State file — Pennsylvania
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 | 4 years · 42 Pa.C.S. § 5525(a) From a secondary source — double-check before you rely on it Four years for actions on a contract in writing, a contract implied in law, and open-end/revolving accounts — §5525(a)(3) and (a)(8) are the subsections commonly cited for card debt. Contracts under seal are the outlier at 20 years (§5529). A card agreement's out-of-state choice-of-law clause can be argued, but Pennsylvania courts commonly apply the 4-year period to a Pennsylvania consumer. |
| 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 acknowledgment doctrine (no revival provision in 42 Pa.C.S. § 5525) From a secondary source — double-check before you rely on it Pennsylvania has no statutory restart rule; under common law a clear, signed written acknowledgment of the debt as a subsisting obligation, or a partial payment made in circumstances acknowledging the whole debt, can start a fresh 4-year period. Because the rule is case-law only, secondary sources advise assuming a payment or signed admission restarts the clock. |
| Deadline to answer a lawsuit | 20 days after service of the complaint · Pa. R. Civ. P. 1026(a) From a secondary source — double-check before you rely on it |
| Taking your paycheck (wage garnishment) | Effectively banned for credit-card judgments. §8127(a)): 'The wages, salaries and commissions of individuals shall while in the hands of the employer be exempt from any attachment, execution or other process' — exceptions are only divorce/support, board for four weeks or less, PHEAA student-loan matters, criminal restitution/fines, and a narrow landlord exception (a judgment creditor-landlord on a residential lease may attach at most 10% of net wages, never below the federal poverty guidelines). Ordinary credit-card/consumer judgments are NOT within any exception: wages are effectively banned from garnishment for consumer debt. 42 Pa.C.S. § 8127(a) |
| Taking your bank account (a levy) | VERIFIED mechanism — the $10,000 protection is NOT in §8124. It is Pa. R. Civ. P. 3111.1: service of a writ on a bank does not attach (1) the first $10,000 of each account containing any funds deposited electronically on a recurring basis and identified as exempt from execution/levy under Pennsylvania or federal law, (2) the WHOLE account if it exceeds $10,000 at any time and all funds in it are such recurring exempt direct deposits, and (3) funds not exceeding the $300 general monetary exemption. The $300 exemption itself is 42 Pa.C.S. §8123(a) (state.pa.us: property 'including bank notes, money, securities…' to the value of $300 is exempt, claimable in kind or in cash). §8124 separately exempts particular property (retirement funds/accounts at (b), insurance/workers' comp proceeds at (c), apparel/Bibles/school books at (a)) — it contains no $10,000 bank rule. Pa. R. Civ. P. 3111.1; 42 Pa.C.S. §§ 8123, 8124 Federal benefits deposited directly get an automatic two-month shield everywhere (31 CFR Part 212). |
| Original creditor calling? | Yes — the Fair Credit Extension Uniformity Act (FCEUA) (73 P.S. §§ 2270.1-2270.6 (§ 2270.4)) applies FDCPA-style rules to original creditors. Pennsylvania's FCEUA expressly regulates both 'debt collectors' AND 'creditors' collecting consumer debt, incorporating FDCPA-style prohibitions — so original creditors ARE covered, unusual nationally. Enforced through the Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law (73 P.S. § 201-2), which supplies the private remedy. |
| How long a judgment lasts | 5 years — The judgment LIEN on real property lasts 5 years and must be revived to continue — revival is available repeatedly in 5-year increments (42 Pa.C.S. §§ 4303, 5526). Separately, a judgment is presumed satisfied after 20 years (§5529) and personal actions on it follow that longer horizon; the operative collection number for lien purposes is 5. · 42 Pa.C.S. §§ 5526(1), 4303, 5529 From a secondary source — double-check before you rely on it |
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4 years under 42 Pa.C.S. § 5525(a). 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 acknowledgment doctrine (no revival provision in 42 Pa.C.S. § 5525)).
20 days after service of the complaint (Pa. R. Civ. P. 1026(a)). Most of these cases are lost by default — by never answering at all.
§8127(a)): 'The wages, salaries and commissions of individuals shall while in the hands of the employer be exempt from any attachment, execution or other process' — exceptions are only divorce/support, board for four weeks or less, PHEAA student-loan matters, criminal restitution/fines, and a narrow landlord exception (a judgment creditor-landlord on a residential lease may attach at most 10% of net wages, never below the federal poverty guidelines). Ordinary credit-card/consumer judgments are NOT within any exception: wages are effectively banned from garnishment for consumer debt. (42 Pa.C.S. § 8127(a)).