Oregon Medical Debt Statute of Limitations

Every state, including Oregon, has laws that limit how long you have to file a lawsuit, known as a statute of limitations. In Oregon, any creditor to whom you owe money has a limited amount of time to sue you to recover a debt you have failed to pay. Talk to an Oregon attorney for legal advice about medical debts and statutes of limitations.

Kinds of Debts and Their Limitations

Debts are typically incurred in one of four ways: through a written contract, an oral agreement or oral contract, an open-ended account and a promissory note. Oregon Revised Statutes section 12.080 includes all of these debts in a single statute of limitations. Any actions to recover debts incurred in Oregon, medical or otherwise, must begin within six years from the date when the debtor defaulted on the terms of the debt.

Medical Debts

Most medical debts are usually considered written contracts. For example, when you go to a dentist and are asked to fill out the paperwork before the dentist sees you, these usually include terms of payment. When you sign these agreements, that constitutes entering into a written contract. However, you may sometimes enter into oral or acknowledged agreements for medical services, though these are more rare than written contracts. Either way, Oregon's statute of limitations is the same for any debts.

Time Frame

The statute of limitations imposes a duty on the creditor, meaning it is the creditor's job to file a lawsuit to try to recover the debt before the statute of limitations expires. For example, if you go to the doctor and never pay your bill, the doctor must sue you within six years. As long as she does, she meets the statute of limitations and the court will hear her case. Even if she files one day before the statute expires and the case drags on for years, the statute of limitations has still been met because she started the case before it expired.

Judgements

If a creditor sues you for an unpaid medical debt, and wins, the creditor then has a limited time to collect on the judgment. The judgment is subject to a different statute of limitations that begins ticking once the court grants it. Oregon Revised Statutes section 12.070 states that all judgments must be acted upon within 10 years.