When a person takes out a debt, he is legally obligated to pay back the debt for the rest of his life. However, the debt is only legally enforceable -- meaning the creditor can only sue him for failure to pay it back -- for a finite period of time. The statute of limitations for a debt in Texas is four years for most types of debts, although certain factors can affect this.
Debt Collection
A debt collector can, technically, collect a debt for an indefinite period of time. However, to prevent a person from being hounded by creditors for the rest of their lives on debts that are decades old, a creditor can only sue before the statute of limitations on the collection of the debt has expired. The start of this time limit begins when the loan goes into default.
Statute of Limitations in Texas
The statute of limitations for the collection of a debt in Texas is four years. Most states allow different statutes of limitations for different types of debts and break down debts into open accounts, promissory notes, oral agreements and written contracts. In Texas, the statute is the same across the board.
Civil Judgments
The only exception to the statute of limitations is for the collection of civil judgments awarded in court cases. If a person sues another person and is awarded a civil judgment, whether stemming from a debt contract or from another type of injury, the person has ten years to collect on this judgment. Most of the same debt collection methods are available to this party as to parties owed money from another kind of debt.
Renewal
A creditor cannot generally file to have the statute of limitations on the collection of a debt extended past four years. However, a person who has been awarded damages in a civil lawsuit can generally petition a judge to have the statute renewed. This means that the judge will reset the statute to allow another ten years for collection. Theoretically, a civil judgment could be enforced indefinitely.
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