State file — Massachusetts
Every number below names the law it comes from (its statute citation), checked October 18, 2026. Where a number comes from a secondary source instead of the official text, this page says so — double-check it before you rely on it.
| How long they have to sue you — credit-card debt | 6 years · M.G.L. ch. 260, §2 Actions of contract must be commenced within 6 years; a credit-card agreement is treated as a written contract under §2, so written and open-account card debt share the same 6-year period. (Contracts under seal and promissory notes carry different periods and are not the card rule.) |
| If the clock has run out | Paying part of it, or signing a written statement that the debt is yours, can restart it. M.G.L. ch. 260, §§13-14 From a secondary source — double-check before you rely on it An acknowledgment or new promise counts only if in a writing signed by the party chargeable (§13), but §14 expressly preserves the effect of a payment of principal or interest, so a part payment can also restart the period. |
| Deadline to answer a lawsuit | 20 days after service of the summons and complaint · Mass. R. Civ. P. 12(a) |
| Taking your paycheck (wage garnishment) | More protective than the federal cap. Massachusetts uses trustee process rather than a federal-style formula: the exempt amount of wages is the greater of 85% of the debtor's gross wages or 50 times the greater of the federal or Massachusetts hourly minimum wage, per week. M.G.L. ch. 246, §28 |
| Taking your bank account (a levy) | A natural person's bank account is protected up to $2,500 from attachment by trustee process; amounts traceable to exempt sources (benefits, exempt wages) are protected beyond that. M.G.L. ch. 246, §28A From a secondary source — double-check before you rely on it Federal benefits deposited directly get an automatic two-month shield everywhere (31 CFR Part 212). |
| Original creditor calling? | Yes — the Massachusetts Debt Collection Regulations (940 CMR 7.00 (esp. 7.03)) applies FDCPA-style rules to original creditors. CONFIRMED: 940 CMR 7.03 defines 'creditor' to include any person engaged in collecting a debt owed to him or her, so the Attorney General's debt-collection regulations (communication limits, validation, prohibited practices modeled on the FDCPA) bind original creditors collecting their own debts. Third-party collection agencies are separately regulated by the Division of Banks under 209 CMR 18.00. |
| How long a judgment lasts | 20 years — A judgment is presumed satisfied after 20 years (presumption is rebuttable); within that period the creditor may sue on the judgment to obtain a new, enforceable judgment. · M.G.L. ch. 260, §20 From a secondary source — double-check before you rely on it |
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6 years under M.G.L. ch. 260, §2. The clock usually starts at the first missed payment that was never made up. Debt collectors may still call after it runs out, but Regulation F (12 CFR 1006.26(b)) bars them from suing — or threatening to sue — over a debt that is too old (time-barred).
Paying part of it, or signing a written statement that the debt is yours, can restart it. (M.G.L. ch. 260, §§13-14).
20 days after service of the summons and complaint (Mass. R. Civ. P. 12(a)). Most of these cases are lost by default — by never answering at all.
Massachusetts uses trustee process rather than a federal-style formula: the exempt amount of wages is the greater of 85% of the debtor's gross wages or 50 times the greater of the federal or Massachusetts hourly minimum wage, per week. (M.G.L. ch. 246, §28).