Colorado Debt Collection Statute of Limitations
In Colorado, the window to sue on most consumer debt is longer than people expect. Credit cards and other written contracts fall under a six-year clock, while a separate three-year rule reaches other claims. Knowing which period applies, when the clock starts, and what can restart it is the difference between a collectible judgment and a barred claim. This guide explains the Colorado limitations periods by debt type, the accrual trigger, the revival rule, and how locating a debtor inside the window keeps a lawful claim alive.
The Short Version
Colorado’s debt limitations rule has a counterintuitive twist: the headline contract period is three years under C.R.S. 13-80-101, but a more specific statute, C.R.S. 13-80-103.5, sets a six-year period for any action to recover a liquidated debt or an unliquidated, determinable amount. Because credit-card balances, signed loans, financed purchases, and most consumer accounts are “liquidated” — the amount due can be fixed by the agreement or simple math — they are generally governed by the six-year clock, not the three-year one. The clock starts at the first uncured default. A signed written acknowledgment or a qualifying new promise can revive a barred claim under C.R.S. 13-80-113, but a bare partial payment alone does not. Once a debt is time-barred, suing on it can violate the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. This is general legal information, not legal advice — confirm specifics with a Colorado attorney. As a public-records research firm, we locate debtors so a creditor can act inside the lawful window.
Watch: Colorado Debt Limitations
The six-year rule, the three-year rule, and when the clock starts.
Watch Overview
Two Statutes, One Clock That Matters
Why most Colorado consumer debt runs on six years, not three.
Colorado’s limitations scheme for debt lives in two neighboring sections of Title 13, and reading only the first one is the most common mistake creditors and debtors make. C.R.S. 13-80-101 sets a general three-year period for “all contract actions, including personal contracts and actions under the Uniform Commercial Code,” except as otherwise provided. That phrase — except as otherwise provided — is the hinge, because the very next specific statute carves out the largest category of everyday debt.
C.R.S. 13-80-103.5 sets a six-year period for “all actions to recover a liquidated debt or an unliquidated, determinable amount of money due,” for actions to enforce rights in any instrument securing a debt, and for replevin to recover personal property encumbered by such an instrument. A debt is treated as liquidated when the amount due can be ascertained by reference to the agreement or by simple computation. In plain terms: if the contract states the sum owed, or you can reach it with arithmetic from the account records, the claim is liquidated — and the six-year clock applies.
Because of that carve-out, the practical headline for Colorado is the inverse of what the three-year statute first suggests. A credit-card balance, an installment loan, a financed vehicle, and most written consumer obligations are liquidated debts, so a creditor generally has six years to file, measured from the first uncured default. The three-year rule still governs genuine unliquidated contract disputes and other claims, but it is not the period that controls the typical collection account. Getting this classification right is the whole game: a creditor who assumes three years may walk away from a still-live claim, and one who assumes a claim is live may sue on something that is already time-barred.
Colorado Limitations by Debt Type
The period, the governing statute, and the trigger. General information, not legal advice.
| Debt or Claim | Limitations Period | Governing Statute | Clock Starts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Credit-card debt Common | Six years (liquidated) | C.R.S. 13-80-103.5 | First uncured default |
| Written contract / signed loan | Six years (liquidated) | C.R.S. 13-80-103.5 | Date of breach / default |
| Auto loan / financed purchase | Six years | C.R.S. 13-80-103.5 | First missed payment after acceleration |
| Medical debt under written agreement | Six years | C.R.S. 13-80-103.5 | Default on the agreed amount |
| Promissory note / instrument securing debt | Six years | C.R.S. 13-80-103.5 | Maturity or accelerated default |
| General contract (unliquidated dispute) | Three years | C.R.S. 13-80-101 | When the cause of action accrues |
| Other tort / catch-all claims | Often two or three years (claim-specific) | C.R.S. 13-80-101 / 102 | When the cause of action accrues |
| Colorado domestic money judgment | Twenty years, renewable | Colorado judgment statute | Entry of judgment |
Two rows deserve emphasis. First, the credit-card and written-contract rows sit at six years precisely because they are liquidated debts under 13-80-103.5, not because of any special credit-card rule — Colorado does not treat card debt as a short-fuse “open account.” Second, a money judgment is a different animal entirely: once a creditor reduces a Colorado claim to judgment, it is enforceable for twenty years and is renewable, accruing statutory interest in the meantime. That gap between the six-year suit window and the twenty-year judgment life is exactly why timing the lawsuit matters so much — and why finding the debtor before the suit clock runs is the pivotal step. Confirm the period for any specific account with a Colorado attorney; claim-specific tort periods in particular vary.
When the Colorado Clock Starts Running
Accrual is the trigger — and creditors misjudge it constantly.
A limitations period means nothing until you know its start date, and in Colorado the start date for debt is accrual — generally the moment of the first uncured default. For a revolving account, that is typically the date of the first missed payment that is never brought current, not the date the account was opened and not the date a debt buyer later acquired the balance. Each later collector inherits the same accrual date; passing the file from creditor to agency to debt buyer does not reset it.
Installment and accelerated debts have a wrinkle. Where a loan contains an acceleration clause and the creditor accelerates — declaring the full balance due after default — Colorado courts generally treat that as creating a single cause of action that accrues on the acceleration date, rather than a fresh clock with every future installment. A creditor who sits on an accelerated note can therefore let the entire claim age out at once. A narrow discovery rule can delay accrual in cases of fraud or concealment, where the wrong could not reasonably have been known earlier, but it is the exception, not the everyday rule for an ordinary defaulted account.
Certain circumstances toll — pause — the running clock. A bankruptcy stay suspends the limitations period while the proceeding is pending, and a defendant’s absence from Colorado can toll the period under the state’s tolling provisions. Tolling is fact-specific and easy to overstate, so the safe assumption for a creditor is that the six-year clock is running from default unless a court-recognized pause clearly applies — and the practical takeaway is the same either way: identify the accrual date early and act well inside it rather than testing the edge.
Revival: What Can Restart the Clock
Colorado’s rule is stricter than the “any payment restarts it” myth.
One of the most consequential — and most misunderstood — points in Colorado debt law is revival. C.R.S. 13-80-113 governs the effect of a new promise and of payment, and Colorado’s standard is more demanding than the loose belief that any small payment automatically resets the limitations period. Under the statute, no acknowledgment or promise restarts the clock unless it is in writing and signed by the party to be charged; the section then preserves the separate effect of a payment of principal or interest.
On partial payment, Colorado courts have been pointed: the mere endorsement of a partial payment on a note does not, by itself, toll or restart the statute. To remove the bar, a payment of part of an admitted debt must be made and accepted under circumstances amounting to an unqualified acknowledgment that more is owed, from which a promise to pay the remainder can be inferred. And to revive a debt already barred, there must be an express, full recognition of the indebtedness and a promise to pay it. In other words, a defaulted debtor who quietly sends a token amount has not necessarily handed the creditor a brand-new six-year window — the surrounding acknowledgment is what does the work, and a fresh promise generally has to be in signed writing.
The practical lesson cuts both ways. Creditors should not assume that coaxing a single payment out of a debtor near the end of the period resets the clock; a Colorado court may disagree. Debtors should understand that signing a written acknowledgment, or making a payment paired with a clear admission, can expose an old account to suit again. Because revival turns on exact facts and wording, this is squarely a question to run past a Colorado attorney before relying on it.
It is also worth separating revival from a closely related idea that trips people up: the renewal of a judgment. Reviving a barred contract claim under 13-80-113 is about resurrecting the right to sue on the underlying debt, and it is hard, fact-bound, and statutorily constrained. Renewing a Colorado money judgment, by contrast, is a routine docketing step that simply extends an existing judgment’s life before it lapses. Both involve the word “renew” loosely, but they are governed by different rules and arrive at very different points in the timeline — one before any lawsuit, the other long after one has succeeded. Conflating the two is a frequent source of error in collection files.
Out-of-State Debt and Colorado’s Borrowing Analysis
The account may have followed the debtor across a state line — and the clock may have followed too.
Many Colorado collection files involve a debt that did not originate in Colorado. The card was opened in another state, the consumer later moved to Denver or Colorado Springs, and the creditor now wants to sue where the debtor lives. In that situation the six-year figure on this page is only the starting point, because Colorado courts may run a choice-of-law analysis — and sometimes a borrowing-statute approach — to decide which state’s limitations period actually governs the claim.
That analysis can pull in factors like where the contract was executed, where the cause of action accrued, any choice-of-law clause the parties agreed to, and which jurisdiction has the most significant relationship to the dispute. The consequential outcome is that a borrowing approach can apply another state’s shorter period to a debt now being litigated in Colorado. A creditor who assumes the Colorado six-year window applies to an out-of-state account can be surprised to find the claim already barred under the originating state’s law. The reverse can happen too. This is one of the clearer cases where comparing periods across jurisdictions is not academic, and where Colorado-specific counsel should confirm which clock controls before a complaint is filed.
Because the calendar can turn on facts the creditor does not control, the safest posture is to treat the limitations window as shorter than it looks, locate the debtor early, and let counsel pin down the governing law with time to spare rather than discovering a borrowing problem on the courthouse steps.
Time-Barred Debt and the FDCPA Line
The clock expiring does not erase the debt — but it changes what a collector may do.
The Debt Survives
An expired limitations period bars the lawsuit, not the obligation. The debt still exists; the creditor simply loses the courtroom remedy to compel payment.
Suing Time-Barred Debt
Filing or threatening suit on a debt past its Colorado period can violate the federal FDCPA at 15 U.S.C. 1692e and 1692f as a deceptive or unfair practice.
The Restart Trap
A collector who induces a payment to quietly revive an old account can run into trouble; under Colorado revival rules the reset is not automatic.
Disclosure Expectations
Federal rules push collectors toward disclosing when a debt is too old to be sued on, so a consumer is not misled into thinking suit is still on the table.
Choice-of-Law Surprises
For out-of-state debts, Colorado courts may run a choice-of-law or borrowing analysis, sometimes applying another state’s shorter period to the same account.
Judgment Changes Everything
A claim reduced to a Colorado judgment before the suit clock expires becomes enforceable for twenty renewable years — a far longer horizon than the underlying account.
The through-line is that the limitations clock controls the lawsuit, and crossing that line converts an aggressive collection step into legal exposure under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. None of this is a verdict on any particular account — it is general legal information, and the right move for a real file is to confirm the period and the facts with a Colorado attorney before acting.
Where a Locate Fits the Window
A six-year clock only helps a creditor who can find the debtor in time.
Date the Clock
Pin the accrual date — the first uncured default — so you know how much of the six-year window remains before any filing.
Send What You Know
A name, last known address, prior phone, employer, or relatives. Whatever exists on the debtor becomes the starting point for the research.
We Research Records
A current address and place of work are rebuilt from public records and licensed databases, cross-checked against known associates.
You Act in Time
With a verified locate, counsel can serve and file inside the limitations window — turning a live claim into an enforceable judgment.
We are a public-records research firm, not a law firm and not a collection agency. We do not give legal advice, file suit, or collect debts. What we do is the locate: finding a debtor who has moved or gone quiet so that a creditor or their counsel can pursue a lawful claim within the limitations window, before a still-collectible account ages into a time-barred one. For a legitimate creditor matter, a verified locate typically comes back within 24 hours.
Who We Help
We do the locate; your team handles the legal step.
Creditors
Debtors located inside the window
Collection Attorneys
Current address for service
Debt Buyers
Skip-traced before suit clock runs
Judgment Holders
Debtors found for enforcement
Small Businesses
Unpaid invoices and accounts
Landlords
Former tenants traced for balances
Whoever you are, the bottleneck is the same: a limitations window is worthless if the debtor cannot be found before it closes. We locate the party through lawful skip tracing services and deliver a current address and employment where available, so your counsel can serve and file in time. Because limitations rules differ sharply by state, it helps to compare Colorado against neighbors — our companion guides cover the Missouri debt collection statute of limitations and the California debt collection statute of limitations, which set very different periods. For creditors moving to enforcement, our overview of Colorado wage garnishment laws explains the post-judgment step, and our guide on how to find hidden assets covers locating what a judgment can actually reach.
Our Commitment
We find the debtor so a lawful claim can move while the clock still allows it — a verified current address and employment where available, delivered fast. As a public-records research firm, we work public records and licensed sources lawfully and for permissible purposes only, for creditors and their counsel since 2004.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the statute of limitations on credit-card debt in Colorado?
Credit-card debt is generally a liquidated debt, so it falls under the six-year period in C.R.S. 13-80-103.5, measured from the first uncured default — not the shorter three-year contract rule. Colorado does not treat card debt as a short-fuse open account. This is general legal information; confirm any specific account with a Colorado attorney.
Is the Colorado limitations period three years or six years?
Both exist. C.R.S. 13-80-101 sets a general three-year period for contract actions, but the more specific C.R.S. 13-80-103.5 sets six years for a liquidated debt or an unliquidated, determinable amount. Most consumer debt — credit cards, signed loans, financed purchases — is liquidated, so six years usually controls.
When does the Colorado debt clock start?
It starts at accrual, generally the date of the first uncured default — the first missed payment that is never brought current. The clock does not reset when the account is sold to a debt buyer; each later holder inherits the original accrual date. Accelerated installment loans typically accrue on the acceleration date.
Does a partial payment restart the statute of limitations in Colorado?
Not automatically. Under C.R.S. 13-80-113 and Colorado case law, a bare partial payment does not by itself restart the clock. The payment must be accompanied by an unqualified acknowledgment that more is owed, from which a promise to pay can be inferred; a new promise generally must be in signed writing. Verify with a Colorado attorney.
Can a written acknowledgment revive a barred Colorado debt?
It can. C.R.S. 13-80-113 provides that an acknowledgment or new promise can take a case out of the limitations bar if it is in writing and signed by the party to be charged, with an express, full recognition of the debt. Signing such a document can re-expose an old account to suit, so debtors should be cautious.
What happens if a collector sues on time-barred debt?
The debt still exists, but the lawsuit remedy is gone. Filing or threatening suit on a debt past its Colorado limitations period can violate the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act at 15 U.S.C. 1692e and 1692f as a deceptive or unfair practice, exposing the collector to liability.
How long is a Colorado money judgment enforceable?
Far longer than the underlying account. A Colorado domestic money judgment is generally enforceable for twenty years and is renewable, accruing statutory interest in the meantime. That is why reducing a still-live claim to judgment before the six-year suit window closes is so valuable.
Can People Locator Skip Tracing collect my debt or give legal advice?
No. We are a public-records research firm, not a law firm and not a collection agency, and we are not a consumer reporting agency. We locate debtors lawfully so a creditor or their counsel can pursue a claim within the limitations window. For a legitimate creditor matter, a verified locate typically comes back within 24 hours.
Find the Debtor Before the Clock Runs
A six-year window only helps if you can locate the debtor in time. We deliver a verified current address and employment where available — typically within 24 hours — so your counsel can act inside the lawful period. Contact us to get started.
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