This research guide provides information about your rights under Texas and federal law when dealing with debt and debt collectors.
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Once the statute of limitations period is up, debt collectors cannot sue to recover a debt.
Texas law gives someone a certain amount of time to bring a lawsuit for an unpaid debt. This time period is often commonly referred to as the statute of limitations.
Once the time period set out by the statute of limitations is up, a person is prohibited from filing suit to recover the debt. This means the debt is time-barred.
In the past, taking certain actions such as making a payment or verbally acknowledging that you owe the debt could restart the clock on the limitations period. This created a problem called zombie debt where the time period set out by the statute of limitations could be constantly restarted.
A new state law introduced in 2019 aims to protect people from zombie debt. This law prevents debt buyers from suing to try to collect the debt even if a payment is made on the debt after the statute of limitations has expired. It also requires debt buyers to provide written notice if they are taking action past the limitations period. Debt buyers are defined by Section 392.307 of the Texas Finance Code as a person who purchases a consumer’s debt from a creditor. Please see the statute for a full definition.
You still owe time-barred debts, but creditors and debt buyers lose their most powerful way of collecting — a lawsuit.
This section of the law, introduced in 2019, states that a payment on the debt (or any other activity) does not restart the clock on the statute of limitations for debt buyers. It also requires that debt buyers provide written notice to a consumer if the limitations period has expired.
New rules from the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau prevent debt collectors from suing or threatening to sue over time-barred debts. “Debt collectors” in this code are defined in section 1006.2(i) and can include the original creditor if they are using a different name.
This page from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau explains the concept of the statute of limitations and how it relates to debt.
This page explains the concept of "time-barred debts" and suggests options for dealing with a creditor, third-party debt collector, or debt buyer trying to collect them.
Unscrupulous creditors, third-party debt collectors, or debt buyers will try to intimidate you into paying debts that are past the statute of limitations. Read this page from Nolo to learn your rights when it comes to these old debts.
