Statute of Limitations 2021 for Credit Card Debt

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:

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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!