Debt collectors in Missouri

Credit cards: Capital One Bank v. Creed, 220 S.W.3d 874 (Mo. App. S.D. 2007): credit card suit governed by the 5-year statute (RSMo 516.120(1)), not the 10-year 'writing for the payment of money' statute (516.110(1)), because the bank produced no writing signed by the cardholder containing a promise to pay; card use/parol acceptance of an unsigned customer agreement does not create a written promise. A creditor holding a signed writing that itself contains the promise to pay could argue 10 years, but no Missouri appellate case applying 10 years to a credit card was found.

Payments and acknowledgments: (a) Before expiry: part payment of principal or interest keeps its common-law effect of restarting the period (RSMo 516.340 says the writing requirement does not lessen the effect of a payment; Creed assumed a partial payment could extend the period). A promise or acknowledgment counts only if it is in a writing signed by the debtor (516.320). (b) After expiry: no statute bars revival; the common-law rule that part payment or a signed acknowledgment revives was not separately verified. No distinction between original creditors and debt buyers.

Judgments: Yes. RSMo 516.350: judgment presumed paid 10 years after rendition, revival on personal service, or last payment entered on the record; after that no execution may issue. Revival by motion under Mo. Sup. Ct. R. 74.09 filed within 10 years after entry, last payment of record, or last prior revival; each timely revival restarts the 10 years, so it can be revived repeatedly. Judgment lien follows the same 10-year life.

Other rules: The 10-year 516.110(1) period needs a writing that itself contains the debtor's promise to pay money (Creed; Hughes Dev. Co. v. Omega Realty is the Supreme Court case on that rule but I did not read it). Missouri's UCC 3-118(a) was changed from the uniform 6 years to 10 years. Some consumer sites list 10 years for credit cards, which contradicts Creed. The pending 2-year credit card bills (HB 1509 2025, HB 2793 2026) did not pass; only secondary bill trackers confirmed their status, not an official final-status page. There is no Missouri statute on time-barred consumer debt; federal Reg F, 12 CFR 1006.26(b), bars FDCPA debt collectors from suing or threatening suit. Missouri's borrowing statute (RSMo 516.190) exists but was not read.

• open account: RSMo 516.120(1); Capital One Bank v. Creed, 220 S.W.3d 874 (Mo. App. S.D. 2007)
• written contract: RSMo 516.110(1) (10 yrs for 'any writing ... for the payment of money or property'); other written contracts 5 yrs under 516.120(1)
• oral contract: RSMo 516.120(1)
• promissory note: RSMo 400.3-118(a) (Missouri's modified UCC: 10 years for notes payable at a definite time, and chapter 516 does not apply); non-negotiable signed notes: RSMo 516.110(1) (10 yrs)
• judgment: RSMo 516.350 (as amended eff. Aug. 28, 2014); Mo. Sup. Ct. R. 74.09
• payment restarts: RSMo 516.320, 516.340
• other: HB 2793 (2026) and HB 1509 (2025) would have cut credit card debt to 2 years (and other debt collection to 5); neither was enacted (HB 2793 last action was a House committee referral; the session ended May 2026).

Sources: revisor.mo.gov · revisor.mo.gov · static.case.law