Debt collectors in Georgia

Credit cards: The Georgia Court of Appeals treats a credit card agreement as a simple written contract under O.C.G.A. s. 9-3-24 (6 yrs), not an open account under s. 9-3-25 (4 yrs), even when the cardholder accepted it by using the card rather than signing: Hill v. American Express, 289 Ga. App. 576, 657 S.E.2d 547 (2008). Phoenix Recovery Group v. Mehta, 291 Ga. App. 874, 663 S.E.2d 290 (2008) followed Hill and reversed a trial court that had applied 4 years. The 6-year rule assumes the creditor puts the written agreement in the record; without it, a debtor can argue the 4-year s. 9-3-25.

Payments and acknowledgments: O.C.G.A. s. 9-3-110 requires a new promise, whether it renews a barred claim or restarts a running period, to be in writing, in the debtor's own hand or subscribed by the debtor or an agent. Under s. 9-3-112, a payment counts as a new promise only if the debtor enters it on a written evidence of the debt, or makes it with another written acknowledgment of the existing liability. Older case law cited in annotations (e.g., Murray v. Lightsey, Ga. App. 1938) holds that bare partial payment is not enough. But SKC, Inc. v. eMag Solutions, LLC (Ga. Ct. App. No. A13A2121, Mar. 14, 2014) held that wire payments carrying notations identifying the account were written acknowledgments that restarted the 4-year period. So a payment with a written notation (e.g., a memo line identifying the account) can restart the clock. The same rule applies before and after expiry, with no creditor-type distinction.

Judgments: A judgment goes dormant if 7 years pass after rendition without execution being issued and entered on the general execution docket, or without docketed entries by an officer or recorded bona fide public efforts to enforce it (O.C.G.A. s. 9-12-60(a)). Each qualifying entry starts a new 7-year period (s. 9-12-60(b)), so a diligent creditor can keep a judgment alive indefinitely. A dormant judgment may be renewed or revived by action or scire facias within 3 years after it becomes dormant (s. 9-12-61). That is roughly 10 years if nothing is done. Child and spousal support judgments are exempt from dormancy (s. 9-12-60(d)).

Other rules: The official Georgia Code (LexisNexis-hosted) could not be fetched, so statute text came from an unofficial mirror (rulesofcivilprocedure.com, last verified July 2026). Per that mirror, s. 9-3-24 was last amended in 1996, s. 9-3-25 in 1962, s. 9-12-60 in 1997 and s. 9-12-61 in 1933. Hill was read via a case mirror. Phoenix was confirmed only via search-result summaries. Disagreements: several consumer sites say Georgia credit cards are 'usually 4 years' as open accounts, and the Alper Law 2026 chart's open-account column shows 4 for Georgia. That conflicts with Hill and Phoenix, which apply 6 years when the agreement is in the record. Alper also cites Houghton v. Sacor Financial, 337 Ga. App. 254 (2016) (assignee reversed; decided on timing, not on the missing agreement). One Georgia bankruptcy opinion misdescribes Phoenix as applying the 4-year period. No Georgia statute bans suing on time-barred consumer debt or bars revival of it.

• open account: O.C.G.A. s. 9-3-24; Hill v. American Express, 289 Ga. App. 576 (2008); Phoenix Recovery Group v. Mehta, 291 Ga. App. 874 (2008)
• written contract: O.C.G.A. s. 9-3-24 (simple contracts in writing; excludes UCC Art. 2 sales and Art. 3 negotiable instruments)
• oral contract: O.C.G.A. s. 9-3-25 (open account, contracts not under the hand of the party charged, implied promises)
• promissory note: O.C.G.A. s. 11-3-118(a) (per secondary source; s. 9-3-24 expressly excludes Art. 3 negotiable instruments)
• judgment: O.C.G.A. ss. 9-12-60, 9-12-61
• payment restarts: O.C.G.A. ss. 9-3-110, 9-3-112; SKC, Inc. v. eMag Solutions, LLC (Ga. Ct. App. 2014)
• other: O.C.G.A. s. 9-3-23 (20 yrs for instruments under seal, per secondary source)

Sources: rulesofcivilprocedure.com · hallapproved.com · rulesofcivilprocedure.com