Statute of Limitations on Florida Debt

George Simons | January 10, 2024

George Simons
Co-Founder of SoloSuit
George Simons, JD/MBA

George Simons is the co-founder and CEO of SoloSuit. He has helped Americans protect over $1 billion from predatory debt lawsuits. George graduated from BYU Law school in 2020 with a JD-MBA. In his spare time, George likes to cook, because he likes to eat.

Edited by Hannah Locklear

Hannah Locklear
Editor at SoloSuit
Hannah Locklear, BA

Hannah Locklear is SoloSuit’s Marketing and Impact Manager. With an educational background in Linguistics, Spanish, and International Development from Brigham Young University, Hannah has also worked as a legal support specialist for several years.

Fact-checked by Patrick Austin, J.D.

Patrick Austin
Attorney from George Mason
Patrick Austin, JD

Patrick Austin is a licensed attorney with a background in data privacy and information security law. Patrick received his law degree at George Mason University's Antonin Scalia Law School, where he served as the Editor-in-Chief for the National Security Law Journal.

Summary: The statute of limitations on debt in Florida is five years for the following types of debt: credit card, medical, auto loan, student loan, mortgage, and personal loan. If you've been sued for an old debt in Florida, use SoloSuit to respond to the lawsuit and bring up the statute of limitations as a defense.

If you reside in Florida and were served with a debt collection lawsuit, it is incredibly important to assess the age of the debt that is allegedly owed. Why is the age of the debt important? Because you may be able to raise the statute of limitations as a defense to get the debt collection lawsuit thrown out of a Florida court.

Understanding the Statute of Limitations on Florida Debt

The statute of limitations on debt in Florida is five years for most debts. This means that creditors and debt collectors only have five years to sue you for a debt connected to a credit card, medical services, auto loan, student loan, mortgage, or personal loan.

Note that the statute of limitations won't actually stop creditors and collectors from suing. However, if you bring up the expired statute as a defense, the court will deem the case as invalid.

The table below further outlines the Florida statute of limitations on different types of debt:

Statute of Limitations on Debt in Florida
Debt Type Deadline
Credit Card 5 years
Medical 5 years
Auto Loan 5 years
Student Loan 5 years
Mortgage 5 years
Personal Loan 5 years
Judgment 20 years
Source: Fla. Stat. § 95.11

The statute of limitations is a timeline set forth by the Florida government that stipulates how long a debt collector can file a lawsuit to collect on a debt. If the statute of limitations for that particular type of debt expires, the creditor is barred from attempting to collect on the debt through a civil lawsuit. In Florida, the statute of limitations on Florida debt is generally five years.

However, it is fairly common for creditors to proceed with filing a lawsuit in the hopes that you will not realize that the statute of limitations expired. It is important to note that the responsibility falls on you, the defendant, to raise the statute of limitations as a defense.

Make the right defense the right way with SoloSuit.

Do Not Make a “Good Faith” Payment Toward a Debt

Some debt collectors will try to persuade you to make a small, “good faith” payment towards the debt. Do not make this mistake. If you make a new payment toward the debt, it will effectively reset the clock on the statute of limitations. Renewing your debt means that the debt collector gets to enjoy a much longer period of time to pursue collection of the debt and can file a lawsuit against you based on the date of the new payment.

Debt Collection Procedures in Florida

Even though you cannot be jailed for failing to pay a debt in Florida, a creditor can send your credit history and information to the nation's credit bureaus Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax. This information can harm your credit score or, worse, remain on your credit report for up to seven years.

It is important to note that the Federal Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) bars debt collectors from harassing you or resulting in aggressive and abusive tactics to collect their debt. For example, debt collectors cannot threaten you or falsely claim to arrest you.

They cannot also call you before 8:00 AM or after 9:00 PM unless you expressly permit them. Exaggerating or misrepresenting the amount you owe them is also prohibited.

In Florida, you can file a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) if a debt collector is threatening you, repeatedly calling, using abusive language, or misrepresenting your information. However, should you fail to clear your debt, the debt collectors may file a lawsuit in court and a judgment made against you as a result. If this happens, you will become a "judgment debtor."

The debt collector may keep trying to collect their debt for up to 20 years which is how long some judgments last. It is critical to note that some debts may accrue interest along the way depending on the standards set by the Chief Financial Officer of the Florida State.

If a judgment is entered against you, a Florida court may ask you to submit your property information, income, assets, employer details, and social security number. The courts may also authorize an execution which is a process that allows the person or company owed to seize your personal or real estate property.

Use SoloSuit to make a defense and win your case in court.

Other consequences of having a judgment entered against you include having your bank account seized and your wages garnished. However, there is a limit to what assets can be seized or accessed, including:

  • Your home: if you live in an incorporated area, you can exempt your home and up to one half-acre from being sold to clear your debt. This number goes up to 160 acres if you live in an unincorporated area. All creditors are barred from seizing your home except those holding lien or a mortgage against your house.
  • Your wages: In Florida, the federal law provides residents with protections from wage garnishment. Specifically, the wages garnished from you as a debtor "cannot exceed 25% of your net wages per week or be more than 30 times the minimum hourly wage." In that case, the law considers the lesser amount. If you are considered the head of the household and earn less than $750 per work-week, you can exempt your wages from a creditor's collection.
  • Your vehicle: Since you can exempt up to $1000 of your car's value from seizure, creditors are barred from seizing your vehicle unless exceeding the $1000 value mark. You may also file an affidavit with the Florida court if your car has been seized and you believe the car is worth less than the stipulated $1000.

Bring up the statute of limitations in your hearing

Sometimes the best place to bring up your statute-of-limitations defense is in a hearing or trial for your lawsuit. After responding to a lawsuit by filing an Answer, a court may schedule a hearing. Frequently, cases get dismissed just by filing an Answer, but sometimes a hearing is necessary. Attorneys do a good job representing people in court. You can even use SoloSuit to hire an attorney to show up for you in court. If you or your attorney doesn't show up for the hearing, you'll lose your case.

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Responding to Collection Letters

After receiving a phone call or a creditor's collection letter, the first step is to validate the debt. You can do this by:

  • Verifying the exact details of the person contacting you, including their name and the name of their company.
  • Finding out the debt collectors phone number and address
  • Finding out details on how you can confirm or dispute the debt
  • Finding out the amount you owe

Respond to a debt collection lawsuit in less than 15 minutes with SoloSuit.

You can access sample letters from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to confirm your debt, request more information, and give the debt collector specific instructions on contacting you. Once you confirm the debt and all the other necessary information, you should take quick action to minimize damaging consequences.

First, you should determine the Statute of Limitations for the different types of debts to check if the debt collector can still file a lawsuit against you.

If you are unsure about the debt's owner or you wish to dispute it, you should ask the creditor for more evidence or verification documents, or you can even ask them to stop contacting you.

Here are some ideas to keep in mind when working with debt collectors:

  • Try to work with the debt collector on an affordable and realistic payment plan
  • Keep in mind your current bills while working on this payment plan. Ensure you can handle both adequately.
  • Negotiate a lump-sum payment that will clear your debt once.

If you are being harassed by a debt collector or were served with a Summons and Complaint, it is important to determine the age of the debt so you can assess whether a statute of limitations defense is viable. In Florida, the statute of limitations applicable to a debt collection lawsuit is generally five years. This means that once five years have passed, a creditor generally can no longer file a lawsuit against you to try and recover on that old debt.

What is SoloSuit?

SoloSuit makes it easy to respond to a debt collection lawsuit.

How it works: SoloSuit is a step-by-step web-app that asks you all the necessary questions to complete your answer. Upon completion, you can either print the completed forms and mail in the hard copies to the courts or you can pay SoloSuit to file it for you and to have an attorney review the document.

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