The New Hampshire numbers, and where they come from
The controlling law is N.H. Rev. Stat. §§ 508:4, 508:5. The periods that matter:
- Written contracts: 3 years.
- Oral and implied contracts: 3 years.
- Credit cards and similar accounts: 3 years — all personal actions (§ 508:4).
The clock generally runs from default — usually your last payment or first missed one — which is why the dated account history matters more than anything a collector says on the phone. A validation demand under 15 U.S.C. § 1692g makes them produce it: a written dispute within 30 days of the validation notice requires the collector to cease collection until verification is mailed.
Payment can restart the clock — New Hampshire's revival rules
A payment or written acknowledgment can restart New Hampshire's short clock — three years of protection undone by one check.
This is why the safest contact with a collector on an old debt is a written dispute that concedes nothing: it engages every federal protection while handing the collector none of the acts that restart a limitations period.
The New Hampshire catch worth knowing
The “written contracts get 20 years” claim floating around is false: § 508:5's 20-year period covers only judgments, recognizances, and sealed instruments. Ordinary written debt — cards included — dies at 3.
Three years means most resold New Hampshire debt is already time-barred on arrival; the letter says so, demands validation, and invokes the federal suit-and-threat bar.
If they sue anyway
A time-barred lawsuit doesn’t dismiss itself: the limitations defense must be raised, which means answering the complaint instead of defaulting. Your dated demand letter becomes evidence twice over — it fixes the dispute date, and it shows the court the collector proceeded after formal notice of the limitations problem. Bring the letter, the proof of mailing, and every account record they did (or didn’t) produce.
For the validation mechanics themselves — what collectors must send, and the documentation a debt buyer should be made to produce — see our debt validation letter guide and the assignment-documentation playbook.
Is a specific collector on the account?
Who is collecting changes how you respond. We keep company-by-company guides — verified dispute addresses, what each company collects, and the validation letter for each — for Midland Credit Management, LVNV Funding, Portfolio Recovery Associates, and 34 more in the collection agency index. Whoever it is, the sequence is the same: written validation demand first, before any payment or acknowledgment.
Run your deadline, see the letter
The preview locks here. The complete letter runs your dates against New Hampshire’s limitations rules, sequences the § 1692g demands correctly, and asserts the time-bar notice without a single word that restarts the clock — in 60 seconds.
Generate My New Hampshire Debt Letter — $9Need more? Bundle of 3 — $19 · Family Pack — $39
This page is general information, not legal advice; statutes and regulations are paraphrased; verify current law for your situation. For significant or contested debts, consult a licensed consumer attorney in your state.