First: is anything time-critical right now?
Money and debt matters have hard deadlines on both sides. If any of these is true, act now.
- You were served with a lawsuit (small claims or civil) and have a hearing or response date
- You are being sued on a debt, especially an old one — the deadline to sue may already have passed, which can be a defense
- The event you want to sue about is getting old — the deadline to file (statute of limitations) may be near
- A collector is calling constantly, at odd hours, at your job, or making threats
- Your wages are being garnished or your bank account was levied
- A credit-report error is costing you a loan, an apartment, or a job
- You are about to sign or pay on a debt you are not sure you owe
If you were served with a lawsuit, do not ignore it. Missing a hearing or a response date can hand the other side a default judgment, which can lead to wage garnishment or a bank levy. If you are being sued on an old debt, whether the deadline to sue has passed can be a complete defense, so confirm it fast.
Tell the Analyst what happened
In your own words. It adjusts to you: plain answers if you want plain answers, statutes and citations if you ask for them. It will tell you honestly when a matter needs a real lawyer.
Please keep it anonymous. Do not enter Social Security numbers, full account numbers, or passwords. Describe the situation without identifiers. This is a public information tool, not a confidential channel.
Your options, by situation
Open the one that fits. Every rule is tied to a primary source. This is legal information, not advice about your specific facts.
If someone owes you money
Sue in small claims $12,500 individual · $6,250 business
The rule: As an individual you can sue in small claims, without a lawyer, for up to $12,500; a business or other entity is generally limited to $6,250. No person may file more than two claims over $2,500 anywhere in California in one calendar year.
Before you file: You must first ask the other side to pay (in person, by letter, or by email), unless there is a restraining order or it would be dangerous.
Forms & fees: File the Plaintiff's Claim (SC-100) (add SC-100A for extra parties). Filing fees are tiered ($30 up to $1,500; $50 up to $5,000; $75 up to $12,500), and you can ask to waive fees with FW-001 if you are low-income or receive public benefits.
Start here: California Courts: small claims.
Sources: Code Civ. Proc. §§ 116.221, 116.220, 116.231; CA Courts self-help.
File in the right county and name the defendant correctly get this right or lose
The rule: Usually you file where the defendant lives or does business, or (for a contract) where it was made, performed, or broken, or where the buyer lives. Name the defendant by their exact correct legal name.
Why it matters: Filing in the wrong county can get your case dismissed, and if the deadline to sue has passed by then, you can lose. If you do not name the defendant correctly, you may not be able to collect even if you win.
Page: Where to file. Suing under a business name uses form SC-103.
Source: Code Civ. Proc. § 116.370; CA Courts self-help.
Serve the defendant (and meet the deadlines) 15 / 20 · proof 5 days before
The rule: You cannot serve the papers yourself. Someone 18 or older who is not part of your case (a friend, the sheriff, or a registered process server) must serve the defendant.
Deadlines: Personal service must be done at least 15 days before the hearing (same county) or 20 days (different county). Substituted service must be completed 10 days earlier than that (25 / 30 days). File the proof of service (SC-104) at least 5 days before the hearing.
Page: How to serve.
Source: CA Courts self-help "Serve" page.
Collect after you win wait 30 days · judgment lasts 10 years
The rule: Winning is not collecting. After the 30-day window to appeal or vacate passes, you can enforce the judgment: ask the debtor about their assets (a debtor's exam), get a Writ of Execution (EJ-130, $40), and use it to levy a bank account or garnish wages.
Wage garnishment cap: The most that can be withheld per week is the lesser of 20% of disposable earnings, or 40% of the amount by which weekly disposable earnings exceed 48 times the minimum wage. The judgment is enforceable for 10 years and can be renewed.
Page: How to collect.
Sources: CA Courts self-help; Code Civ. Proc. § 706.050 (garnishment cap, operative 9/1/2023).
How long you have to sue (statute of limitations) 4 yr written · 2 yr oral
The rule: A written contract generally must be sued on within 4 years, an oral contract within 2 years, and an open book account (like a running balance) within 4 years.
Watch for restarts: A signed written acknowledgment of the debt, or (on a promissory note) a payment, can start a new period. Important: a payment does not revive a debt whose deadline has already passed. When the clock starts depends on the facts, so confirm your date.
Sources: Code Civ. Proc. §§ 337, 339, 360.
If a collector is after you, or your credit is wrong
Stop debt-collector harassment federal + California protections
The rule: The federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act bars collectors from abusive, deceptive, or unfair tactics. They generally may only contact you between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m., must stop contacting you at work if your employer prohibits it, cannot harass or threaten you, cannot lie about the debt or falsely threaten action they cannot take, and must go through your lawyer if you have one. You can tell a collector in writing to stop contacting you, and (with narrow exceptions) they must.
California adds more: The Rosenthal Act extends these protections in California and, unlike the federal law, can reach the original creditor collecting its own debt.
Sources: 15 U.S.C. §§ 1692c–1692g; Cal. Civ. Code §§ 1788.2, 1788.17.
Dispute or validate a debt 30-day dispute window
The rule: Within about five days of first contacting you, a collector must send a written validation notice with the amount and the creditor. You then have 30 days to dispute the debt in writing and request verification. If you dispute in time, the collector must pause collection until it mails you verification.
How: Send your dispute in writing, keep a copy, and consider certified mail with return receipt. Not disputing within 30 days lets the collector assume the debt is valid, but that is not an admission that you owe it.
Source: 15 U.S.C. § 1692g (applied in CA via Civ. Code § 1788.17).
Fix a credit-report error bureau reinvestigates in ~30 days
The rule: Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, you can dispute an inaccurate or incomplete item with a nationwide credit bureau, which must reasonably reinvestigate for free, generally within 30 days (up to 45 in some cases), and correct or delete anything it cannot verify.
How: Get your free reports at AnnualCreditReport.com (the official free source), then dispute each error in writing with each affected bureau, enclosing copies of your proof. You can also complain to the CFPB if it is not fixed.
Source: 15 U.S.C. § 1681i.
Medical debt and your credit report CA protection in effect
California (in effect): Under California law, medical debt may not be furnished to a consumer credit reporting agency, so a California medical provider or collector generally should not be reporting it to the credit bureaus.
Federal (important correction): A 2025 federal rule that would have removed medical debt from credit reports nationwide was struck down by a court in July 2025 and is not in effect. Do not assume medical debt is automatically off your credit report because of a federal rule. If a medical debt is wrongly reported, dispute it using the credit-report process above.
Source: Cal. Civ. Code § 1785.27; the federal Regulation V medical-debt rule was vacated 2025.
Deadlines at a glance
These are the general periods from official sources. A statute of limitations is not a fixed calendar date: when the claim arose, a signed acknowledgment or payment, and out-of-state rules can all move it. Do not compute your own date from this table.
| Item | Period | What it applies to |
|---|---|---|
| Written contract | 4 years | Deadline to sue on a signed agreement |
| Open book account | 4 years | Running balances / accounts |
| Oral contract | 2 years | Unwritten agreements |
| Small claims — individual | $12,500 | Most you can sue for as a person |
| Small claims — business | $6,250 | Most an entity can sue for |
| Serve defendant (personal) | 15 / 20 days | Before the hearing (same / different county) |
| File proof of service | 5 days | Before the hearing |
| Collect after winning | after 30 days | Once the appeal/vacate window closes |
| Judgment lasts | 10 years | Renewable |
| Dispute a debt with a collector | 30 days | After the validation notice |
| Credit-bureau reinvestigation | ~30 days | After you dispute (up to 45) |
Deadlines to sue are fact-sensitive. If a deadline might be close, or you are being sued on an old debt, get it confirmed against your specific facts immediately. A payment or a signed acknowledgment can restart the clock, and being sued after the deadline can be a complete defense.
Which agency handles what
| Problem | Where it goes | What they do |
|---|---|---|
| You are owed money (up to the limit) | Small Claims Court | Hears the claim and enters judgment |
| Collecting a judgment you won | Superior Court + Sheriff | Issues the writ; the sheriff levies or garnishes |
| Abusive debt collector (federal) | CFPB / FTC | Takes complaints; the CFPB forwards to the company |
| Collector violating California law | CA DFPI / Attorney General | Licenses collectors; takes complaints |
| Credit-report error | Credit bureaus → CFPB | Bureau reinvestigates; CFPB handles unresolved disputes |
A collector complaint to the CFPB usually gets a company response within about 15 days. For a wrongly reported item, disputing with the bureau is the first step; the CFPB is the escalation.
Evidence to gather
Money cases are won with records.
- The contract, invoice, or agreement, and any signatures
- Proof of what was owed and what was paid (bank records, receipts)
- Texts, emails, and letters about the debt or the work
- Your written demand for payment and any reply
- Any court papers you were served, with the date you got them
- Every letter, voicemail, and call log from a collector (dates and times)
- The validation notice a collector sent you
- Your credit reports and the specific errors circled
- A dated timeline of what happened
- The correct legal name and address of the person or business involved
If a collector is calling, start a simple log of every contact with the date, time, number, and what was said. That log is often the evidence that proves a violation.
How the Analyst answers
Every substantive answer follows the same predictable shape.
- A preliminary read of what may be going on
- The facts that would change the answer, and which are still missing
- The rights or claims that may be involved
- The deadlines that may apply, with the caveat that only case-specific review confirms a date
- The evidence to preserve
- Practical next steps
- The right form, court, or agency
- When the matter genuinely needs a human lawyer
- The official sources behind the answer
- The date the underlying law was last reviewed
The Analyst grounds statements in official sources and does not guess your deadline to sue, because that depends on your facts. It is attorney-supervised information, not legal advice, and using it does not make me your lawyer.
Official forms and pages
Small claims
Debt collectors
Credit reports
When the matter is worth a lawyer
Small claims is designed to work without a lawyer, and the free clinic above handles most of it. Some situations, like being sued for a large amount, a business dispute above the small-claims limit, or a collector who broke the law, are worth attorney review. This is separate from the free clinic and never gates it.
A demand letter that gets taken seriously
Before or instead of filing, an attorney demand on letterhead often gets paid. For larger disputes, that is a screened, filing-oriented package.
A written attorney consultation
Send your question, a short summary, and key documents; get a written attorney response on the main issues, your deadline, and next steps.
Sources and review
This clinic is grounded in official primary sources. Law reviewed as of July 23, 2026.
Primary sources: California Code of Civil Procedure (§§ 116.220, 116.221, 116.231, 116.370, 337, 339, 360, 706.050) and Civil Code (§§ 1788.2, 1788.17, 1785.27) via leginfo.legislature.ca.gov; the California Courts self-help site; the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (15 U.S.C. § 1692 et seq.) and Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. § 1681 et seq.); the CFPB; the FTC; and the California DFPI and Attorney General.
Statutes of limitations depend on accrual, restart, and choice-of-law; debt-collection and credit rules change (the federal medical-debt credit-reporting rule was vacated in 2025). Those points are presented conservatively. If something looks out of date, tell me at owner@terms.law.