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State Collection Law

Statute of Limitations and Allowable Interest Rates on Unpaid Debts by State

The data presented represents the situation in 2009 (statutes of limitations) and 2010 (interest rates) to the best of our knowledge and is for reference only and not intended to replace the advice of a qualified attorney.

The statute of limitations usually begins running on an unpaid debt from the date of the last activity or the date it was written off as bad debt by the creditor.

A C D F G H I K L M N O P R S T U V W

U.S. State	Statute of Limitations	Allowable Interest Rates
Alabama	Open Account-3 years Oral Agreement-6 years Written Contract-6 years	Legal-6% Judgment-12%
Alaska	Open Account-3 years Oral Agreement-6 years Written Contract-6 years	Legal-10.5% Judgment-10.5% or contractual
Arizona	Open Account-3 years Oral Agreement-3 years Written Contract-6 years	Legal-10% Judgment-10% or contractual
Arkansas	Open Account-3 years Oral Agreement-3 years Written Contract-5 years	Legal-6% or 5 points above Federal Discount Rate Judgment-10% or contract rate
California	Open Account-4 years Oral Agreement-2 years Written Contract-4 years	Legal-10% Judgment-10% or contractual amount
Colorado	Open Account-3 years Oral Agreement-6 years Written Contract-6 years	Legal-8% Judgment-8% or contractual, note, or state amount
Connecticut	Open Account-3 years Oral Agreement-3 years Written Contract-6 years	Legal-8% Judgment-10%
Delaware	Open Account-4 years Oral Agreement-3 years Written Contract-3 years	Legal-Federal Reserve Discount Rate plus 5% Judgment-same as above
District of Columbia	Open Account-3 years Oral Agreement-3 years Written Contract-3 years	Legal-6%
Florida	Open Account-4 years Oral Agreement-4 years Written Contract-5 years	Legal-10% Contract-18%
Georgia	Open Account-6 years Oral Agreement-4 years Written Contract-6 years	Legal-7%
Hawaii	Open Account-6 years Oral Agreement-6 years Written Contract-6 years	Legal-10% (no written contract) Judgment-10% (No written contract)
Idaho	Open Account-4 years Oral Agreement-4 years Written Contract-5 years	Legal-12% Judgment-5% above the U.S. Treasury Securities rate
Illinois	Open Account-5 years Oral Agreement-5 years Written Contract-10 years	Legal-5% Judgment-9%
Indiana	Open Account-6 years Oral Agreement-6 years Written Contract-10 years	Legal-10% Judgment-10%
Iowa	Open Account-5 years Oral Agreement-5 years Written Contract-10 years	Legal-5% Judgment-10%
Kansas	Open Account-3 years Oral Agreement-3 years Written Contract-6 years	Legal-10% Judgment-4% above federal discount rate
Kentucky	Open Account-5 years Oral Agreement-5 years Written Contract-15 years	Legal-8% Judgment-12%
Louisiana	Open Account-3 years Oral Agreement-10 years Written Contract-10 years	Legal-1 point oever the average prime rate; not less than 7% or more than 14%
Maine	Open Account-6 years Oral Agreement-6 years Written Contract-6 years	Legal-8% Judgment-15% annual up to $30,000; 52 weej average T-bill rate plus 4% if over $30,000
Maryland	Open Account-3 years Oral Agreement-3 years Written Contract-3 years	Legal-6% Judgment-10%
Massachusetts	Open Account-6 years Oral Agreement-6 years Written Contract-6 years	Legal-6% Judgment-12% or 18% (if defense was "frivolous")
Michigan	Open Account-6 years Oral Agreement-6 years Written Contract-6 years	Legal-5% Judgment-1% above the five year T-note rate
Minnesota	Open Account-6 years Oral Agreement-6 years Written Contract-6 years	Legal-6% Judgment-"secondary market yield" for one year T-Bills
Mississippi	Open Account-3 years Oral Agreement-3 years Written Contract-3 years	Legal-9% Judgment-9% or contract rate
Missouri	Open Account-5 years Oral Agreement-5 years Written Contract-10 years	Legal-9% Judgment-9%
Montana	Open Account-8 years Oral Agreement-5 years Written Contract-6 years	Legal-10% Judgment-10%
Nebraska	Open Account-4 years Oral Agreement-4 years Written Contract-5 years	Legal-6% Judgment-1% over bond yield equivalent to T-bill auction price
Nevada	Open Account-4 years Oral Agreement-4 years Written Contract-6 years	Legal-12% Judgment-12%
New Hampshire	Open Account-3 years Oral Agreement-3 years Written Contract-3 years	Legal-10%
New Jersey	Open Account-6 years Oral Agreement-6 years Written Contract-6 years	Legal-6% Judgment-no statutory provision
New Mexico	Open Account-4 years Oral Agreement-4 years Written Contract-6 years	Legal-15% Judgment-fixedby the Court
New York	Open Account-6 years Oral Agreement-6 years Written Contract-6 years	Legal-9% Judgment-9%
North Carolina	Open Account-3 years Oral Agreement-3 years Written Contract-3 years	Legal-8% Judgment-8%
North Dakota	Open Account-6 years Oral Agreement-6 years Written Contract-6 years	Legal-6% Judgment-12% or contract rate, whichever is less
Ohio	Open Account-6 years Oral Agreement-6 years Written Contract-15 years	Legal-10% Judgment-10%
Oklahoma	Open Account-3 years Oral Agreement-3 years Written Contract-5 years	Legal-6% Judgment-4% over U.S. Treasury Bill rate of previous year
Oregon	Open Account-6 years Oral Agreement-6 years Written Contract-6 years	Legal-9% simple interest per annum Judgment-9% simple interest per annum or contract rate
Pennsylvania	Open Account-4 years Oral Agreement-4 years Written Contract-4 years	Legal-6% Judgment-6%
Puerto Rico		Legal-9.25% (changes every six months) Judgment-changes every six months
Rhode Island	Open Account-4 years Oral Agreement-10 years Written Contract-5 years	Legal-12% Judgment-12%
South Carolina	Open Account-3 years Oral Agreement-3 years Written Contract-3 years	Legal-8.75% Judgment-14%
South Dakota	Open Account-6 years Oral Agreement-6 years Written Contract-6 years	Legal-15% Judgment-12%
Tennessee	Open Account-6 years Oral Agreement-6 years Written Contract-6 years	Legal-10% Judgment-10% or contract rate (varies with type of transaction)
Texas	Open Account-4 years Oral Agreement-4 years Written Contract-4 years	Legal-6% with agreement; up to 18% Judgment-10%
Utah	Open Account-4 years Oral Agreement-4 years Written Contract-6 years	Legal-7.35% Judgment-18% pr contract rate, whichever is less
Vermont	Open Account-6 years Oral Agreement-6 years Written Contract-6 years	Legal-12% Judgment-12%
Virginia	Open Account-3 years Oral Agreement-3 years Written Contract-5 years	Legal-8% Judgment-8% or contract rate
Washington	Open Account-3 years Oral Agreement-3 years Written Contract-6 years	Legal-12% Judgment-12%
West Virginia	Open Account-5 years Oral Agreement-5 years Written Contract-10 years	Legal-6%
Wisconsin	Open Account-6 years Oral Agreement-6 years Written Contract-6 years	Legal-5% Judgment-12%
Wyoming	Open Account-8 years Oral Agreement-8 years Written Contract-10 years	Legal-10% or contract rate, whichever is less Judgment-10% or contract rate, whichever is less

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to be legal advice and is not a substitute for competent legal advice on the referenced subject.

Information provided by ABC-Amega Inc. Since 1929, providing first party accounts receivable collections outsourcing and third party debt collection for management of your commercial receivables portfolio. For further information on our receivable management services, email info@abc-amega.com.