Kentucky credit and debt laws

Kentucky statute of limitations on debt

• Written contracts. Applies to written contracts signed after July 15, 2014. Written contracts signed before that date fall under the 15-year limit in KRS 413.090(2).
• Promissory notes. For notes that qualify as negotiable instruments. The Kentucky Supreme Court applied this 6-year limit instead of the 15-year contract limit in Community Financial Services Bank v. Stamper (2019).
• Store and merchant accounts. Covers a merchant's account for goods sold and delivered and items charged on a store account.

Time limits to sue vs. time on your credit report

The Kentucky 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.

Medical debt on credit reports in Kentucky

Kentucky 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

Kentucky 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?

Kentucky has no statewide law limiting employer credit checks. The federal Fair Credit Reporting Act still requires your written permission before an employer pulls your report.

Where to complain about a debt collector

In Kentucky, complaints about debt collectors and credit reporting can go to Kentucky Attorney General, Office of Consumer Protection, as well as to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

More to know in Kentucky

Kentucky splits written contracts by the date they were signed. A written contract signed after July 15, 2014 carries a 10-year limit under KRS 413.160, while one signed before that date stays under the older 15-year limit in KRS 413.090(2). That makes the date on the original agreement unusually important here. Promissory notes that count as negotiable instruments get 6 years: in Community Financial Services Bank v. Stamper (2019), the Kentucky Supreme Court applied KRS 355.3-118 and held that a bank's 2016 lawsuit on a note that came due around 2000 to 2002 was filed too late. Unwritten contracts and store accounts carry 5 years under KRS 413.120. Kentucky has no medical debt credit reporting law, and it is one of the states with above-average rates of medical debt. The Attorney General's Office of Consumer Protection takes complaints for mediation through an online form or at 502-696-5389, and in 2020 it joined the FTC in Operation Corrupt Collector, a sweep aimed at fake and abusive debt collectors.

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.