Debt collectors in Connecticut

Credit cards: Conn. Gen. Stat. 52-576(a) gives 6 years to any 'action for an account, or on any simple or implied contract, or on any contract in writing'. A credit card gets 6 years whether it is treated as an account or as a written contract.

Payments and acknowledgments: (a) Before expiry: under Connecticut common law a part payment or acknowledgment tolls or restarts the period (the 52-576 annotations note that payment of interest keeps a claim alive). (b) After expiry: for debt BUYERS only (a creditor or consumer collection agency that purchased the debt), any later payment or oral or written affirmation of a time-barred consumer debt does not extend the period (Conn. Gen. Stat. 36a-814(c), P.A. 16-65). For original creditors, the common-law revival rules still apply.

Judgments: No execution may issue on a money judgment after 20 years from entry, and no action on it after 25 years. For small-claims judgments the limits are 10 years for execution and 15 years for an action (52-598(a)-(b)). A motion to revive can be filed before the enforcement period expires, but revival cannot extend enforcement beyond these periods (52-598(c)).

Other rules: All statute text was read on the official cga.ct.gov. The 3-year period of 52-581 is limited to executory oral contracts. When the creditor has fully performed (money lent or goods delivered), 52-576's 6 years applies (annotations cite 170 C. 243 and 76 CA 599), so oral consumer debts generally get 6 years. The 1971 amendment removed the separate treatment of sealed contracts (former 52-573 is repealed). The suit ban and revival bar in 36a-814 (P.A. 16-65) bind only debt buyers (purchasers of the debt) and their consumer collection agencies, not original creditors. The 36a-805(a)(14) disclosure begins 'The law limits how long you can be sued on a debt...'

• open account: Conn. Gen. Stat. 52-576(a)
• written contract: Conn. Gen. Stat. 52-576(a)
• oral contract: Conn. Gen. Stat. 52-581 (3 yrs, executory oral contracts only); 52-576 (6 yrs, executed oral contracts)
• promissory note: Conn. Gen. Stat. 42a-3-118(a)
• judgment: Conn. Gen. Stat. 52-598
• payment restarts: Common law; Conn. Gen. Stat. 36a-814(c) (debt buyers)
• other: Conn. Gen. Stat. 36a-814(b) (a creditor or consumer collection agency that purchased the debt may not sue when it knows or should know the period has expired); 36a-805(a)(14) (consumer collection agencies must give a time-barred-debt disclosure in the initial communication)

Sources: cga.ct.gov · cga.ct.gov · cga.ct.gov