Debt collectors in Washington

Credit cards: RCW 4.16.040(1) gives 6 years for a contract in writing. RCW 4.16.040(2) (added 2007 c 124) separately gives 6 years for an 'account receivable', defined as any obligation for payment incurred in the ordinary course of the claimant's business, whether or not written. RCW 4.16.080(3) (3 years for unwritten contracts) is expressly made subject to 4.16.040(2). So credit card debt gets 6 years whether or not the creditor can produce a written agreement. No Washington appellate credit-card case was confirmed in this pass.

Payments and acknowledgments: (a) Before expiry: RCW 4.16.270 (as amended 2019 c 377) says a payment made after the due date but before the limitation period expires restarts the period from the most recent payment. A signed written acknowledgment or promise also takes the case out of the statute (RCW 4.16.280). (b) After expiry: 'Any payment on the contract made after the limitation period has expired shall not restart, revive, or extend the limitation period' (4.16.270), and an acknowledgment or promise made after expiry does not either (4.16.280). These are general statutes, so they apply to ALL creditors, not only debt buyers.

Judgments: Execution, garnishment, or other process may issue within 10 years from entry or filing (RCW 6.17.020(1)). Within 90 days before the 10 years expire, the holder may apply for an additional 10 years, granted as of right subject to timeliness and accounting issues (6.17.020(3)). A district court judgment transcribed to superior court is extended only in superior court. No judgment is enforceable more than 20 years from entry (6.17.020(7)). Actions on judgments get 10 years unless extended (RCW 4.16.020(2)). The last amendment is 2022 c 260; no consumer-debt-specific judgment rule appears in the current text.

Other rules: All statute text was read on the official RCW site: 4.16.020, 4.16.040, 4.16.080, 4.16.270, 4.16.280, 6.17.020, 19.16.250, 62A.3-118. The 2019 amendments (c 377) bar post-expiry revival by payment or acknowledgment for all creditors. RCW 19.16.250(23), last amended 2025 c 145, bars licensed collection agencies from suing or arbitrating on time-barred claims; it does not bind original creditors collecting their own debts. 19.16.250(28)-(29) add medical and hospital debt rules. Oral contracts get 3 years, but the account-receivable clause keeps credit cards at 6.

• open account: RCW 4.16.040(1), (2)
• written contract: RCW 4.16.040(1)
• oral contract: RCW 4.16.080(3)
• promissory note: RCW 62A.3-118(a)
• judgment: RCW 6.17.020; RCW 4.16.020(2)
• payment restarts: RCW 4.16.270; RCW 4.16.280 (both amended 2019 c 377)
• other: RCW 19.16.250(23): licensees (collection agencies, which in WA include debt buyers collecting purchased claims) may not 'Bring an action or initiate an arbitration proceeding on a claim when the licensee knows, or reasonably should know, that such suit or arbitration is barred by the applicable statute of limitations'

Sources: app.leg.wa.gov · app.leg.wa.gov · app.leg.wa.gov