Debt collectors in Alabama

Credit cards: No Alabama Supreme Court or Court of Civil Appeals decision squarely classifies credit-card debt. Federal courts in Alabama apply the 6-year period of Ala. Code 6-2-34 as an account stated or simple contract (In re Qureshi, Bankr. S.D. Ala. Apr. 11, 2023, collecting Brown v. Encore Capital Group (N.D. Ala. 2015), In re Bunch (Bankr. N.D. Ala. 2014), In re Pritchett (Bankr. N.D. Ala. 2006), In re Taylor (Bankr. M.D. Ala. 2015)), and Cook v. Midland Funding, LLC, 208 So. 3d 1153 (Ala. Civ. App. 2016) held a defendant cannot recast a creditor's account-stated claim as an open account to get the shorter period. The shorter alternative is the 3-year open/unliquidated-account period of 6-2-37, which a debtor can still argue when the claim is pleaded and proved only as an open account.

Payments and acknowledgments: (a) Before the period runs: a partial payment by the debtor removes the bar and restarts the period (Ala. Code 6-2-16; In re Qureshi). (b) After it has run: under 6-2-16 a partial payment works only if made 'before the bar is complete'. A barred debt can be revived only by an unconditional written promise signed by the debtor. No creditor-type distinction.

Judgments: After 10 years without revival a judgment is presumed satisfied and the creditor bears the burden of proving nonpayment (Ala. Code 6-9-191); it can be revived by motion, but never after 20 years from entry (6-9-190). An action on a judgment must be brought within 20 years (6-2-32). See 623 Partners, LLC v. Bowers, LLC (Ala. 2021): the presumption extends to the underlying debt.

Other rules: The official ALISON code site is a JavaScript app and Justia returned 403, so the statute text was read on PocketLaw (unofficial). A 2016 bill (SB288) would have put credit and revolving accounts expressly into the 3-year rule of 6-2-37. The current 6-2-37 shows no amendment after the 1940 Code, so a consumer site's claim that it was amended in 2016 appears wrong. Alabama has no state debt-collection statute addressing time-barred debt. Contracts under seal get 10 years (6-2-33). Alabama Supreme Court decisions applying 7-3-118 hold that a negotiable note gets 6 years even if sealed (per search summaries; not read in full).

• open account: Ala. Code 6-2-37(1) (3 yrs, open or unliquidated account); Ala. Code 6-2-34(4), (5), (9) (6 yrs, written promise, stated or liquidated account, simple contract)
• written contract: Ala. Code 6-2-34(4)
• oral contract: Ala. Code 6-2-34(9) (simple contract); 6-2-37 if only an open account
• promissory note: Ala. Code 7-3-118(a)
• judgment: Ala. Code 6-9-190, 6-9-191, 6-2-32
• payment restarts: Ala. Code 6-2-16
• other: Ala. Code 6-2-33(1) (10 yrs, contract or writing under seal)

Sources: alsb.uscourts.gov · getpocketlaw.com · getpocketlaw.com