Texas law gives someone a certain amount of time to bring a lawsuit for an unpaid debt. This time period is often commonly referred to as the statute of limitations.
Once the time period set out by the statute of limitations is up, a debt collector is prohibited from filing suit to recover the debt. This means the debt is time-barred.
In the past, taking certain actions such as making a payment or verbally acknowledging that you owe the debt could restart the clock on the limitations period. This created a problem called zombie debt where the time period set out by the statute of limitations could be constantly restarted.
A new state law introduced in 2019 aims to protect people from zombie debt. It also requires debt buyers to provide written notice if they are taking action past the limitations period.
You still owe time-barred debts, but the debt collector loses their most powerful way of collecting — a lawsuit.
