The statute of limitations on debt in Georgia sets how long a creditor has to sue you for an unpaid balance, and the deadline depends on the type of debt: four years for credit cards and other open accounts, four years for oral agreements, four years for contracts covering the sale of goods, and six years for written contracts and promissory notes. Once that window closes, the debt is time-barred and a court should dismiss the case, but only if you actually show up and say so.
Time Limits by Debt Type
Georgia sorts consumer debts into a handful of categories, and each carries its own filing deadline.
Credit Cards and Other Open Accounts
Credit card balances and other revolving accounts are classified as open accounts, with a four-year limitation period.1Justia. Georgia Code 9-3-25 – Open Accounts; Breach of Certain Contracts; Implied Promise; Exception The four years begin when the right of action accrues, which for a credit card typically means the date you defaulted or missed the payment that triggered the delinquency.
Oral Agreements
Verbal agreements and implied promises also carry a four-year period, running from the date you failed to perform whatever you promised.1Justia. Georgia Code 9-3-25 – Open Accounts; Breach of Certain Contracts; Implied Promise; Exception Because nothing was put in writing, these claims are already harder to prove, and the shorter window is one reason many of them never reach a courtroom.
Written Contracts
A creditor has six years to sue on a written contract, meaning signed loan agreements, leases, and similar documents where both parties committed the terms to writing. The six years begin when the debt becomes due and payable, not from the date the contract was signed.2Justia. Georgia Code 9-3-24 – Actions on Simple Written Contracts; Exceptions
Promissory Notes
A promissory note with a stated due date gives the creditor six years from that due date. If the note contains an acceleration clause and the lender triggers it, the six years run from the accelerated due date instead.3Justia. Georgia Code 11-3-118 – Statute of Limitations A note originally due in June 2026 but accelerated to January 2026 for missed payments starts its clock in January.
Sale of Goods
Contracts for the sale of goods sit under Georgia’s version of the Uniform Commercial Code, not the general written-contract rule. The period is four years from the date of breach. The parties can agree in the original contract to shorten it to as little as one year, but they cannot extend it past four.4Justia. Georgia Code 11-2-725 – Statute of Limitations in Contracts for Sale The six-year written-contract statute explicitly does not reach sale-of-goods disputes.2Justia. Georgia Code 9-3-24 – Actions on Simple Written Contracts; Exceptions
When the Clock Starts, and What Can Restart It
The limitation period runs from the date the creditor first had the right to sue you, which for most consumer debts is the date of the missed payment that put the account into default. That single date is usually what you need to pin down.
The harder question is whether anything you did later restarted the clock. Georgia courts have recognized that certain payments can amount to a “new promise” under O.C.G.A. §§ 9-3-110 and 9-3-112, which resets the limitation period. In one appellate case, monthly wire transfers that referenced the debtor’s account were treated as new promises, restarting the four-year clock on an open account.
On the other hand, a Georgia Attorney General opinion has said that ordinary partial payments on an open account do not renew the statute of limitations. The dividing line is whether the payment counts as a fresh acknowledgment of the obligation or is just a routine partial remittance. That line is blurry enough that any payment on a debt near its deadline carries real risk. If a collector calls about a very old debt and pushes for even a small “good faith” payment, understand that you could hand the creditor a brand-new window to sue.
What Pauses the Clock
Several events toll the limitation period, giving creditors more time than the plain four- or six-year count suggests.
- Leaving Georgia. Time you spend living outside the state does not count toward the limitation period. The clock resumes when you return to reside in Georgia.5Justia. Georgia Code 9-3-94 – Removal of Defendant From State
- Creditor fraud. If fraud kept the other party from discovering the claim, the period runs only from the date the fraud was discovered.6Justia. Georgia Code 9-3-96 – Tolling of Limitations for Fraud
- Bankruptcy. Filing triggers an automatic stay on collection, and Georgia courts recognize that the limitation period is tolled while a bankruptcy case is pending.
- Active military service. Under the federal Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, the period of active-duty service is excluded from any statute of limitations calculation, automatically and for the full duration of service.
The out-of-state rule catches people off guard. If you defaulted on a credit card in Georgia, moved elsewhere for three years, and came back, those three years do not count. A debt you assumed was nearly time-barred could still be well inside the lawsuit window.
You Have to Raise the Defense Yourself
The statute of limitations does not make an old lawsuit disappear on its own. It is an affirmative defense, which means you have to appear in court and assert it. Ignore the lawsuit because you assume the debt is too old, and the creditor can take a default judgment and use it to garnish wages, freeze your bank account, or intercept a tax refund.7Consumer Ed Georgia. What Is the Statute of Limitations on Credit Card Debt?
If you are sued and believe the debt is time-barred, file a written answer with the court and state the defense. Bring documentation showing the date of your last payment or the original default date. A judge who agrees the statute has run will dismiss the case. Not responding is the single most common and most expensive mistake people make with old debts.
What Collectors Can and Can’t Do After the Deadline
Once the limitation period runs out, the debt is time-barred. A creditor should not file a lawsuit, and if one is filed you can have it dismissed by raising the defense. The obligation itself does not vanish, though, and collectors can still send letters and make phone calls about it.
Federal law draws a hard line on what they can say. Under Regulation F, a debt collector is prohibited from bringing or threatening to bring a legal action to collect a time-barred debt.8Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. 12 CFR 1006.26 – Collection of Time-Barred Debts Separately, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act makes it illegal to misrepresent the legal status of a debt or to threaten any action that cannot legally be taken.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1692e – False or Misleading Representations A collector who says “we’ll take you to court” on a debt that expired two years ago is violating both rules.
If that happens, you can file a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.10Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Submit a Complaint You can also contact Georgia’s Attorney General. Collectors who violate the FDCPA can face statutory damages of up to $1,000 per lawsuit, plus actual damages and attorney’s fees.
Credit Reporting Runs on a Separate Clock
The lawsuit deadline and the credit-report timeline are two different things, and people routinely confuse them. Georgia’s four- or six-year limitation period has nothing to do with how long a delinquent account stays on your credit report. That timeline is federal.
Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, most negative items can appear on your credit report for seven years. For accounts placed in collection or charged off, the seven years begin 180 days after the date you first became delinquent on the original account.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681c – Requirements Relating to Information Contained in Consumer Reports That starting date is tied to the original delinquency and does not reset when the debt is sold. If a collection agency reports a sold debt with a new delinquency date, that violates the FCRA.
So a Georgia credit card default can become time-barred for lawsuits after four years while still weighing down your credit score for up to seven years from the original missed payment. The two clocks run independently.
Two Things This Deadline Does Not Cover
The limitation period only governs the time to file a lawsuit. Once a creditor sues within the window and wins, a Georgia judgment is enforceable for seven years and can be kept alive by proper entries on the execution docket, indefinitely.12Justia. Georgia Code 9-12-60 – When Judgment Becomes Dormant The four- and six-year rules above do not apply to collecting on a judgment already entered against you.
Federal tax debt also runs on its own schedule. The IRS generally has ten years from the date it assesses a tax to collect it, and several actions, including installment agreements, bankruptcy, offers in compromise, and Collection Due Process hearings, can suspend that clock.13Taxpayer Advocate Service. Collection Statute Expiration Date (CSED) If you owe back taxes, the IRS window is completely separate from Georgia’s consumer debt deadlines.