Debt collectors in Wyoming

Credit cards: Wyo. Stat. 1-3-105(a)(i) gives 10 years for 'a specialty or any contract, agreement or promise in writing', and 1-3-105(a)(ii)(A) gives 8 years for 'a contract not in writing, either express or implied'. A credit card governed by written cardmember terms most likely gets 10 years. A court treating the account as unwritten or an open account would apply 8. No Wyoming appellate credit-card SOL decision was found, so 10 is used conservatively.

Payments and acknowledgments: Wyo. Stat. 1-3-119: 'When payment has been made upon any demand founded on contract or a written acknowledgment thereof, or promise to pay the same has been made and signed by the party to be charged, the time for commencing an action runs from the date of such payment, acknowledgment or promise.' The statute does not distinguish payments before and after expiry, so on its face a post-expiry payment or signed acknowledgment also starts a new period. No debt-buyer rule or revival bar was found.

Judgments: A judgment becomes dormant, and stops being a lien, if execution does not issue within 5 years of the judgment, or if 5 years pass between executions (Wyo. Stat. 1-17-307). Issuing execution at least every 5 years keeps it alive. A dormant judgment may be revived by motion or conditional order, with the lien revived from the motion or order (1-16-502). No revival action may be brought more than 10 years after the judgment becomes dormant, longer for disability or child support (1-16-503).

Other rules: Statute text was read from the official Wyoming Legislature title PDFs: Title 1 (1-3-105, 1-3-117, 1-3-119, 1-16-502, 1-16-503, 1-17-307) and Title 34.1 (34.1-3-118). Titles 33 (collection agencies) and 40 (consumer protection and UCCC) were scanned and contain no time-barred-debt, suit-ban, or revival provision. Unusual rules: the 5-year window for debts incurred before the debtor moved to Wyoming, the borrowing statute, and a judgment that goes dormant after 5 years without execution. A promissory note under UCC 34.1-3-118 gets 6 years, which is less than the 10 for other written contracts. Secondary sources often list Wyoming open accounts at 8 years.

• open account: Wyo. Stat. 1-3-105(a)(i) (10 yrs written) / (a)(ii)(A) (8 yrs unwritten)
• written contract: Wyo. Stat. 1-3-105(a)(i)
• oral contract: Wyo. Stat. 1-3-105(a)(ii)(A)
• promissory note: Wyo. Stat. 34.1-3-118(a)
• judgment: Wyo. Stat. 1-17-307; 1-16-502; 1-16-503
• payment restarts: Wyo. Stat. 1-3-119
• other: Wyo. Stat. 1-3-105(a)(iii): a foreign claim or contract that accrued before the debtor became a Wyoming resident must be sued within 5 years after the debtor establishes Wyoming residence; 1-3-117 borrowing statute (barred in Wyoming if barred where it arose)

Sources: wyoleg.gov · wyoleg.gov