Debt collectors in Kentucky

Credit cards: No Kentucky appellate decision on credit-card classification was confirmed. A secondary source reports that two 2014 E.D. Ky. FDCPA decisions (Conway v. Portfolio Recovery Associates; Fulk v. LVNV Funding LLC) held an unsigned card agreement is not a 'written contract', so the 5-year period for contracts not in writing (KRS 413.120(1)) applies. That is the most likely result for a typical unsigned card. Where a creditor produces a signed agreement, the written-contract period could apply: 15 years under KRS 413.090(2) if executed on or before July 15, 2014, or 10 years under KRS 413.160 if executed after. Per the brief's conservative rule the field holds the longest plausible period (15).

Payments and acknowledgments: (a) While the period is running: under Kentucky common law a part payment or an unqualified acknowledgment to the creditor restarts the period (City of Louisa v. Horton, 263 Ky. 739, 93 S.W.2d 620 (1935), as reported by a secondary source; not read in the original). (b) After expiry: a clear, unconditional new promise can support a suit, but on the new promise rather than the original debt. No Kentucky statute bars revival of time-barred consumer debt, and there is no creditor-type distinction.

Judgments: KRS 413.090(1): an action on a judgment must be brought within 15 years, 'computed from the date of the last execution thereon', so issuing a new execution restarts the 15 years; an action on the judgment can also produce a new judgment.

Written contracts, 10 years: Written contract executed after July 15, 2014 (2014 Ky. Acts ch. 142). Contracts executed on or before that date keep 15 years. (KRS 413.160; KRS 413.090(2))

Credit cards, 10 years: If a court treats the card agreement as a written contract and the agreement was executed after July 15, 2014. The likeliest result for a typical unsigned card agreement is 5 years (credit_card_alt_years). (KRS 413.160; KRS 413.120(1))

Other rules: 2014 amendment: 2014 Ky. Acts ch. 142 (HB 369), effective July 15, 2014, moved written contracts executed after July 15, 2014 to the 10-year period in KRS 413.160. Contracts executed on or before that date keep the 15-year period of KRS 413.090(2). The rule turns on the contract's EXECUTION date, not the default date. Credit cards are genuinely unsettled. 5 years is the likely period for an unsigned card agreement (federal district-court holdings, reported secondhand). Signed agreements raise the 10/15-year argument, and it is unclear which 'execution' date applies to card agreements amended by change-in-terms notices. A tool that can ask the account-opening date could use 10 for accounts opened after July 15, 2014. The borrowing statute KRS 413.320 can shorten the period for claims that accrued in another state. Notes: KRS 413.120(7) (5 yrs) overlaps with UCC KRS 355.3-118 (6 yrs). For negotiable notes the 6-year UCC period is the usual reading, but this was not confirmed by a Kentucky case. Kentucky has no state FDCPA-type statute; no state revival ban or time-barred-suit ban was found (federal FDCPA/Reg F still bind debt collectors). The official KRS site (apps.legislature.ky.gov) was unreachable; statute text was read on FindLaw (marked current as of Jan 1, 2025).

• open account: KRS 413.120(1) (contract not in writing, 5 yrs); KRS 413.120(9)-(10) (merchant/store and trade accounts, 5 yrs)
• written contract: KRS 413.090(2) (15 yrs; written contracts executed on/before July 15, 2014); KRS 413.160 (10 yrs; written contracts executed after July 15, 2014)
• oral contract: KRS 413.120(1)
• promissory note: KRS 355.3-118(1) (6 yrs, negotiable note payable at a definite time); cf. KRS 413.120(7) (5 yrs for notes 'placed upon the footing of a bill of exchange')
• judgment: KRS 413.090(1)
• payment restarts: City of Louisa v. Horton, 263 Ky. 739, 93 S.W.2d 620 (1935) (via secondary source)
• other: KRS 413.320 (borrowing statute: a shorter limitation period from the state where the claim arose applies)

Sources: codes.findlaw.com · codes.findlaw.com · ezel.ai