Alabama credit and debt laws

Alabama statute of limitations on debt

• Written contracts. The statute covers promises in writing not under seal. A contract under seal has its own longer period.
• Oral contracts. Falls under the catch-all for any simple contract not named elsewhere in the section.
• Promissory notes. Six years after the due date in the note, or after the accelerated due date if the lender called the whole balance due.
• Open or unliquidated accounts. Counted from the date of the last item on the account, or from when the account is due by contract or usage. A loan or a stated or liquidated account gets six years under Ala. Code 6-2-34(5).

Time limits to sue vs. time on your credit report

The Alabama deadlines above control how long a creditor or collector can win a lawsuit. They don't change how long an account stays on your credit report. The federal Fair Credit Reporting Act limits most negative items to 7 years in every state, counted from the date of first delinquency, and a payment doesn't restart that reporting clock. See how long negative items stay for both clocks side by side.

Can a payment restart the clock?

Only two things remove the bar under Ala. Code 6-2-16: a partial payment made on the contract before the limitations period is complete, or an unconditional promise in writing signed by you. A spoken promise or other acknowledgment is not enough.

Does Alabama limit lawsuits on old debt?

Alabama law adds no rule of its own on suing over old debt. The federal Regulation F ban on suing or threatening to sue over time-barred debt applies.

Medical debt on credit reports in Alabama

Alabama has no law of its own limiting medical debt on credit reports, so the national rules decide what shows. The three bureaus leave off paid medical collections and any under $500, and an unpaid one can't appear until it is a year old.

Compare every state in medical debt laws by state.

Marriage and debt

Alabama is not a community property state. Each spouse keeps a separate credit report, and a debt generally belongs to the people who signed for it.

Can employers check your credit?

Alabama has no statewide law limiting employer credit checks. Federal FCRA consent and adverse action rules apply.

Do debt collectors need a Alabama license?

Alabama does not run a separate collection agency licensing program. Ala. Code 40-12-80 instead imposes a business license tax on each person who employs agents to solicit claims for collection: $100 in towns and cities of 20,000 or more people and $25 in smaller ones. Anyone outside the FDCPA definition of debt collector is exempt.

In Alabama, complaints about debt collectors and credit reporting can go to Alabama Attorney General, Consumer Interest Division, as well as to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

More to know in Alabama

Alabama splits debts by how the amount was fixed. An open account, where charges come and go, has to be sued on within 3 years of the last item. A loan or a stated account, where the balance was agreed, gets 6 years, the same as a written promise. That gap can matter on an old store or service account, so check how the creditor describes the debt in its letters and in any lawsuit it files. The revival rule is also narrower than in many states. A payment keeps the clock going only if it is made before the deadline passes, and after that the only way to restart it is a signed, unconditional written promise to pay. Under that rule, saying on the phone that you owe the debt does not revive an expired Alabama claim. Alabama has no state medical debt credit reporting law and no state collector licensing board, so complaints about collectors usually go to the Attorney General's Consumer Interest Division or to the CFPB.

Guides that go deeper

• The statute of limitations on debt, and how a payment can reset itA statute of limitations limits when a collector can sue, not whether it can ask you to pay. How the clock starts, how it can restart, and what Reg F bans.
• How zombie debt and illegal re-aging bring old debts backZombie debts are old, paid, or wrong debts that resurface after a sale. Re-aging is reporting a newer delinquency date. How to spot and fight both.
• Sued by a debt collector? What to do in the first 2 weeksA debt lawsuit you ignore usually ends in a default judgment. What to read on the summons, how to respond on time, and where to find free legal help.
• Which states ban medical debt on credit reports? The 2026 listFifteen states have laws keeping medical debt off credit reports. The statute, start date and reach of each, plus the bureau rules that apply everywhere.
• Medical debt on credit reports: the rules in force in 2026The federal medical debt ban was struck down in 2025. What still protects you in 2026: bureau policies, newer scores, state laws and hospital aid rules.