When it comes to getting money, most credit card issuers are not interested whatsoever in their being any sort of statute of limitations for them to collect on their money. Further, to complicate the waters about the actual statute of limitations on credit card debt, this statute varies from State-to-State, to which the issuer of the credit card may successfully argue in court that the statute should be based on the State that the credit card issuer so designated upon issuance, rather than the State that you reside in, or whichever favors the issuer of credit to begin with. The bottom line, whether you've moved or not since the credit card was issued, is that the determination of which State's statute of limitations applies, has more to do, with the party that has the power, as well as maximizing the length of the statute for the benefit of the collector, above all.
Consumers should care a great deal about the statute of limitations for credit card issuers or their designated assignee for the collector of such, because that length of time can vary from as short as three years to as long as ten years from the date the credit card payment was due and no payment was made to it. That time is important, because once a credit card company debt exceeds the statute of limitations, the creditor no longer has recourse to the collection of the debt throughout the court system, which means that they no longer have the legal right to sue you and collect on a judgment, against you. This doesn't mean that they will necessarily stop trying to collect on the debt; it fundamentally means that they have lost the power of the court to legally compel you to do so via summary judgment.
However, whether a debt has exceeded the statute of limitations is still something that must be judicially decided in a court of law, as the statute of limitations, varies from State to State, varies from credit card to credit card, and this statute expiration must be either successfully proved in a court of law, or conceded by the creditor.
When it comes to the statute of limitations, there is still one more hurdle to overcome, which is, as mentioned before, the statute begins running from the initial due date that you missed your payment on your particular credit card debt, which is quite straightforward, if you can find that statement or have documentation through the credit card company of that date, or from a credit score report. However, if since you missed that payment you have made any payment whatsoever towards that debt, the statute of limitations typically re-sets from that payment that you made, so that, if you missed payments for six months, and then decided under harassment or whatever, to make a payment, and then stop paying once again, you have moved the statute of limitations six months further down the road.
This means from a credit card debt standpoint, that you must be very careful when deciding that you wish to pay the debt, as every time that you make some sort of payment towards it, the statute re-sets, and this payment itself, encourages the debt collector to believe that you wish to or have the means to make good on the debt, signifying that they will be less inclined to cut you a good deal on it.
Credit card debt collectors count on you not knowing your legal rights, nor understanding correctly the statute of limitations in your particular circumstances, and will exploit this knowledge against you. As a consumer, it pays to be well informed, as that knowledge properly applied, will afford you the opportunity to extricate yourself from inconvenient, uncomfortable and seemingly unending debt situations far better than those who simply give up or don't pay attention.