State file — New Hampshire
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 | 3 years · RSA 508:4 From a secondary source — double-check before you rely on it Personal actions, including contract, must be brought within 3 years — among the shortest in the country. Not the card rule: promissory notes get 6 years under the UCC (RSA 382-A:3-118) and actions on contracts under seal and on judgments get 20 years (RSA 508:5). |
| If the clock has run out | Paying part of it, or signing a written statement that the debt is yours, can restart it. Common law — Premier Capital v. Gallagher, 144 N.H. 284 (1999) From a secondary source — double-check before you rely on it No codified revival section was found. Under New Hampshire case law the period is tolled/restarted when a renewed promise to pay can be implied from the debtor's conduct — such as a partial payment or another acknowledgment of the debt — provided the acknowledgment shows both an admission of liability and a willingness to pay. |
| Deadline to answer a lawsuit | Answer or other responsive pleading filed within 30 days after the defendant is served · N.H. Super. Ct. R. 9(a) From a secondary source — double-check before you rely on it |
| Taking your paycheck (wage garnishment) | More protective than the federal cap. New Hampshire protects a debtor's earnings up to 50 times the federal minimum wage per week ($362.50 at the current $7.25 rate); only earnings above that floor are reachable, and the federal CCPA 25%-of-disposable-earnings ceiling still applies on top. RSA 512:21 From a secondary source — double-check before you rely on it |
| Taking your bank account (a levy) | No bank-account-specific exemption. A balance can be sheltered only through the general exemptions: the $1,000 wildcard for any property, plus up to $7,000 of specified unused exemption amounts that may be applied to other property, including funds on deposit. RSA 511:2(XVII)-(XVIII) 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 Unfair, Deceptive or Unreasonable Collection Practices Act (RSA 358-C:1-:4 (definition at 358-C:1, VIII)) applies FDCPA-style rules to original creditors. Broader than the FDCPA: 'debt collector' includes ANY person who enforces or attempts to enforce an obligation owed by a consumer as a result of a consumer credit transaction (358-C:1, VIII(a)) — a definition that reaches an original creditor collecting its own credit-card accounts, with no 'owed to another' limitation. |
| How long a judgment lasts | 20 years — Actions of debt upon a judgment must be brought within 20 years; a creditor keeps the judgment alive by suing on it within that period to obtain a new judgment. · RSA 508:5 From a secondary source — double-check before you rely on it |
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3 years under RSA 508:4. 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. (Common law — Premier Capital v. Gallagher, 144 N.H. 284 (1999)).
Answer or other responsive pleading filed within 30 days after the defendant is served (N.H. Super. Ct. R. 9(a)). Most of these cases are lost by default — by never answering at all.
New Hampshire protects a debtor's earnings up to 50 times the federal minimum wage per week ($362.50 at the current $7.25 rate); only earnings above that floor are reachable, and the federal CCPA 25%-of-disposable-earnings ceiling still applies on top. (RSA 512:21).