Note The library cannot tell you what the law means for your situation.
Texas law gives someone 4 years to bring a lawsuit for unpaid debt. This time period is commonly referred to as the statute of limitations.
Once the time period is up, a person is prohibited from filing suit to recover the debt. This means the debt is time-barred.
You still owe time-barred debts, but creditors and debt buyers lose their most powerful way of collecting — a lawsuit.
In the past, certain actions like making a payment or acknowledging that you owe the debt could restart the clock on the limitations period. This created a problem where the statute of limitations could be constantly restarted. The issue is often referred to as "zombie debt."
In 2019, changes in the law aimed to protect people from zombie debt. Section 392.207 of the Texas Finance Code no longer allows the statute of limitations to be revived by a payment on the debt, a reaffirmation of the debt, or any other activity.
The law also added new restrictions for debt buyers (defined as a person who purchases a consumer’s debt from a creditor):
After a creditor wins a lawsuit for unpaid debt, there is a time limit for them to enforce the judgment. Judgments awarded in Texas to a non-government creditor are generally valid for ten years but can be renewed for longer. If a judgment is not renewed, it will become dormant.
A creditor can request to revive a dormant judgment to continue to try and collect the debt. However, you generally only have two years in which to try and revive a dormant judgment.
Note The library cannot tell you what the law means for your situation.