State file — Louisiana
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 | 10 years (written contract) / 3 years (open account) · La. Civ. Code art. 3494(4); art. 3499 Louisiana calls this prescription, not a statute of limitations. Contested: The widest split in the country: an action on an open account prescribes in 3 years (art. 3494), while a personal action on a written contract gets 10 years (art. 3499). Louisiana sources treat a credit card account as the classic open account — 3 years — even when the cardholder signed a written agreement; creditors argue for 10. Promissory notes are separate at 5 years (art. 3498). |
| If the clock has run out | Paying part of it, or signing a written statement that the debt is yours, can restart it. La. Civ. Code arts. 3464, 3466 Louisiana uses 'interruption,' not revival: when the debtor acknowledges the creditor's right, the time already run is not counted and a full new period starts. A part payment can act as a tacit acknowledgment, and no writing is required. |
| Deadline to answer a lawsuit | 21 days after service of the citation and petition (30 days if the plaintiff serves discovery requests along with the petition) · La. Code Civ. P. art. 1001(A) |
| Taking your paycheck (wage garnishment) | Follows the federal cap. Louisiana's own exemption statute protects 75% of disposable earnings — the same result as the federal 25% cap — with a floor of 30 times the federal minimum wage per week, so at most 25% can be taken for a card judgment. La. R.S. 13:3881(A)(1)(a) |
| Taking your bank account (a levy) | Louisiana has no flat dollar exemption for bank accounts. Money in the account is reachable unless it traces to an exempt source: wages keep their 75%-of-disposable-earnings protection, and Social Security, unemployment, retirement money and the federal earned income tax credit are exempt. La. R.S. 13:3881(A) Federal benefits deposited directly get an automatic two-month shield everywhere (31 CFR Part 212). |
| Original creditor calling? | Partially — Not a full mini-FDCPA, but R.S. 9:3562 restricts creditors themselves: limits on contacting third parties about the debt and a duty to stop contact after a written cease notice, with a damages claim preserved under Civil Code art. 2315. Collection agencies are separately regulated under the Collection Agency Regulation Act, La. R.S. 9:3576.1 et seq. (La. R.S. 9:3562) |
| How long a judgment lasts | 10 years — Revivable before it prescribes by a simple ex parte motion filed in the same suit, as often as the creditor wants; each revival starts a fresh 10 years. · La. Civ. Code art. 3501; La. Code Civ. P. art. 2031 From a secondary source — double-check before you rely on it |
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10 years (written contract) / 3 years (open account) under La. Civ. Code art. 3494(4); art. 3499. 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).
Paying part of it, or signing a written statement that the debt is yours, can restart it. (La. Civ. Code arts. 3464, 3466).
21 days after service of the citation and petition (30 days if the plaintiff serves discovery requests along with the petition) (La. Code Civ. P. art. 1001(A)). Most of these cases are lost by default — by never answering at all.
Louisiana's own exemption statute protects 75% of disposable earnings — the same result as the federal 25% cap — with a floor of 30 times the federal minimum wage per week, so at most 25% can be taken for a card judgment. (La. R.S. 13:3881(A)(1)(a)).