Know which debts are out of statute before you contact anyone.

Every debt has a statute of limitations after which the creditor cannot sue to collect it. The period varies by state, typically three to six years for most consumer debts but up to ten or more in some states for written contracts, and by debt type, with different rules for open accounts, written contracts, and promissory notes. It usually runs from the last payment or the default, and in many states a partial payment or written acknowledgment restarts it. Debt buyers in particular hold large volumes of time-barred accounts.

Collecting time-barred debt is lawful in most states, but Regulation F prohibits suing or threatening to sue on it, and courts have found that implying legal action is a false representation. Several states go further: California, New York, Texas, Connecticut, New Mexico, and others require specific disclosures when collecting time-barred debt, and a few, including Wisconsin and Mississippi, extinguish the debt entirely or prohibit collection after the period.

HL Hunt calculates the limitation status for every account from the placement data, flagging incomplete information before outreach. Time-barred accounts cannot receive any content implying legal action, receive state-required disclosures in notices and communications, and are held in states where collection is prohibited. The AI's plan negotiation avoids language that could be construed as inducing revival without disclosure. And time-barred accounts never appear in legal placement recommendations.