State file — Arizona
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 | 6 years · A.R.S. §12-548 §12-548, read on azleg.gov this pass, expressly puts credit-card debt in the 6-year written-debt bucket and overrides a conflicting choice-of-law clause. (Other open/store accounts sit in the 3-year §12-543 bucket, but cards do not.) |
| If the clock has run out | Signing a written statement that the debt is yours — or a signed promise to pay — can restart it. Paying alone cannot. A.R.S. §12-508 Read on azleg.gov: once an action is barred, no acknowledgment takes it out of the statute unless the acknowledgment is in writing and signed by the party to be charged. A bare payment is not a statutory revival. |
| Deadline to answer a lawsuit | 20 days after service if served in Arizona (30 days if served outside the state); Justice Court/small-claims answers are also 20 days · Ariz. R. Civ. P. 12(a) From a secondary source — double-check before you rely on it |
| Taking your paycheck (wage garnishment) | More protective than the federal cap. Far more protective than federal since Prop 209 (Dec. 2022): the maximum subject to process is the lesser of 10% of disposable earnings or the amount by which weekly disposable earnings exceed 60 times the highest applicable (federal, state, or local) minimum wage. A.R.S. §33-1131(B) |
| Taking your bank account (a levy) | Prop 209 also raised the bank-account exemption: up to $5,000 held in a single bank, credit-union, or savings-and-loan account is exempt; Social Security, disability, unemployment, and other benefit payments are separately exempt. A.R.S. §33-1126 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 Arizona, and federal law still bans deceptive practices by the bank itself. |
| How long a judgment lasts | 10 years — Renewable by affidavit of renewal (or an action on the judgment) for another 10 years, repeatedly if timely · A.R.S. §§12-1551, 12-1612 |
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6 years under A.R.S. §12-548. 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).
Signing a written statement that the debt is yours — or a signed promise to pay — can restart it. Paying alone cannot. (A.R.S. §12-508).
20 days after service if served in Arizona (30 days if served outside the state); Justice Court/small-claims answers are also 20 days (Ariz. R. Civ. P. 12(a)). Most of these cases are lost by default — by never answering at all.
Far more protective than federal since Prop 209 (Dec. 2022): the maximum subject to process is the lesser of 10% of disposable earnings or the amount by which weekly disposable earnings exceed 60 times the highest applicable (federal, state, or local) minimum wage. (A.R.S. §33-1131(B)).