Debt collectors in Maine

Credit cards: No special credit-card category: 14 M.R.S. §752 gives 6 years for all civil actions not otherwise provided for. Separately, 32 M.R.S. §11013(8) bars a debt collector (including any debt buyer) from starting a collection action more than 6 years after the consumer's last activity on the debt, 'notwithstanding any other applicable statute of limitations'. For accounts with mutual dealings, accrual is at the last item proved (14 M.R.S. §852).

Payments and acknowledgments: (a) While running: 14 M.R.S. §863 preserves 'the effect of payment of any principal or interest made by any person', so part payment restarts the period under the common-law rule. Under §860 an acknowledgment or new promise must be express, in writing and signed. (b) After expiry, for collection actions by debt collectors (which include debt buyers and creditors collecting under another name, but not original creditors collecting in their own name): 32 M.R.S. §11013(8) provides that any later payment, written or oral affirmation, or other activity 'does not revive or extend the limitations period'.

Judgments: 14 M.R.S. §864: a judgment is presumed paid and satisfied 20 years after the obligation accrued (child support excepted). Actions on judgments are excluded from the 6-year §752 period. No limit on issuing writs of execution was found (14 M.R.S. §4651-A only requires filing an execution within 3 years of issuance to create a lien). No formal renewal procedure was found; the 20-year presumption is the effective life.

Other rules: The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act rules in 32 M.R.S. §11013(7)-(8) bind 'debt collectors' as defined in §11002: third-party collectors, debt buyers ('a debt buyer is considered a debt collector for all purposes'), certain collection attorneys, and creditors using another name. Original creditors suing in their own name fall under the general 6-year §752 rule and the part-payment rule. The §11013(8) clock runs from the consumer's 'last activity on the debt', which is undefined and may differ from the accrual date. The §11013 history shows amendments through PL 2023 c. 663 and PL 2025 c. 488 and c. 649; the text read is current. Witnessed promissory notes and sealed contracts get 20 years (§751), which is rare in consumer lending.

• open account: 14 M.R.S. §752; 14 M.R.S. §852 (accrual of mutual accounts); 32 M.R.S. §11013(8) (debt collectors: 6 yrs from last activity)
• written contract: 14 M.R.S. §752 (6 yrs); 14 M.R.S. §751 (20 yrs for contracts under seal and witnessed promissory notes)
• oral contract: 14 M.R.S. §752
• promissory note: 11 M.R.S. §3-1118(1) (UCC, 6 yrs; referenced in 14 M.R.S. §751); 14 M.R.S. §751 (20 yrs if signed before an attesting witness)
• judgment: 14 M.R.S. §864; 14 M.R.S. §4651-A
• payment restarts: 14 M.R.S. §§860, 863; 32 M.R.S. §11013(8)
• other: 32 M.R.S. §11013(7) (debt collector may not initiate a collection action it knows or should know is time-barred); §11013(9)-(10) (debt-buyer documentation and transfer rules); 32 M.R.S. §11002 (definitions)

Sources: legislature.maine.gov · legislature.maine.gov · legislature.maine.gov