Time-Barred Debts: Debts with Expired Statue of Limitations

There are plenty of debts out there which are known as "Time-Barred." To put it simply, a Time-Barred debt is a debt which is too old to be collected through a normal court process. That means the debt's owner doesn't have to worry about legal action being filed against them from their creditors or from collectors hired to acquire their debt. While it's not impossible to collect on a time-barred debt, it is highly unlikely you will be able to do so. After all, without the threat of legal action there's a slim chance of a debtor complying with a collector's wishes. 

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What constitutes a Time-Barred debt, and the length of time needed to pass before a debt's statute of limitations expires, varies from state to state. For some states a debt might become Time-Barred within 3 years of it being owed. For other states the statute of limitations on a debt might not run out for at least a decade. To find out whether a debt is Time-Barred or not you need to learn the law of your state. You can also call the office of your state's Attorney General to find out when a debt becomes, essentially, uncollectable.

These laws not only protect a debtor from legal action, they also protect debtors from overly aggressive collectors looking to acquire payments off of the expired debt. If a debtor has been harassed or aggressively pursued by a debt collector over a Time-Barred debt then that debtor is legally able to sue the collector or the creditor itself. If you are a creditor then you likely don't want to be taken to court over a debt you can't collect on, and you likewise don't want to expose your creditor clients to legal processes due to your behavior. So while Time-Barred debts can technically be paid back, they often aren't worth pursuing.