Debt collectors in Wisconsin

Credit cards: Wis. Stat. 893.43 gives 6 years for an action on 'any other contract, obligation, or liability, express or implied', so written, oral, and open-account claims get the same period. The Wisconsin State Law Library lists 893.43 as the debt-collection limitation statute. Secondary sources describe the claim as accruing at default under the Wisconsin Consumer Act.

Payments and acknowledgments: Wis. Stat. 893.05 provides that when the limitation period on a Wisconsin cause of action expires, 'the right is extinguished as well as the remedy'. That makes it doubtful that a post-expiry payment or acknowledgment can revive the debt, but no express Wisconsin revival rule or case law was verified this session. Whether a part payment or written acknowledgment made before expiry restarts the period could not be confirmed; chapter 893 as recodified in 1979 is not known to contain an acknowledgment section.

Judgments: An action on a judgment of a court of record must be commenced within 20 years after entry (Wis. Stat. 893.40). The judgment lien on real property lasts 10 years (Wis. Stat. 806.15). Execution after the first 5 years is understood to require leave of court (815.04). None of this judgment text could be re-read this session.

Other rules: LOW-VERIFICATION STATE. docs.legis.wisconsin.gov refused connections all session, FindLaw/Justia/Casetext/counselstack mirrors were unavailable (404/403/429), wicourts.gov returned 403, and the web-search budget ran out. The 6-year (893.43), 20-year (893.40), 10-year lien (806.15), and extinguishment (893.05) figures come from prior knowledge plus the WI State Law Library statute pointers, and were NOT re-read from statute text. Please re-verify. The task brief suggested a Wisconsin Consumer Act limit (ch. 425, e.g. 6 years from default) might exist; none could be confirmed. The WCA's 427.104(1)(j) bars claiming or enforcing a right the collector knows does not exist, which may reach suits on extinguished debts, but it is not an express time-barred-suit ban. DFI-Bkg 74.16 contains no time-barred provision. Wisconsin's extinguishment rule is unusual: the debt itself, not just the remedy, ends when the period runs. Lead-agent re-check (2026-11-12): docs.legis.wisconsin.gov and legis.wisconsin.gov still refused connections and FindLaw's Wisconsin section pages 404'd, so the figures still rest on well-established prior knowledge plus the State Law Library's pointer to 893.43 as the contract statute. Treat as needing official confirmation before launch.

• open account: Wis. Stat. 893.43
• written contract: Wis. Stat. 893.43
• oral contract: Wis. Stat. 893.43
• promissory note: Wis. Stat. 403.118 (UCC 3-118) - not re-verified
• judgment: Wis. Stat. 893.40; lien 806.15
• other: Wis. Stat. 893.05 (expiry extinguishes the right as well as the remedy); Wis. Admin. Code DFI-Bkg 74.16 (collection-agency prohibited practices; read on LII, contains no time-barred-debt rule)

Sources: wilawlibrary.gov · wilawlibrary.gov · law.cornell.edu