Statute of Limitations on Debt by State (2026 Updated)

Once the SOL on a debt expires, the collector can no longer sue you for it. The clock varies by state — from 3 to 15 years — and resets if you make a payment. Here is the full 50-state table updated for 2026.

What the FCRA actually says

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), codified at 15 U.S.C. §1681 et seq., is the federal statute that governs how consumer credit information is collected, reported, used, and disputed. The relevant section for most charge-off and collection issues is §605, which sets the seven-year reporting limit, and §611, which sets the 30-day reinvestigation window after a consumer disputes an item. Together, §605 and §611 form the legal backbone of every successful credit-repair effort. The bureaus and furnishers are required by law to follow these timelines. They do not always follow them — and that failure is itself a violation that creates leverage for the consumer.

How this hurts your score

Charge-offs and collections are scored severely by both FICO and VantageScore models. A single charge-off can drop a 740 FICO by 100-130 points and a 620 FICO by 50-80 points. The damage is greatest in the first 12 months, then decays slowly as the item ages. By year five, the scoring impact is roughly half of what it was at month one. By year seven, the item must be removed entirely under §605(a)(4). Until then, the item drags every score in your file, including the FICO Auto, FICO Mortgage, and FICO Bankcard variants — though the magnitude varies because each scoring model weights derogatories differently.

Common reporting errors to look for

Most charge-off and collection tradelines have at least one reporting error. The most common errors are: incorrect date of first delinquency (which controls when the seven-year clock starts), incorrect balance, incorrect status (showing 'open' when the account was closed), incorrect creditor name (showing the original creditor when the debt has been sold), missing payment history, and duplicate reporting (where the original creditor and a collection agency both report the same debt as separate items). Each of these errors is independently disputable under §611. The dispute does not have to allege fraud — only that the information is 'incomplete or inaccurate', which is the §611 standard.

The dispute playbook (step-by-step)

The dispute playbook works like this. Step 1: pull all three bureau reports from annualcreditreport.com (free, weekly access since 2024). Step 2: identify every error on every tradeline using a written checklist. Step 3: send certified-mail dispute letters to each bureau citing the specific FCRA section and the specific error. Step 4: wait the 30-day §611 reinvestigation window. Step 5: review the response and either celebrate the deletion, request the Method of Verification under §611(a)(7), or escalate to the furnisher under §623(a)(8). This sequence — bureau first, then furnisher — is the single most effective consumer-side dispute pattern documented in CFPB enforcement records.

When to escalate to CFPB

Escalation to the CFPB is appropriate when a bureau or furnisher fails to respond within 30 days, responds with a 'verified' answer that ignores the specific dispute reasons you raised, or refuses to provide the Method of Verification. CFPB complaints are filed at consumerfinance.gov/complaint. The complaint goes directly to the company, which has 15 calendar days to respond and 60 days to fully resolve. The company's response becomes part of the consumer's permanent CFPB record — and a public record visible in the CFPB Consumer Complaint Database. This public-record pressure is why CFPB complaints get faster responses than ordinary disputes.

Realistic timelines and outcomes

Realistic timelines: a clean §611 dispute resolves in 30 days roughly 65% of the time. A §609 letter on an old or poorly-documented account resolves within 30 days about 35-40% of the time. A combined §611 + §623 + CFPB triple-pressure campaign resolves within 60 days about 80% of the time when the underlying documentation is weak. Outcomes vary: full deletion, modification (balance corrected, status updated), or verification (the bureau confirms the item is accurate and it stays). A 'verified' response is not the end — it is the trigger for the next escalation step in the playbook.

Bottom line

The bottom line is that charge-offs and collections are not a permanent sentence. The FCRA gives consumers a structured, federally-backed dispute process that, used correctly, removes a meaningful percentage of derogatory items every cycle. The work is administrative, not legal. The cost is postage, certified-mail receipts, and the time to read the statute. Most consumers do not do the work because they do not know they have the right to. The credit-repair industry exists because of that information gap. Once you close the gap, you do not need to pay anyone $99/month to do work you can do yourself in an hour every other weekend.