State file — New Jersey
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 · N.J.S.A. 2A:14-1 From a secondary source — double-check before you rely on it Six years for actions on contracts and accounts, including credit-card debt; the same section governs written and open-account claims. |
| If the clock has run out | Paying part of it, or signing a written statement that the debt is yours, can restart it. N.J.S.A. 2A:14-24 An acknowledgment or promise made 'by words only' is insufficient — it must be in a writing signed by the party chargeable — but the section expressly provides that nothing in it shall 'take away, lessen or alter the effect of any payment of principal or interest,' so a part payment can also restart the period. |
| Deadline to answer a lawsuit | 35 days after service of the summons and complaint in the Law Division (and Special Civil Part) — longer than the 20-30 days used in most states; the official court summons states 35 days · N.J. Ct. R. 4:6-1(a) |
| Taking your paycheck (wage garnishment) | More protective than the federal cap. A wage execution may not exceed 10% of the debtor's gross wages/income — unless the debtor's income exceeds 250% of the federal poverty level for the household size, in which case the court may order a larger percentage (still subject to the federal 25%-of-disposable-earnings ceiling). N.J.S.A. 2A:17-56(a) From a secondary source — double-check before you rely on it |
| Taking your bank account (a levy) | The first $1,000 is protected via the general personal-property exemption: the debtor may designate up to $1,000 of personal property of every kind (wearing apparel is exempt in full, on top of the $1,000) as exempt from execution, and the exemption is applied to funds on deposit — but it must be affirmatively claimed by objection after the account is frozen. (A pending bill, A1020, would raise this to $15,000 plus a $5,000 deposit-account exemption; not enacted as of this pass.) N.J.S.A. 2A:17-19(a) 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? | No equivalent statute found. The federal FDCPA binds third-party collectors and debt buyers in New Jersey, and federal law still bans deceptive practices by the bank itself. |
| How long a judgment lasts | 20 years — A judgment 'may be revived by proper proceedings or an action at law may be commenced thereon within 20 years next after the date thereof, but not thereafter.' · N.J.S.A. 2A:14-5 From a secondary source — double-check before you rely on it |
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6 years under N.J.S.A. 2A:14-1. 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. (N.J.S.A. 2A:14-24).
35 days after service of the summons and complaint in the Law Division (and Special Civil Part) — longer than the 20-30 days used in most states; the official court summons states 35 days (N.J. Ct. R. 4:6-1(a)). Most of these cases are lost by default — by never answering at all.
A wage execution may not exceed 10% of the debtor's gross wages/income — unless the debtor's income exceeds 250% of the federal poverty level for the household size, in which case the court may order a larger percentage (still subject to the federal 25%-of-disposable-earnings ceiling). (N.J.S.A. 2A:17-56(a)).