Statute of Limitations on Debt in Virginia: 5 Years Signed, 3 Years Unsigned

In Virginia, how long a creditor has to sue you depends mostly on one detail: whether there’s a written agreement you signed. Signed written contracts get five years. Unsigned writings and oral agreements get three [1]. Once a creditor wins in court, the judgment itself lasts much longer.

Signed or not: 5 years or 3

Virginia’s contract deadline turns on the signature. An action on a contract “in writing and signed by the party to be charged,” or that party’s agent, has to be brought within five years [1]. If the writing wasn’t signed by the person being sued, or there was no writing at all, the limit is three years [1].

That’s why the answer for a credit card or store account isn’t always the same. Virginia’s code has no special deadline for consumer open accounts [1]. Whether your account falls under the five-year or the three-year rule depends on whether the creditor can show a written agreement you signed.

Medical debt

Medical bills have their own rule. A suit to collect medical debt must be brought within three years from the due date of the final invoice, unless a payment plan allows longer. If you break a payment plan, the creditor has three years from that breach [1]. This rule doesn’t apply to services paid through programs run by the Department of Medical Assistance Services [1].

Debts governed by another state’s law

Many credit agreements say another state’s law applies. Virginia law says no one can sue in Virginia on a contract governed by another state’s law if the claim is too old under either that state’s law or Virginia’s [3]. So the shorter of the two deadlines controls.

What can restart the clock

Under Virginia’s code, a new promise to pay, in writing and signed by you or your agent, gives the creditor a fresh deadline counted from the date of that promise [2]. A written acknowledgment of the debt can count too, if a promise to pay can be read into it [2].

What “time-barred” means

A debt is time-barred once the deadline to sue has passed. Collectors can still ask you to pay, but they can’t sue or threaten to sue you over it [7].

If you’re sued anyway, the deadline doesn’t protect you automatically. It’s up to the person being sued to tell the court that the time has run out [7]. Read the warrant or summons, come to court on the return date, and raise it. If you don’t show up, the court can enter a judgment against you.

Judgments last much longer

Once a creditor wins, the judgment has its own clock:

• Judgments entered on or after July 1, 2021: enforceable for 10 years. Recording a certificate before time runs out extends it 10 more years, and one more extension is allowed [4].
• Judgments entered before July 1, 2021: 20 years [4].
• General district court judgments: 10 years from the date of the judgment [5].

A judgment changes the math: even if the original debt was close to its deadline, a judgment can be enforced for years afterward.

The credit report clock is different

How long a debt can appear on your credit report is a federal rule, separate from Virginia’s deadline to sue. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, collection accounts and charged-off accounts generally can’t be reported once they’re more than seven years old, with the seven years starting 180 days after the delinquency began [6]. A debt can drop off your report while it’s still collectible in court, or stay on your report after the deadline to sue has passed.

Accurate information can be reported for that full period. If an account is wrong, or still listed after the reporting period ends, you can dispute it with the credit bureaus for free. For more on the federal timelines, see BestAmerica’s guide to how long negative items stay on a credit report.

Where to get help

• Legal aid: Virginia’s legal aid programs can help eligible people answer a debt lawsuit.
• Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (consumerfinance.gov): takes complaints about debt collectors [7].
• A consumer attorney: worth a call if you’re sued on an old debt, or on a card governed by another state’s law.