Debt collectors in Ohio

Credit cards: The current R.C. 2305.07(C) says an action 'arising out of a consumer transaction incurred primarily for personal, family, or household purposes', on any contract, express or implied, 'including an account stated, whether or not reduced to writing or signed', must be commenced within 6 years. It applies notwithstanding 2305.07(A)/(B), 1302.98 and the borrowing statute, and the claim accrues 30 calendar days after the later of the last charge or payment. That settles consumer credit cards at 6 years whether the card is treated as written or oral. Before (C), Ohio courts split between the written-contract period (8 years before 2021 SB 13, 6 after) and the oral/account period (6 before SB 13, 4 after). For accounts that defaulted before mid-2021, transitional rules could matter; see notes.

Payments and acknowledgments: R.C. 2305.08: once payment is made, or a written acknowledgment or promise is signed by the party charged, an action may be brought within the 2305.06/2305.07 periods after that payment, acknowledgment or promise. For consumer transactions, 2305.07(C) also restarts accrual: 30 days after the later of the last charge or the last payment. Read literally, 2305.08 makes no distinction between payment before and after expiry. I found no Ohio statute barring revival of time-barred consumer debt, and Ohio has no state FDCPA.

Judgments: R.C. 2329.07(B)(1): a judgment not in favor of the state goes dormant (and stops being a lien) unless, within 5 years of the judgment or its last renewal, one of these happens: an execution issues, a certificate of judgment is issued and filed, a garnishment order is issued or continuing, or an aid-of-execution proceeding is commenced or continuing. Each of these counts as a 'renewal', so a judgment can be kept alive indefinitely. A dormant judgment can be revived (R.C. 2325.15 ff.) only within 10 years after it went dormant (R.C. 2325.18(A)). Interest does not accrue while it is dormant (2325.18(B)). State judgments get 10/15 years (2329.07(B)(2)).

Credit cards, 8 years: Only for accounts that defaulted before 2021 SB 13 took effect (reported as June 16, 2021) AND only if a court treats the card agreement as a written contract under the old 8-year R.C. 2305.06. SB 13's uncodified transition rule (recalled, NOT verified against the session law) cuts such claims off at the earlier of the old period or 6 years after the effective date (about June 16, 2027). Whether the newer 6-year consumer-transaction rule in 2305.07(C) applies retroactively was not confirmed. (R.C. 2305.06 (pre-2021 version); 2021 SB 13 transition section (unverified))

Other rules: Every Ohio .gov site (codes.ohio.gov, legislature.ohio.gov, supremecourt.ohio.gov, lsc.ohio.gov) refused connections from this environment, by direct fetch and in the browser. All text is from FindLaw, labelled current as of 2026-01-01. Not confirmed: (1) which act added 2305.07(C) and rewrote 2305.03, and when. 2021 SB 13 (eff. reportedly June 16, 2021) cut 2305.06 from 8 to 6 years and 2305.07 from 6 to 4, and I believe it did not contain (C), so (C) is probably later legislation. Before that, the Ohio Supreme Court in Taylor v. First Resolution (2016) applied the borrowing statute to a credit-card claim; the current 2305.03 now limits that to tort actions except where foreign-rate interest is sought. (2) SB 13's uncodified transition rule. From memory, claims that accrued before the effective date expire at the earlier of the old period or 6 years (written) / 4 years (oral) after the effective date. If so, a card treated as a written contract that defaulted between about late 2018 and mid-2021 could be suable until about June 2027, which is more than 6 years after default. The lead may want a conservative override for pre-mid-2021 Ohio defaults. (3) The transition rule, if any, for 2305.07(C). Practical point under 2305.03(D): if a plaintiff seeks post-charge-off interest at an out-of-state contract rate above Ohio's statutory rate, the shorter foreign limit (e.g. Delaware 3 years) can apply. 2329.07 in its current form lists garnishment and aid-of-execution as renewal events, and 2325.18(A) is 10 years (formerly 21). Both look like recent amendments, but I could not confirm when. Accrual quirk worth building into a checker: under 2305.07(C) a consumer-transaction claim accrues 30 calendar days after the later of the last charge or the last payment (text re-confirmed on FindLaw, current as of 2026-01-01; enacting act not identified).

• open account: Ohio Rev. Code § 2305.07(C) (consumer transactions, 6 yrs, accrual 30 days after last charge/payment)
• written contract: Ohio Rev. Code § 2305.06
• oral contract: Ohio Rev. Code § 2305.07(A)
• promissory note: Ohio Rev. Code § 1303.16(A)
• judgment: Ohio Rev. Code §§ 2329.07, 2325.15, 2325.18
• payment restarts: Ohio Rev. Code § 2305.08
• other: Ohio Rev. Code § 2305.03(B)-(D): borrowing statute now limited to tort actions (B), except that contract/consumer-transaction actions seeking post-default or post-charge-off interest at a foreign-law rate above the R.C. 5703.47 rate are barred if the other state's period has run (C), (D)

Sources: codes.findlaw.com · codes.findlaw.com · codes.findlaw.com