In Washington, the statute of limitations on debt collection is six years for debts based on a written contract and three years for debts based on an oral agreement. The clock runs from the date of your first missed payment that was never brought current, and once it expires the creditor loses the right to win a lawsuit against you for the balance. A few specific actions can restart that clock, and a few things people assume will restart it actually do not.
Deadlines by Type of Debt
Washington uses two different deadlines, and which one applies depends on how the original agreement was formed.
- Six years for written contracts. Any debt tied to a signed agreement falls under RCW 4.16.040. Credit cards, personal loans, auto financing, and promissory notes all qualify, along with account receivables such as store cards and revolving credit lines.1Washington State Legislature. Revised Code of Washington 4.16.040 – Actions Limited to Six Years
- Three years for oral contracts. If nothing was put in writing, the creditor has three years. A handshake loan or a verbal agreement for services would be typical.2Washington State Legislature. Revised Code of Washington 4.16.080 – Actions Limited to Three Years
Medical debt goes into whichever bucket fits the paperwork. If you signed a financial responsibility form at the hospital or clinic, that is a written contract with the six-year deadline. If you were treated without signing anything about payment, the debt can be treated as an oral or implied contract with the three-year deadline.1Washington State Legislature. Revised Code of Washington 4.16.040 – Actions Limited to Six Years
When the Clock Starts
The countdown does not begin when you opened the account or borrowed the money. It begins on the date of your default: the first missed payment that was never made up. If you fell behind, made some payments to catch part of it, and then stopped paying again, the clock runs from that final payment.
A concrete example. Say your credit card payment was due July 1, 2024, and you never paid it or anything after. The six-year clock started that day and would run out around July 1, 2030.
What Pauses the Clock
Washington has a tolling statute, RCW 4.16.180, that freezes the countdown for any period you spend living outside the state. Time away from Washington does not count.3Washington State Legislature. RCW 4.16.180 – Statute Tolled by Absence From State, Concealment, Etc
Imagine two years remain on a six-year debt when you move to Oregon. You stay there three years, then return. Those three years do not count against the deadline, so two years still remain on the clock when you come back. People who split time between states or relocate temporarily often assume the countdown kept ticking while they were gone. It did not.
What Resets the Clock
A short list of actions can restart the entire limitation period from zero. RCW 4.16.280 spells out what qualifies.4Washington State Legislature. RCW 4.16.280 – New Promise Must Be in Writing
- Any payment on the debt. Even a small partial payment of principal or interest restarts the full period, regardless of the amount.
- A signed written acknowledgment or promise to pay. A letter, email, or agreement in which you acknowledge the debt or promise to pay it can reset the clock, but it has to be in writing and signed by you.
What does not reset the clock matters just as much. Talking to a collector on the phone, disputing the debt, or telling a collector you refuse to pay does not restart anything. Collectors sometimes suggest that any contact restarts the deadline. Washington law does not back that up. The triggers are a payment or a signed writing, nothing else.
What Happens After the Deadline Passes
An expired statute of limitations does not erase the debt. You still technically owe the money. What changes is that the creditor can no longer win a lawsuit against you to collect it.
If a collector sues on a time-barred debt anyway, the expired deadline is an absolute defense, but you have to raise it yourself in your response. A judge will not check the dates for you. Ignore the lawsuit and the collector can take a default judgment even on an ancient debt. File a response asserting the statute of limitations defense and the case gets dismissed.
Federal law tightens this further. Under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and the CFPB’s Regulation F, a third-party debt collector cannot sue or threaten to sue on a debt they know is time-barred, and Regulation F treats this as a strict liability violation.5Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (Regulation F) – Time-Barred Debt The rule covers explicit threats and implicit ones, such as letters suggesting the debt is legally enforceable when it is not.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1692e – False or Misleading Representations
Collectors can still contact you about expired debt and ask you to pay voluntarily. What they cannot do is misrepresent your legal exposure. If a call implies a lawsuit is coming on a very old debt, document it. That may be an FDCPA violation you can act on.
If a Creditor Sues Before the Deadline and Wins
The calculus flips completely once a creditor files suit within the limitation period and gets a judgment. In Washington, a judgment is enforceable for 10 years, and the creditor can renew it once by filing a motion within 90 days before the first period expires. The renewal is granted as a matter of right, so the maximum enforcement window runs up to 20 years.7Washington State Legislature. RCW 6.17.020 – Execution Authorized Within 10 Years, Exceptions, Fee, Recoverable Cost
A judgment also unlocks collection tools the creditor did not have before, including wage garnishment and bank account seizure. That is why the original deadline matters. Once judgment is entered, the three- or six-year window is behind you, replaced by a far longer enforcement clock.
Credit Reports Run on a Separate Clock
One of the most common points of confusion is the assumption that the statute of limitations and the credit reporting period are the same. They are not.
Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, a delinquent debt can appear on your credit report for seven years, measured from 180 days after the first delinquency that was never cured.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681c – Requirements Relating to Information Contained in Consumer Reports A payment that restarts the statute of limitations does not restart the credit reporting clock, and a debt falling off your credit report does not mean the statute of limitations is up.
For a six-year written contract debt, the two windows end up close in length but start on slightly different dates. For a three-year oral debt, the gap is much wider: the debt can still be on your credit report years after the creditor’s right to sue has expired.
Tax Consequences If the Debt Is Written Off
If a creditor formally cancels a debt of $600 or more, the IRS treats the forgiven balance as taxable income. The creditor sends you a Form 1099-C, and you report the amount on your return. The IRS specifically lists expiration of a statute of limitations as a triggering event for a 1099-C, so even a time-barred debt can produce a tax bill when the creditor writes it off.9Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Forms 1099-A and 1099-C
There are exceptions worth knowing. If you were insolvent when the debt was canceled, meaning your total liabilities exceeded the fair market value of your total assets, you can exclude the forgiven amount from income up to the extent of that insolvency by filing IRS Form 982 with your return. A separate exclusion applies if the cancellation happened during a bankruptcy case.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 108 – Income From Discharge of Indebtedness
People with old, unpaid debt often qualify for the insolvency exclusion without realizing it. If your debts outweigh your assets on the date of cancellation, run the numbers before paying tax on income that may be excludable.