Debt collectors in Alaska

Credit cards: AS 09.10.053 sets 3 years for any action 'upon a contract or liability, express or implied'. Credit-card debt gets 3 years whether it is treated as a written contract, an open account or an implied contract, so the classification question does not matter.

Payments and acknowledgments: An acknowledgment or promise must be in writing and signed to take a case out of the statute, but AS 09.10.200 expressly 'does not alter the effect of any payment of principal or interest'. Under the common law that section preserves, a part payment extends the period, and search summaries report that Madden v. Alaska Mortgage Group (Alaska Supreme Court, No. S-9428) recognized that a part payment can extend or revive the period (opinion text not read). A signed written acknowledgment also works, including after expiry (Walker v. White, Alaska 1980, per search summary). No statute bars revival of consumer debt.

Judgments: Execution issues as of right for 5 years after entry; after that only by leave of court, which must be granted on just and sufficient reasons for the delay (AS 09.35.020). A recorded real-property lien lasts while execution may issue but not more than 10 years from entry; after it lapses the court may still grant leave to issue execution, creating a new lien (AS 09.30.010). An action on the judgment must be brought within 10 years (AS 09.10.040). 10 is used as the practical outer limit; enforcement past 10 years by leave of court may be possible, so treat old Alaska judgments as possibly still enforceable.

Other rules: All statute text was read on the official Alaska Legislature site (Alaska Statutes 2025). AS 09.10.053 applies 'except if the provisions of this section are waived by contract', an unusual waiver clause. Sealed instruments get 10 years (AS 09.10.040). No time-barred-debt provision was found in AS 08.24 (collection agencies). The Alaska Court System self-help debt page (courts.alaska.gov) could not be reached for a cross-check.

• open account: AS 09.10.053
• written contract: AS 09.10.053
• oral contract: AS 09.10.053
• promissory note: AS 45.03.118(a)
• judgment: AS 09.35.020; AS 09.30.010; AS 09.10.040
• payment restarts: AS 09.10.200
• other: AS 09.10.040 (10 yrs, sealed instruments)

Sources: akleg.gov · akleg.gov · akleg.gov