State file — Oklahoma
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) / 3 years (open account) · Okla. Stat. tit. 12, § 95(A)(1)-(2) From a secondary source — double-check before you rely on it Statutory text quoted in secondary sources: §95(A)(1) 'Within five (5) years: An action upon any contract, agreement, or promise in writing'; §95(A)(2) 'Within three (3) years: An action upon a contract express or implied not in writing.' Task's expected 3 open / 5 written split is recorded, with the contest flagged rather than hidden. Contested: The statute gives 5 years for a contract in writing (§95(A)(1)) and 3 years for a contract not in writing (§95(A)(2)). Whether a credit-card account is a 3-year open account or a 5-year written contract is NOT settled: several current secondary sources argue the signed cardmember agreement makes card debt 5 years, others classify cards as 3-year open accounts. Plan on 5. |
| If the clock has run out | Paying part of it, or signing a written statement that the debt is yours, can restart it. Okla. Stat. tit. 12, § 102 From a secondary source — double-check before you rely on it An acknowledgment of an existing liability in writing signed by the debtor, or a part payment on the debt, revives/extends the period under Oklahoma's acknowledgment-and-part-payment doctrine (§102 and case law). |
| Deadline to answer a lawsuit | 20 days after service of summons and petition · Okla. Stat. tit. 12, § 2012(A) From a secondary source — double-check before you rely on it |
| Taking your paycheck (wage garnishment) | Follows the federal cap. Follows the federal CCPA ceiling — the lesser of 25% of disposable earnings or the excess over 30x the federal minimum wage — administered through Oklahoma's garnishment procedure (tit. 12, §§ 1171 et seq.); Oklahoma law also exempts a large share (75%) of earnings earned in the 90 days before a hardship claim in the exemption statutes. No consumer-debt wage ban. Okla. Stat. tit. 12, §§ 1171 et seq.; tit. 31, § 1(A)(18); 15 U.S.C. § 1673 From a secondary source — double-check before you rely on it |
| Taking your bank account (a levy) | Bank accounts are garnishable post-judgment; protection comes from claiming exemptions (exempt benefit income and the personal-property exemptions of tit. 31, §1) rather than from any Oklahoma bank-account-specific dollar exemption, none of which was located this pass. Okla. Stat. tit. 12, §§ 1171 et seq.; tit. 31, § 1 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 Oklahoma, and federal law still bans deceptive practices by the bank itself. |
| How long a judgment lasts | 5 years — A judgment must be enforced within 5 years or it becomes dormant; the creditor keeps it alive by filing a notice of renewal of judgment before the period runs (renewable repeatedly in 5-year increments), and a dormant judgment may be revived within limited time. · Okla. Stat. tit. 12, § 735 From a secondary source — double-check before you rely on it |
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5 years (written contract) / 3 years (open account) under Okla. Stat. tit. 12, § 95(A)(1)-(2). 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. (Okla. Stat. tit. 12, § 102).
20 days after service of summons and petition (Okla. Stat. tit. 12, § 2012(A)). Most of these cases are lost by default — by never answering at all.
Follows the federal CCPA ceiling — the lesser of 25% of disposable earnings or the excess over 30x the federal minimum wage — administered through Oklahoma's garnishment procedure (tit. 12, §§ 1171 et seq.); Oklahoma law also exempts a large share (75%) of earnings earned in the 90 days before a hardship claim in the exemption statutes. No consumer-debt wage ban. (Okla. Stat. tit. 12, §§ 1171 et seq.; tit. 31, § 1(A)(18); 15 U.S.C. § 1673).