State file — Georgia
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 (written contract) / 4 years (open account) · O.C.G.A. §9-3-24; §9-3-25 From a secondary source — double-check before you rely on it 6 yrs simple contracts in writing (§9-3-24); 4 yrs open accounts and contracts not under the hand of the party charged (§9-3-25). Plan around 6 for card debt with a produced agreement. Contested: The split is real. §9-3-25 gives open accounts 4 years and many roundups list card debt at 4, but the Georgia Court of Appeals held in Hill v. American Express, 289 Ga. App. 576 (2008), that a cardholder-agreement claim is a written contract under §9-3-24 with a 6-year period — creditors plead the 6-year theory and usually win it. |
| 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. O.C.G.A. §9-3-112 From a secondary source — double-check before you rely on it A payment or written acknowledgment is 'equivalent to a new promise' only as the statute allows: case annotations state plainly that mere partial payment, in the absence of a writing (an entry on the written evidence of the debt or a signed acknowledgment), is not sufficient to revive or extend the debt (Bingham v. Advance Industrial Securities; Garrett v. Lincoln Cemetery). |
| Deadline to answer a lawsuit | 30 days after service of summons and complaint; opening a default is possible as of right within 15 additional days on payment of costs · O.C.G.A. §9-11-12(a) From a secondary source — double-check before you rely on it |
| Taking your paycheck (wage garnishment) | Follows the federal cap. Georgia codifies the federal formula: the maximum subject to garnishment is the lesser of 25% of weekly disposable earnings or the amount by which they exceed $217.50 (30 x $7.25). (A lower 15% percentage applies only to private-student-loan judgments.) O.C.G.A. §18-4-5 From a secondary source — double-check before you rely on it |
| Taking your bank account (a levy) | No automatic bank-balance exemption; protection is by claiming Georgia's exemption list in the garnishment, notably the wildcard — up to $5,000 in any property, plus up to $10,000 of unused homestead exemption (§44-13-100(a)(6)) — which can be applied to bank funds, plus exemptions for Social Security, unemployment, workers' compensation, and retirement payments. O.C.G.A. §44-13-100(a) 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 Georgia, and federal law still bans deceptive practices by the bank itself. |
| How long a judgment lasts | 7 years — A judgment goes dormant after 7 years without an entry on the general execution docket; dormancy is prevented by recording a bona fide enforcement entry, which restarts 7 years, and a dormant judgment may be revived by action or scire facias within 3 years of dormancy · O.C.G.A. §§9-12-60, 9-12-61 From a secondary source — double-check before you rely on it |
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6 years (written contract) / 4 years (open account) under O.C.G.A. §9-3-24; §9-3-25. 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. (O.C.G.A. §9-3-112).
30 days after service of summons and complaint; opening a default is possible as of right within 15 additional days on payment of costs (O.C.G.A. §9-11-12(a)). Most of these cases are lost by default — by never answering at all.
Georgia codifies the federal formula: the maximum subject to garnishment is the lesser of 25% of weekly disposable earnings or the amount by which they exceed $217.50 (30 x $7.25). (A lower 15% percentage applies only to private-student-loan judgments.) (O.C.G.A. §18-4-5).