# Statue of Limitations on Debt **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 7, 2000, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/statue-of-limitations-on-debt/44410 "2000-12-07T00:52:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dragonlady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@dragonlady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dragonlady)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2000, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/statue-of-limitations-on-debt/44410/1 "2000-12-07T00:52:55Z")
Is there one? I know that after a certain period, and many attempts, most companies will write a debt off as a loss. Do they HAVE to? Can they come back years later and try to collect? And what about your credit report? I know bad things stay for a certain length of time, but can a company wait for years and THEN report a past due debt? Would it then stay for 5 years (or whatever) or would it stay for 5 years from the date owed? ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2000, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/statue-of-limitations-on-debt/44410/2 "2000-12-07T01:03:32Z")
Here’s some info: [Statue of Limitations on Debt](http://www.cardreport.com/laws/statute-of-limitations.html) ---
**Author:** ![dragonlady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@dragonlady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dragonlady)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2000, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/statue-of-limitations-on-debt/44410/3 "2000-12-07T01:25:38Z")
beatle, Thanks! That’s a good start, except after reading the entire Fair Credit Reporting Act, I still don’t have an answer that I can understand. I’m not sure I’m even applying the right section! ---
**Author:** ![TwoBuyFour](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/76d3ee/32.png) [@TwoBuyFour](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwoBuyFour)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2000, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/statue-of-limitations-on-debt/44410/4 "2000-12-07T01:40:21Z")
I guess the lesson to be learned here (after gazing at the aforementioned link) is: Don’t write bad checks in Rhode Island! 15 years is an awful long time to live it down. ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2000, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/statue-of-limitations-on-debt/44410/5 "2000-12-07T01:52:44Z")
State laws differ as to the time of the Statute of Limitations. Every state has them, though. For written contracts they are usually ten years. Oral are five. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2000, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/statue-of-limitations-on-debt/44410/6 "2000-12-07T02:23:59Z")
Depends entirely on the nature of the debt and the statutory regime in your jurisdiction. ---
**Author:** ![dragonlady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@dragonlady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dragonlady)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2000, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/statue-of-limitations-on-debt/44410/7 "2000-12-07T16:48:51Z")
Ok, perhaps a tad more info is in order. I am in California and we are talking about a 5 year old phone bill. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2000, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/statue-of-limitations-on-debt/44410/8 "2000-12-07T17:52:00Z")
**beatle** ’s link is a helpful guide, but it is incomplete. For example, in Georgia, the statute of limitation on a so-called “sealed instrument” is twenty(!) years. What is a “sealed instrument”? It is a written payment obligation (such as a promissory note) which: a)recites in the body of the written document that it is intended to be a sealed instrument; and b)has some indication beside the signature line that it is being signed “under seal.” The first requirement can be met by use of the phrase “signed, sealed and delivered” in the body of the note. Meeting the second requirement can be as simple as placing the word “SEAL” or the abbreviation “L.S.” beside the signature line. Most promissory notes in Georgia are drafted to qualify as sealed instruments (if the lawyer knows what he is doing), and the applicable statute of limitations on such notes would be 20 years, not the 6 years indicated in the link. Of course, if the lawyer screws up and the promissory note does not qualify as a “sealed instrument,” the 6-year limitation period would apply. ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2000, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/statue-of-limitations-on-debt/44410/9 "2000-12-07T21:02:36Z")
Spoke, Beatle’s link has reference to S/L on JUDGMENTS, not debts. It does not mention the time limit to enforce a debt. A suit must be brought on a debt and a judgment entered to enforce collection. Levy can be had on the judgment, meaning sale of any property the debtor has (except exempt property) to satisfy the judgment. The S/L in the link refers to the time that levy can be had on the judgment. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2000, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/statue-of-limitations-on-debt/44410/10 "2000-12-07T21:32:06Z")
No, **barbitu8** , you are reading it wrong. The statutes of limitations listed in the linked table are the time limits within which you have to file suit on a debt. There is a **link** to the time limits for collecting on a judgment. You are correct in stating that there are separate time limits for collecting on a judgment you have obtained after suing someone. In Georgia, for example, you have to take steps to collect on a judgment (either via a levy, or at least a sheriff’s search for property) within seven years from obtaining the judgment, or the judgment expires. Every levy or sheriff’s search, recorded in the real estate records of the county where the judgment was obtained, renews the judgment for another seven years. Once a judgment expires, you have an additional three-year window to revive the judgment by bringing an action for that purpose, but if you let the seven years expire, and then let the three-year renewal window pass without action, the judgment is dead forever. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2000, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/statue-of-limitations-on-debt/44410/11 "2000-12-07T21:34:24Z")
**Here** are the [time limits for collecting on a judgment](http://www.cardreport.com/laws/judgement-sol.html).