Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Georgia

Any payment restarts the time period.

If you are talking about a GA credit card debt, the statute of limitations begins to run from the date of the last payment. But beware - there is caselaw that says that the statute of limitations for credit card debts is 6 years, not 4 regardless of what the statutes say.

Something else to keep in mind that the statute of limitations is only a court defense that must be asserted in an answer to a complaint. The answer has to be timely filed with the court. If an answer is not timely filed with the court (writing to whoever sued you does not count) or if the answer fails to raise the defense, it is waived - meaning that the defense does not apply.

Expiration of the statute of limitations does not mean that the debt is no longer owed or that the creditor cannot continue to try and collect on it. You do not have to pay it. Attorney Ashman is correct that a partial payment will revive the statute. Further, some creditors are sneaky. You think that the statute has expired and it has. But the credit card issuers hope you will apply for a new credit card with them and they often condition you getting the credit by agreeing to transfer the old balance to it. This also serves to revive the statute so be very cautious when reviewing new credit card offers.

And just because the statute of limitations has expired does not mean that the debt cannot be reported on your credit. The two things have nothing to do with each other. Bad debts can remain on your credit report for about 7 1/2 years from your date of last payment.