure S.337 | State law |
Colorado | 6 years | Colorado Revised Statutes Title 13 S.80-103.5 | State law 2 |
Connecticut | 6 years | Chapter 926 Sec. 52-576 | State law 3 |
Washington, D.C. | 3 years | 12-301 | D.C. code 4 |
Delaware | 3 years | Title 10, Sec. 8106 | State law |
Florida | 5 years4 | 95.11 | State law |
Georgia | 6 years5 | 9-3-24 | State law |
Hawaii | 6 years | 657-1 | State law |
Idaho | 5 years | 5-216 | State law |
Illinois | 5 years7 | Code of Civil Procedure 5/13-205 | State law Scroll to 735 ILCS 5/13-205 |
Indiana | 6 years | Title 34 Art.11, 2-9 | State law |
Iowa | 5 years | Ch. 614.1.4 | State law See note.14 |
Kansas | 3 years | 60-512 | State law |
Kentucky | 5 or 15 years | 413.120 and 413.090 | Conflicting state laws 12 |
Louisiana | 3 years | Civil Code Sec. 2 Art. 3494 | State law |
Maine | 6 years | 14-205-752 | State law |
Maryland | 3 years | Section 5-101 | State law |
Massachusetts | 6 years | General Laws Part III Title V Ch. 260-2 | State law |
Michigan | 6 years | Ch. 600.5807.8 | State law |
Minnesota | 6 years | Civil Procedure Ch.541.05 | State law |
Mississippi | 3 years | 15-1-29 | State law |
Missouri | 5 years | Ch. 516-120 | State law |
Montana | 8 years | 27-2-202 | State law |
Nebraska | 4 years | 25-206 | State law |
Nevada | 4 years | 11-190 | State law |
New Hampshire | 6 years | 382-A:3-118 (g) | State law |
New Jersey | 6 years | 2A:14-1 | State law |
New Mexico | 4 years | 37-1-4 | State law |
New York | 6 years | Civil Practice Law & Rules, 2-213 | State law |
North Carolina | 3 years | Civil Procedure 1-52.1 | State law |
North Dakota | 6 years | 28-01-16 | State law |
Ohio | 6 years | Courts – Common Pleas, Ch. 2305.07 | State law |
Oklahoma | 5 years | 12-95A(1) | State law Go to Title 12 and click on the link. Open the file and go to Section 12-95. |
Oregon | 6 years | Oregon Revised Statutes, Civil Procedure Ch. 12.080 | State law |
Pennsylvania | 4 years | Judicial Procedure 42 Pa. C.S. 5525(a) | State law |
Rhode Island | 10 years | 9-1-13 | State law |
South Carolina | 3 years | Code of Laws Title 15 Ch. 3 Sec.530 | State law 8 |
South Dakota | 6 years | 15-2-13 | State law |
Tennessee | 6 years | Title 28 3-109 | State law 9 |
Texas | 4 years | Civil Practice and Remedies Code, S.16.004 | State law |
Utah | 6 years | 78B-2-30910 | State law |
Vermont | 6 years | 9A-3-118 | State law |
Virginia | 3 years | 8.01-246 | State law. See note.13 |
Washington | 6 years | Revised Code of Washington 4.16.040 | State law |
West Virginia | 10 years | 55-2-6 | State law |
Wisconsin | 6 years | 893.43 | State law 11 |
Wyoming | 8 years | 1-3-105 | State law |
1On April 12, 2011, the governor signed House Bill 2412 into law. This bill amends Section 12-548 of the state code and makes the statute of limitations for credit card debt six years. | |||
2Clicking on this link takes you to a third-party website. Click “I Agree” to the terms. Click on the Colorado Revised Statutes link on the left column. On the page that appears, type 13-80-103.5 on the search line and hit enter. Scroll down to and click on the link for 13-80-103.5 to go to the section. | |||
3Go to Statutes, then Browse statutes, scroll to Ch. 926, Sec. 52-576. | |||
4 Search by section number. | |||
5 According to the Georgia Department of Law, appeals court cases have found the six-year period for contracts applies to credit card debt. See Phoenix Recovery Group Inc. v. Mehta, 2008. | |||
6 An Illinois appeals court ruled on May 20, 2009, that a credit card agreement did not qualify as a written contract subject to the 10 year statute of limitations. | |||
7 Court decisions have affirmed that card agreements qualify as written contracts with a 10-year statute of limitations. However, the state appeals court ruled in 2011 that the plaintiff must provide the debtor’s actual agreement, not a generic agreement. If the debt collector can’t produce an original credit card agreement, the five-year clock for nonwritten contracts applies, the court ruled. See Gemini v New, 2011. | |||
8 At “Quick Search” section select “Code of Laws” from menu and type “15 3 530” into search window, without dashes; press “Enter.” In search results, select link for “Chapter 3.” | |||
9 Clicking on this link takes you to a third-party website. Click “I Agree” to the terms. On the page that appears, type 28-3-109 on the search line and hit enter. Click on the item for 28-3-109 for “Contracts not otherwise covered.” | |||
10 Utah courts generally apply law of the card issuer’s state. | |||
11 See section 893.43. | |||
12Conflicting state laws and a lack of definitive court ruling make it too hard to say whether Kentucky’s five-year statute or its 15-year statute applies to credit card debts. | |||
13Three-year expiration applies to unwritten contracts; courts may apply five-year clock for written contracts if creditor produces signed account agreement and documentation of repayment terms. | |||
14The 10-year expiration for written contracts could apply if the creditor was able to produce sufficient documentation of the amount of the debt. In practice, however, creditors have only general descriptions of the account, such as the terms and conditions, which fails to meet the standard for a written contract of debt. |
One of my book readers was sued for an old debt. Wisely, she contacted a local attorney who accompanied her to court. Not only did the attorney get the case dropped, the attorney then proceeded to file a lawsuit against the creditor for violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, and my book reader ended up GETTING MONEY from the bad collection company. Ha! That’s what I call justice.
Please check your credit report for accuracy. Please don’t ignore letters from creditors and collectors. And especially, please don’t fail to show up in court which causes you to lose, even if you were in the right!

*Choice of Law and Borrowing Statutes*
The State of Ohio’s Statute of Limitations on Credit Card Debt is 6 years, but…
Ohio has a “Borrowing Statute” which essentially dictates that if the Plaintiff’s home state has a shorter statute of limitations, Ohio Law will borrow the shorter statute of limitations….
*Example:* Chase Bank’s Credit Card Agreements stipulates that Delaware Law is applicable to the Agreement…
If an Ohio citizen were to be sued, that citizen can then claim the shorter statute of limitations for Deleware…
Many other states have similar choice of law statutes…
On Wed, Jun 23, 2021 at 12:53 PM Ask Carolyn Warren wrote:
> askcarolynwarren posted: ” Each state has its own law for how long a > credit card company can sue a person for non-payment. This is a good > consumer protection, but then we have to ask, which state does the law go > by? Most of the major credit card companies tell you in the contra” >
K.T. Embry, thank you for this insight. You have provided an excellent example of why a person should contact an attorney if they receive either a summons or a letter threatening lawsuit.