Two Competing Periods

Colorado's general contract limitation, C.R.S. 13-80-101, sets three years for contract actions, including personal contracts and actions under the Uniform Commercial Code, except as otherwise provided.

The exception is C.R.S. 13-80-103.5, which sets six years for actions to recover a liquidated debt or an unliquidated but determinable amount of money due to the person bringing the action.

The six year provision is drafted as a carve out from the three year rule, so the question in any given case is whether the obligation qualifies as liquidated or determinable.

Promissory notes and instruments stating a fixed sum sit comfortably in the six year category. Genuinely oral agreements and claims where the amount depends on proof sit in the three year category.

Where Credit Card Debt Falls Is Argued Both Ways

This is the practical question and the honest answer is that it depends on the facts and on how a court characterizes the account.

Creditors generally argue the six year period applies, on the theory that a card balance stated on periodic statements is a liquidated or readily determinable sum.

Consumers generally argue the three year period applies, on the theory that a revolving account is a contract action rather than a liquidated debt, particularly where the creditor cannot produce the account agreement or a clean account history.

Colorado practice has tended toward the six year period where the creditor has statements establishing a determinable balance, and the three year argument gains force where the documentation is thin. That is not a technicality. A debt buyer working a portfolio purchased with a data file and no statements is in a materially different position than an original creditor with a complete account history.

The practical upshot for a consumer is that the age of the account and the quality of the creditor's records interact, and neither side should treat the six year number as automatic.

When the Clock Starts and What Restarts It

The period generally runs from the date of default, meaning the last payment or the date the account became delinquent, rather than from when the account was opened or when it was sold.

A payment restarts it in most circumstances. So can a written acknowledgment of the debt or a written promise to pay.

That makes an old Colorado account a place to be careful. A $30 payment made to end an uncomfortable call can restart a period that had nearly run, and if the six year characterization applies, restarting it is expensive.

Before paying or acknowledging anything on an aged account, determine the date of default and count from there.

Time Barred Does Not Mean Gone

Expiration of the limitations period bars the lawsuit, not the debt.

A collector may still ask for voluntary payment on a time barred debt. What it may not do is sue, or threaten to sue, on a claim it knows is time barred.

The defense also has to be raised. If you are sued on an expired claim and do not answer, the court enters a default judgment without examining the age, and that judgment is fully enforceable. That is the single most common way time barred debts turn into collectible ones, and our post on being sued by a collection agency covers the response.

Credit reporting runs on its own separate clock. A collection tradeline stays for seven years from the original delinquency regardless of the limitations period, and the two expire at different times.

Colorado Has Its Own Collection Statute

Unlike states that rely entirely on federal law, Colorado enacted the Colorado Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, which governs collection agency conduct and gives consumers state level rights alongside the federal framework.

The Colorado Attorney General's office administers it through the Consumer Credit Unit, investigates complaints, and takes disciplinary action against agencies that violate the law. Its collection agency regulation pages explain the process for consumers and creditor clients.

That matters because a Colorado consumer has two complaint channels rather than one, and the state channel reaches conduct and licensing issues the federal one does not.

Licensing Is a Verification Tool

Collection agencies operating in Colorado must be licensed by the Attorney General's office and must meet bonding requirements.

The licensing pages are public, which gives consumers something concrete to check. A collector contacting a Colorado resident should be licensed, and an unlicensed operation is a legitimate complaint independent of whether the underlying debt is valid.

For creditors, the flip side is that placing Colorado accounts with an unlicensed agency creates exposure, so verifying licensure before placement is part of ordinary diligence.

Enforcement and Exemptions

If a creditor obtains a judgment, Colorado allows the usual enforcement tools: wage garnishment, bank levy, and judgment liens against real property.

Colorado protects a portion of wages and a list of property from execution, and the state has revised its exemption amounts in recent years, so the current figures should be confirmed rather than assumed from an older summary.

The critical procedural point is that exemptions generally have to be claimed rather than applying automatically, and the deadline after a garnishment or levy is short. Our overview is in what is exempt from garnishment.

Federal benefits including Social Security, SSI, and veterans benefits carry their own protections from private creditors regardless of state law, and directly deposited benefits receive automatic bank level protection for a two month lookback period.

What Creditors Should Do

Determine the character of the obligation early, because it drives everything. A written agreement establishing a fixed or determinable sum supports the six year argument. A thin file does not.

Preserve documentation accordingly. The statements and account agreement that establish a determinable balance are also what make the six year characterization defensible, and portfolios stripped of records invite the three year argument.

Place accounts early rather than testing the outer edge of the limitations period, since recovery probability declines steadily with age regardless of what the statute allows.

And verify Colorado licensing for any agency working Colorado accounts.

What Consumers Should Do

Find the date of default, not the date the account was opened or sold, and count from there.

Do not pay or acknowledge an old account before determining whether the period has run, because restarting it is the most expensive mistake available here.

Dispute in writing within 30 days of the first notice, and ask specifically for the original creditor, the original account number, the date of default, the balance at charge off, an itemization of anything added since, and the assignment chain if the debt was sold. Those are the documents that determine which limitations period applies.

Answer any lawsuit by the deadline and raise the limitations defense, since it is waived if not raised.

And use both complaint channels where warranted: the Colorado Attorney General for state law and licensing issues, and the CFPB's debt collection resource center for federal ones.

Colorado landlords dealing with rental balances will also want the state's eviction rules, which changed substantially in 2024 and are covered in our Colorado eviction guide. For contrast, neighboring Wyoming runs a much longer ten year period on written contracts, as covered in debt collection laws in Wyoming.

This is general information rather than legal advice, and the characterization question in particular is one where a Colorado attorney's view of your specific facts matters.