State file — Nebraska
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 | 5 years (written contract) / 4 years (open account) · Neb. Rev. Stat. §§25-205, 25-206 From a secondary source — double-check before you rely on it §25-205: 5 years on a written contract or promise. §25-206: 4 years on a contract, promise, or account not in writing. Contested: Statute matrices treat a revolving/open card account as 4 years under §25-206, but at least one creditor-side source argues §25-205's 5-year written-contract period 'covers most credit card agreements.' Encoded as written 5 / open 4 with the classification flagged. |
| If the clock has run out | Paying part of it, or signing a written statement that the debt is yours, can restart it. Neb. Rev. Stat. §25-216 When any part of principal or interest has been voluntarily paid, or an acknowledgment of the debt or a promise to pay has been made in writing, an action may be brought within the statutory period computed from that payment, acknowledgment, or promise. |
| Deadline to answer a lawsuit | 30 days after being served with the summons and complaint (or completion of service by publication) · Neb. Ct. R. §6-1112(a)(1) |
| Taking your paycheck (wage garnishment) | More protective than the federal cap. Garnishment is limited to the least of: 25% of disposable earnings, the amount by which weekly disposable earnings exceed 30 times the federal minimum wage, or 15% of disposable earnings if the debtor is head of a family. Neb. Rev. Stat. §25-1558(1) From a secondary source — double-check before you rely on it |
| Taking your bank account (a levy) | Each Nebraska resident may exempt $5,000 in personal property (wages excepted) — CPI-adjusted to $5,970 for 2023-2027 — and the Judicial Branch's official garnishment notice confirms bank-account funds may be claimed under this exemption, provided the debtor files a list of all property (including all bank accounts and values) and designates the items claimed exempt. Neb. Rev. Stat. §25-1552 Federal benefits deposited directly get an automatic two-month shield everywhere (31 CFR Part 212). |
| Original creditor calling? | Partially — Primarily a licensing act aimed at agencies soliciting/collecting claims for others; regular employees of a single creditor and banks are expressly excluded. It reaches an original creditor only in one narrow case: a person collecting his or her own accounts under a fictitious name suggesting a third party is collecting (§45-602(2)(b)). No FDCPA-style conduct rules apply to ordinary original-creditor collection. (Neb. Rev. Stat. §§45-601 to 45-623 (definition at §45-602)) |
| How long a judgment lasts | 5 years — A judgment goes dormant if no execution is sued out within 5 years (§25-1515) and ceases to be a lien; a dormant judgment may be revived by a revivor action, but only if commenced within 10 years after it became dormant (§25-1420) — after that it is forever barred. · Neb. Rev. Stat. §§25-1515, 25-1420 From a secondary source — double-check before you rely on it |
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Card agreements often pick another state's law (Delaware for Chase, Bank of America, Discover, Barclays; South Dakota for Citi and Wells Fargo). A court may use the shorter of the two deadlines, under a rule called a borrowing statute — the free checker works out both clocks for you.
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5 years (written contract) / 4 years (open account) under Neb. Rev. Stat. §§25-205, 25-206. 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. (Neb. Rev. Stat. §25-216).
30 days after being served with the summons and complaint (or completion of service by publication) (Neb. Ct. R. §6-1112(a)(1)). Most of these cases are lost by default — by never answering at all.
Garnishment is limited to the least of: 25% of disposable earnings, the amount by which weekly disposable earnings exceed 30 times the federal minimum wage, or 15% of disposable earnings if the debtor is head of a family. (Neb. Rev. Stat. §25-1558(1)).