Debt collectors in West Virginia

Credit cards: W. Va. Code 55-2-6 gives 10 years for a contract in writing signed by the party to be charged (or under seal), and 5 years for 'any other contract, express or implied'. A credit card claim gets 10 years if the creditor has a writing signed by the cardholder. An unsigned cardmember agreement or open account plausibly falls under 5 years. The partnership and merchant-account rule (5 years from cessation of dealings) is merchant-only. No West Virginia appellate credit-card decision was confirmed, so 10 is the conservative figure.

Payments and acknowledgments: W. Va. Code 55-2-8: a debtor's 'writing signed by him or his agent' promising payment lets the creditor sue on the promise. A written acknowledgment from which a promise may be implied counts. But 'no promise, except by writing as aforesaid, shall take any case out of the operation of the said sixth section', so on the statute's text an unwritten implied promise, such as part payment alone, does not restart the period. West Virginia case law on part payment was not verified. The writing rule applies before or after expiry and to all creditors, and no statute bars revival by a signed writing.

Judgments: Execution may issue within 10 years after the judgment date. If execution issues, further executions may issue within 10 years from the return day of the last execution returned unsatisfied or with no return, so the judgment can be kept alive by repeated executions (W. Va. Code 38-3-18(a)). A scire facias or action on the judgment after a change of parties must be brought within the same 10-year windows, and within 5 years of qualification when brought against a decedent's personal representative (38-3-18(c)).

Other rules: The official code.wvlegislature.gov blocks automated access (it redirects to an FBI page), so all text came from FindLaw (current as of 2024-01-01). WV Code 46A-2-128(f) requires a disclosure telling the consumer the owner 'cannot sue you' for a time-barred debt. It binds WVCCPA 'debt collectors', a term that includes creditors collecting their own debts. It does not expressly prohibit suit in so many words, so time_barred_suit_banned is false, but suing after giving that disclosure would likely be a WVCCPA misrepresentation. 46A-2-128 contains no revival-by-payment rule. Signed writings and sealed contracts get 10 years, other contracts 5. A promissory note under UCC 46-3-118 gets 6, which is less than the 10 years for other signed writings.

• open account: W. Va. Code 55-2-6 (10 yrs signed writing / 5 yrs other contract)
• written contract: W. Va. Code 55-2-6
• oral contract: W. Va. Code 55-2-6
• promissory note: W. Va. Code 46-3-118(a)
• judgment: W. Va. Code 38-3-18
• payment restarts: W. Va. Code 55-2-8
• other: W. Va. Code 46A-2-128(f) (WVCCPA): when a debt is beyond the SOL, the collector must include in written communications 'The law limits how long you can be sued on a debt. Because of the age of your debt, (INSERT OWNER NAME) cannot sue you for it...', with a variant for debts past the FCRA reporting period

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