State file — South Carolina
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 · S.C. Code § 15-3-530(1) From a secondary source — double-check before you rely on it Within three years: 'an action upon a contract, obligation, or liability, express or implied,' excepting §15-3-520 (20 years for sealed/mortgage instruments). Written, oral and open-account/card debt are all 3 years. A negotiable promissory note carries a separate 6-year UCC period (§36-3-118), which does not govern a card account. |
| If the clock has run out | Paying part of it, or signing a written statement that the debt is yours, can restart it. S.C. Code § 15-3-610 From a secondary source — double-check before you rely on it Part payment or a written acknowledgment of the debt / new promise to pay, signed as the statute requires, starts a new 3-year period under South Carolina's part-payment and acknowledgment provision. |
| Deadline to answer a lawsuit | 30 days after service of summons and complaint · S.C. R. Civ. P. 12(a) From a secondary source — double-check before you rely on it |
| Taking your paycheck (wage garnishment) | Effectively banned for credit-card judgments. BANNED for consumer debt — , §37-5-104 'No garnishment': 'With respect to a debt arising from a consumer credit sale, a consumer lease, a consumer loan, or a consumer rental-purchase agreement, regardless of where made, the creditor may not attach unpaid earnings of the debtor by garnishment or like proceedings.' §15-39-420 separately bars garnishment of a resident's earnings for personal services on an out-of-state judgment without first obtaining a South Carolina judgment. Remaining wage reach is government-only: taxes, child support, federal student loans. S.C. Code §§ 37-5-104, 15-39-420 |
| Taking your bank account (a levy) | With wages off-limits, creditors collect by execution/levy on other property and through supplemental proceedings. Bank accounts are not protected by the wage ban once wages are deposited; the debtor's shield is the exemption list in §15-41-30(A) (residence, vehicle, household goods, cash/liquid assets within the statute's modest dollar caps, and a wildcard in unused exemptions), which must be claimed. S.C. Code §§ 15-41-30(A), 15-39-310 et seq. 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 South Carolina, and federal law still bans deceptive practices by the bank itself. |
| How long a judgment lasts | 10 years — No renewal: a judgment is a lien on real property for 10 years from entry and execution must issue within that period; South Carolina does not permit renewal or revival to extend a judgment beyond the 10 years. · S.C. Code §§ 15-39-210, 15-39-310 From a secondary source — double-check before you rely on it |
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3 years under S.C. Code § 15-3-530(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. (S.C. Code § 15-3-610).
30 days after service of summons and complaint (S.C. R. Civ. P. 12(a)). Most of these cases are lost by default — by never answering at all.
BANNED for consumer debt — , §37-5-104 'No garnishment': 'With respect to a debt arising from a consumer credit sale, a consumer lease, a consumer loan, or a consumer rental-purchase agreement, regardless of where made, the creditor may not attach unpaid earnings of the debtor by garnishment or like proceedings.' §15-39-420 separately bars garnishment of a resident's earnings for personal services on an out-of-state judgment without first obtaining a South Carolina judgment. Remaining wage reach is government-only: taxes, child support, federal student loans. (S.C. Code §§ 37-5-104, 15-39-420).