Mr. Credit Card has an interesting blog post about the statute of limitations in dealing with debt. The statute of limitations, or time period after the date of delinquency during which the creditor could legally sue you, varies greatly from state to state. For instance, Alaska and North Carolina have three-year statutes of limitations, while Ohio’s and Kentucky’s run up to 15 years.

Mr. Credit Card points out that the statute of limitations can start over if you make a payment on the debt, or even acknowledge the debt in any way. Of course, after seven years, delinquent debt is removed from your credit report, but in some states you can still be sued for payment. The thing to keep in mind is that the laws in the state of current residence typically preside, according to Mr. Credit Card and the attorney friend he references. For instance, if the debt was incurred in North Carolina, but the debtor now lives in Tennessee, the latter state’s laws would trump that of North Carolina. As far as statutes of limitations go, that means adding three more years to the time period. This is important information to know when cleaning up your credit.