Debt collectors in New York have 3 years to sue over credit cards and loans

If a bank or a debt buyer wants to sue you in New York over a credit card, personal loan, or another consumer credit transaction, it has three years to do it. The limit used to be six. Once the three years are up, the deadline to sue can’t be brought back to life. A small payment or a promise to pay doesn’t restart the clock, which was a common way collectors revived old claims.

The law also makes it harder to win a case against someone who never knew they were sued. The court clerk now mails you a separate notice, and no default judgment can be entered until at least 20 days later. A collector must file the contract or a charge-off statement and itemize what it says you owe. To win by default, it must also show sworn proof of who owned the debt along the way. Default judgments are what let collectors take part of your wages or freeze your bank account. You don’t need to apply. These protections apply to cases arising from consumer credit transactions, not every kind of consumer debt.

Assemblymember Helene Weinstein first introduced a version in 2009 and carried the effort for 12 years. Sen. Kevin Thomas sponsored it in the Senate. It passed the Senate 43–20 in May 2021, with every Democrat voting yes and every Republican voting no, and passed the Assembly 103–45 in June. Gov. Kathy Hochul signed it on November 8, 2021. The three-year limit started April 7, 2022; the notice, filing, and default-judgment rules described above took effect May 7, 2022.