What is the statute of limitations on credit card debt?

It ranges from 3 to 10 years depending on the state and on whether the debt is treated as a written contract or an open account. Credit cards are generally litigated as open accounts, but several states resolve it specifically: Arizona sets 6 years for cards by statute, New York caps consumer credit at 3 years, Georgia reaches 6 by caselaw, and Louisiana's open accounts prescribe in 3.

What happens when debt passes the statute of limitations?

The debt becomes time-barred: a collector can no longer win a lawsuit on it if the defense is raised, but in most states the debt itself still exists, collectors can still ask you to pay voluntarily, and unpaid status can appear on credit reports under the separate 7-year reporting rule. Wisconsin and Mississippi are exceptions where expiry extinguishes the right itself.

Does making a payment restart the statute of limitations?

In many states yes, by statute or caselaw, which is why paying a small amount on old debt can be a costly mistake. But New York, Texas (for debt buyers), Maryland, and the District of Columbia bar reviving time-barred consumer debt by payment or acknowledgment, and in Wisconsin and Mississippi the expired right cannot come back at all.

Is the statute of limitations the same as the 7-year credit reporting limit?

No, they are independent clocks. The statute of limitations controls how long a collector can sue, varies by state, and generally runs from default or last activity. The roughly 7-year credit reporting window comes from the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act and controls how long the delinquency can appear on your credit report. A debt can be un-suable but still reported, or vice versa.

Statute of Limitations on Debt: Every State, From the Statutes Themselves

How long a collector can successfully sue you ranges from 3 years to 10 depending on where you live and what kind of contract a court says your debt is. Every number below was verified against the statute text in July 2026, which matters, because the tables floating around the internet still miss Montana's 2025 reduction, Florida's renumbering, and New York's 3 year consumer credit rule.

CONTESTED written vs open account is genuinely disputed for credit cards RESTART payment can restart or move the clock by statute NO REVIVAL expired consumer debt cannot be revived EXTINGUISHED the debt right itself dies at expiry

State ↕	Written contract ↕	Open account / cards ↕	Statute	Flags
Alabama	6 yrs	3 yrs	Ala. Code 6-2-34; 6-2-37	CONTESTED
Open accounts run 3 years from the last item. Collectors often plead the account as an account stated to reach the 6 year statute, and Alabama courts have accepted that theory, so the number turns on how the case is pleaded.
Alaska	3 yrs	3 yrs	Alaska Stat. 09.10.053
One unified 3 year period for contract actions, shortened from 6 years in 1997. Older guides still say 6.
Arizona	6 yrs	6 (by statute)	A.R.S. 12-548; 12-543
Rare clarity: A.R.S. 12-548(A)(2) expressly puts credit card debt at 6 years. Other open accounts stay at 3.
Arkansas	5 yrs	3 yrs	Ark. Code 16-56-111; 16-56-105	CONTESTED RESTART
Partial payment or written acknowledgment restarts the clock by statute, one of the clearest restart provisions anywhere. Card treatment depends on whether a signed agreement is proven.
California	4 yrs	4 (either theory)	Cal. Civ. Proc. Code 337
Written contracts and book accounts share the same 4 year period, so credit cards land on 4 years under either theory.
Colorado	6 yrs	6 yrs	C.R.S. 13-80-103.5
The 6 year statute for liquidated and determinable debts is what courts apply to credit cards, despite a general 3 year contract statute that appears in many summaries.
Connecticut	6 yrs	6 yrs	Conn. Gen. Stat. 52-576
Accounts, simple contracts, and written contracts are unified at 6 years.
Delaware	3 yrs	3 yrs	10 Del. C. 8106
A flat 3 years. Because many card issuers are chartered in Delaware, this short period features in choice of law disputes in other states' courts.
Florida	5 yrs	4 yrs	Fla. Stat. 95.11(2)(b); 95.11(3)(j)	CONTESTED
Courts have applied 4 years to cards as open accounts and 5 where the written cardmember agreement is proven. Note the 2023 renumbering: the open account provision is now (3)(j), not the widely cited (3)(k).
Georgia	6 yrs	6 (by caselaw)	O.C.G.A. 9-3-24; 9-3-25
Georgia's appellate courts treat credit card accounts as written contracts at 6 years, a rule the state attorney general's consumer materials repeat.
Hawaii	6 yrs	6 yrs	Haw. Rev. Stat. 657-1
6 years for debts founded on any contract, obligation, or liability.
Idaho	5 yrs	4 yrs	Idaho Code 5-216; 5-217	CONTESTED
Cards are not addressed by statute; the conventional treatment is 4 years as not founded on a written instrument.
Illinois	10 yrs	5 (by caselaw)	735 ILCS 5/13-206; 5/13-205	RESTART
Illinois caselaw treats card debt as unwritten at 5 years unless the writing contains all essential terms. On written contracts, a payment or new written promise restarts the 10 year clock by statute.
Indiana	6 yrs	6 yrs	Ind. Code 34-11-2-9; 34-11-2-7
Effectively 6 years for consumer debt both ways: accounts and unwritten contracts, and written contracts for the payment of money.
Iowa	10 yrs	5 yrs	Iowa Code 614.1(5); 614.1(4)	CONTESTED
Cards are commonly litigated as open accounts at 5 years, but 10 has been argued where a signed agreement exists.
Kansas	5 yrs	3 yrs	K.S.A. 60-511; 60-512	CONTESTED
The statute does not address cards and Kansas caselaw is mixed between 3 and 5 years.
Kentucky	10 yrs	5 yrs	KRS 413.160; 413.090(2); 413.120	CONTESTED
Written contracts executed after July 15, 2014 carry 10 years; those on or before that date carry the old 15. Courts commonly apply the 5 year statute to cards, though it is not statutorily settled.
Louisiana	10 yrs	3 (open account)	La. Civ. Code art. 3499; art. 3494
Louisiana calls it liberative prescription. Open accounts, including cards, prescribe in 3 years; the 10 year period is the default for other personal actions.
Maine	6 yrs	6 yrs	14 M.R.S. 752
A single 6 year catch-all for civil actions covers both columns.
Maryland	3 yrs	3 yrs	Md. Code, Cts. & Jud. Proc. 5-101; 5-1202	NO REVIVAL
3 years for civil actions generally. Maryland also bars suing on time-barred consumer debt outright, and payment or affirmation afterward cannot revive it (CJP 5-1202).
Massachusetts	6 yrs	6 yrs	Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 260, sec. 2
6 years for contract actions across the board.
Michigan	6 yrs	6 yrs	MCL 600.5807(9)
6 years for contract damages. Older sources cite subsection (8); the 2018 amendments renumbered it to (9).
Minnesota	6 yrs	6 yrs	Minn. Stat. 541.05, subd. 1(1)
6 years for contract actions, except where the UCC prescribes otherwise.
Mississippi	3 yrs	3 yrs	Miss. Code 15-1-29; 15-1-49; 15-1-3	RESTART EXTINGUISHED
3 years across the board, and expiry extinguishes the right itself, not just the lawsuit. A payment or acknowledgment made before expiry restarts the period by statute.
Missouri	10 yrs	5 (by caselaw)	Mo. Rev. Stat. 516.110(1); 516.120(1)
The 10 year statute is reserved for writings containing an unconditional promise to pay money, like notes. Missouri courts apply 5 years to credit cards.
Montana	6 yrs	5 yrs	MCA 27-2-202	CONTESTED
Reduced from 8 to 6 years for written contracts by 2025's SB 143, applying to actions filed on or after October 1, 2025. Nearly every published table still says 8.
Nebraska	5 yrs	4 yrs	Neb. Rev. Stat. 25-205; 25-206	CONTESTED RESTART
Voluntary part payment or a written acknowledgment restarts the clock by statute (25-216). Open accounts are expressly under the 4 year section.
Nevada	6 yrs	4 yrs	NRS 11.190	CONTESTED
Cards are litigated under both 4 year prongs, open account and unwritten contract, so 4 years applies unless the collector proves a written instrument.
New Hampshire	3 yrs	3 yrs	RSA 508:4, I
3 years for personal actions generally, with no written versus open distinction.
New Jersey	6 yrs	6 yrs	N.J. Stat. 2A:14-1
6 years for contractual claims of every stripe.
New Mexico	6 yrs	4 yrs	NMSA 37-1-3; 37-1-4	CONTESTED
Written contracts 6, accounts and unwritten contracts 4. Periods covered by a written deferral agreement do not count against the 6.
New York	6 yrs	3 (consumer credit)	CPLR 213(2); 214-i	NO REVIVAL
The Consumer Credit Fairness Act cut consumer credit transactions, cards included, to 3 years (CPLR 214-i, since April 2022), and payment or affirmation afterward cannot revive or extend the period.
North Carolina	3 yrs	3 yrs	N.C. Gen. Stat. 1-52(1)
3 years for contract actions, one of the shortest in the country.
North Dakota	6 yrs	6 yrs	N.D. Cent. Code 28-01-16(1)
6 years for contract actions, no split.
Ohio	6 yrs	6 (consumer transactions)	ORC 2305.06; 2305.07(A), (C)	RESTART
2021's SB 13 cut written contracts to 6 years and gave consumer transactions their own 6 year period, accruing 30 days after the last charge or payment, so account activity moves the start date by statute.
Oklahoma	5 yrs	3 yrs	12 O.S. 95(A)(1), (A)(2)	CONTESTED
Cards generally get 3 years unless the collector produces a signed writing for the 5.
Oregon	6 yrs	6 yrs	ORS 12.080(1); 12.090	RESTART
6 years, with account accrual running from the last charge or payment proved in the account, so activity moves the start date.
Pennsylvania	4 yrs	4 yrs	42 Pa.C.S. 5525(a)
Essentially every contract theory lands at 4 years.
Rhode Island	10 yrs	10 yrs	R.I. Gen. Laws 9-1-13(a)
A 10 year residual period, among the longest anywhere. Sale-of-goods claims fall under the UCC's 4 year rule instead.
South Carolina	3 yrs	3 yrs	S.C. Code 15-3-530(1)	RESTART
3 years for contract actions. Mutual open accounts accrue from the last item proved on either side.
South Dakota	6 yrs	6 yrs	SDCL 15-2-13
6 years for contract actions, no split.
Tennessee	6 yrs	6 yrs	Tenn. Code Ann. 28-3-109(a)(3)
6 years for contract actions. Demand notes carry 10 years under a separate subsection.
Texas	4 yrs	4 yrs	Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code 16.004; Tex. Fin. Code 392.307	NO REVIVAL
4 years across the board. Since 2019, a debt buyer's time-barred consumer debt cannot be revived by payment, reaffirmation, or any other activity (Fin. Code 392.307).
Utah	6 yrs	4 yrs	Utah Code 78B-2-309; 78B-2-307	CONTESTED RESTART
The open account clock runs from the last charge or the last payment, and written credit agreements restart at the later of acknowledgment or payment, so payments restart both by statute.
Vermont	6 yrs	6 yrs	12 V.S.A. 511
6 years for civil actions covering contracts and accounts.
Virginia	5 yrs	3 yrs	Va. Code 8.01-246(2), (4)	CONTESTED
The 5 year period requires a writing SIGNED by the person being sued; unsigned written contracts fall in the 3 year bucket by the statute's own text. Since consumers rarely sign card agreements, cards generally get 3 years.
Washington	6 yrs	6 (account receivable)	RCW 4.16.040(1), (2)
The statute pulls accounts receivable, defined broadly enough to cover card debt, into the 6 year period; the 3 year oral contract rule expressly carves them out.
West Virginia	10 yrs	5 yrs	W. Va. Code 55-2-6	CONTESTED
Signed writings carry 10 years, other contracts 5. Cards are usually pursued under the 5 year prong absent a signed writing, but the statute does not address them.
Wisconsin	6 yrs	6 yrs	Wis. Stat. 893.43; 893.05	EXTINGUISHED
6 years, and Wisconsin extinguishes the right itself at expiry, not just the remedy, so revival is off the table entirely.
Wyoming	10 yrs	8 yrs	Wyo. Stat. 1-3-105(a)(i), (ii)	CONTESTED
The longest combined periods in the country: 10 years written, 8 unwritten.
District of Columbia	3 yrs	3 yrs	D.C. Code 12-301(a)(7); 28-3814	NO REVIVAL
3 years, with a consumer debt overlay: collection suits must be brought within 3 years, later payment or affirmation cannot extend the period, and filing on known time-barred debt is itself a violation.

The four rules hiding behind the numbers

Paying old debt can restart the clock, except where it can't

A small payment on time-barred debt restarts the limitations period in many states, by statute in Arkansas, Nebraska, Utah, Ohio, Oregon, and Mississippi (before expiry), and by common-law acknowledgment doctrine in others. The protected side of the ledger:

New York, Texas (debt buyers), Maryland, and DC bar revival outright; Wisconsin and Mississippi extinguish the debt right entirely at expiry.

"Written vs open" is where card cases are won and lost

Where the two periods differ, whether the collector can produce a signed writing decides which applies. Virginia's statute even puts unsigned written contracts in the shorter bucket. The battleground states:

Virginia, West Virginia, Wyoming, Oklahoma, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Nebraska, Montana, Alabama, Florida, Kansas, Kentucky, Iowa, Idaho, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois.

Time-barred does not mean gone

In most states an expired limitations period is a defense you must raise, usually in your answer to a lawsuit, or it is waived. The debt still exists, collectors can still request voluntary payment, and the separate 7 year federal credit reporting window keeps running on its own schedule. Our guide to rights on time-barred debt covers what collectors can and cannot do.

The clock's start date is its own fight

Most periods run from default or the last activity on the account, and Ohio and Oregon move the start date with each charge or payment by statute. If a collector sues near the line, when the clock started is often more contested than how long it runs. If you have been sued, see what to do about a debt lawsuit first; the answer deadline does not wait.

Deep guides for the biggest states

We maintain full state pages, statute of limitations, garnishment rules, exemptions, and local relief options, for California, New York, Texas, Florida, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia, and Illinois.

Frequently asked questions

Which state has the shortest statute of limitations on debt?

Alaska, Delaware, Maryland, Mississippi, New Hampshire, North Carolina, South Carolina, and DC all sit at 3 years for typical consumer debt, and New York's consumer credit rule puts card debt there too. Louisiana's open accounts also prescribe in 3 years.

Which state has the longest?

Rhode Island's general 10 year period and Wyoming's 10 year written and 8 year unwritten periods are the longest. Kentucky written contracts executed on or before July 15, 2014 still carry the old 15 year period.

Can a collector sue me after the statute of limitations expires?

A collector can file, and in most states the expired period is an affirmative defense you must raise or it is waived, which is why answering the lawsuit matters so much. Maryland and DC go further and prohibit filing on known time-barred consumer debt, and the CFPB's Regulation F bars suits and threats of suit on time-barred debt nationally.

Does the statute of limitations erase the debt from my credit report?

No. Credit reporting runs on the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act's roughly 7 year clock, which is completely independent of your state's limitations period. A debt can be un-suable and still reported, or still suable after it leaves your report.

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General information only, not legal advice. Statute of limitations questions are fact-specific: the start date, tolling, choice of law, and how your state's courts classify the debt all matter, and legislatures change these numbers (Montana did in 2025, Ohio in 2021, New York in 2022). Each row links to the statute; for a real case, confirm with a consumer attorney or legal aid. Table compiled from statute text, July 2026.