New Jersey Statute of Limitations on Credit Card Debt: 6 Years Under N.J.S.A. § 2A:14-1

New Jersey's statute of limitations on credit card debt is six years. N.J.S.A. § 2A:14-1 provides that actions "for recovery upon a contractual claim or liability, express or implied, not under seal" must be commenced within six years after the cause of action accrues. Credit card debt is a contractual claim — it falls squarely within the six-year period under § 2A:14-1.

The clock starts at breach: typically the date of your last payment on the account. The next missed payment after your last payment is the breach that starts the SOL clock. New Jersey uses the date of last payment, not the date of charge-off (which is an accounting event for the original creditor, typically around 180 days after default) and not the date the debt was sold to a debt buyer.

The six-year SOL is the LONGEST of any state in the SOL series so far: Pennsylvania's default is four years (potentially three for Delaware-chartered issuers under the § 5521(b) borrowing statute); New York's is three years under CPLR § 214-i; California's is four years under CCP § 337; Texas's is four years under Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.004; Florida's is five years under Fla. Stat. § 95.11(2)(b). New Jersey at six years is structurally less protective for defendants than most other states in the series.

Honest framing: New Jersey's six-year SOL gives debt buyers a long window to file lawsuits. A consumer who stopped paying in January 2019 is still within the New Jersey SOL window through January 2025. For consumers with accounts defaulting in 2020-2025, the SOL will not run until 2026-2031. The SOL defense is available but applies only to the oldest defaulted accounts — and even then, the § 2A:14-24 revival trap may have restarted the clock (see Section 4).

The SOL does not dismiss a case automatically. Under N.J. Court Rule 4:5-4, the statute of limitations must be specifically pleaded as an affirmative defense in your Answer or it is waived. The court will not raise it for you.

New Jersey does not have a general borrowing statute that routinely imports shorter SOLs from other states for credit-card contract claims. This is the same structural feature as Texas and Florida, and different from Pennsylvania (42 Pa. C.S.A. § 5521(b)) and New York (CPLR § 202), both of which can import Delaware's three-year SOL for credit-card debts issued by Delaware-chartered banks.

New Jersey does have N.J.S.A. § 2A:14-22, which is the state's borrowing-statute provision. However, there is no controlling New Jersey appellate authority directly applying § 2A:14-22 to import a shorter foreign-state SOL for credit card debt in the way that Pennsylvania and New York courts have applied their borrowing statutes. The standard applicable period for New Jersey credit-card claims is the six-year N.J.S.A. § 2A:14-1 period, regardless of where the original creditor is located.

There is one important choice-of-law caveat. If the cardholder agreement contains an express choice-of-law clause selecting another state's law — for example, a clause designating Delaware law — that contractual provision may shorten the applicable SOL through the choice-of-law clause itself (not through the borrowing statute). This is a secondary, fact-specific argument that depends on whether the choice-of-law clause is enforceable under New Jersey contract law. If your cardholder agreement or the original complaint exhibits include a choice-of-law clause, review it carefully and consult an attorney before relying on this argument.

N.J.S.A. § 2A:14-22 also addresses absence-from-state tolling: the SOL is tolled while a defendant is outside New Jersey. This provision is structurally different from a borrowing statute — it addresses the defendant's physical absence from the state, not the importation of a foreign state's shorter SOL.

Practical implication: for most New Jersey defendants, the original creditor's main-office location does not affect the SOL analysis. The six-year N.J.S.A. § 2A:14-1 period applies regardless of whether the original creditor was Discover Bank (Delaware), Citibank (South Dakota), Capital One (Virginia), or any other issuer.

Date of last payment is the practical starting point. The cause of action for breach of contract accrues at breach — the first missed payment after your last payment that you do not subsequently cure. Your date of last payment on the original account is the reference point.

Date of charge-off: a misconception. Charge-off is an accounting and regulatory event that banks record after extended non-payment, typically around 180 days after default. It does not start the New Jersey SOL clock. The breach occurred earlier — at the missed payment.

Date the debt was sold to a debt buyer: irrelevant. When Midland Funding or Portfolio Recovery Associates purchased the account from the original creditor, that transaction did not reset or extend the SOL. The underlying cause of action is fixed at the original breach.

Date of acceleration: credit card agreements often contain acceleration clauses. If the issuer formally accelerated the full balance, the SOL clock may start at the acceleration date. Formal acceleration is rare in consumer credit card accounts. Most New Jersey courts use the date of last payment as the practical starting point.

Absence-from-state tolling under § 2A:14-22: if you were outside New Jersey during any period since the cause of action accrued, N.J.S.A. § 2A:14-22 may toll the SOL for that period. This could extend the plaintiff's effective window beyond six calendar years. If you have consistently lived in New Jersey, § 2A:14-22 tolling does not apply.

Practical: when you receive a complaint from Midland or PRA in New Jersey, find your date of last payment through original-creditor statements or your own bank records. Compare that date to the complaint filing date. If the gap exceeds six years — AND the § 2A:14-24 revival rule has not restarted the clock (see Section 4) — the claim is presumptively time-barred.

New Jersey's § 2A:14-24 revival rule is one of the most defendant-unfavorable SOL rules in the country. Understanding it is the single most important thing a New Jersey consumer can do before deciding whether to plead the SOL defense.

The rule: under N.J.S.A. § 2A:14-24, a partial payment ALONE restarts the six-year SOL clock from zero — no signed written acknowledgment is required. If you make even a small payment on a New Jersey credit card debt within the six-year window, the SOL resets to six years from the date of that payment.

To put this in comparative context: North Carolina requires a signed written acknowledgment to revive the SOL. Minnesota has a categorical no-revival rule for consumer debt — no payment or writing can restart the clock after the SOL expires. Texas has a post-expiry no-revival rule for debt buyers. California's CCP § 360, while allowing payments to restart the clock, explicitly requires the payment to be of "principal or interest" and has its own contours. New Jersey is on the MOST UNFAVORABLE end of the revival spectrum for consumers — partial payment alone, no writing required.

Note that words-only acknowledgment (statements about the debt, without any payment) require a different showing. Under § 2A:14-24, an acknowledgment that is verbal or written without payment must be in a writing signed by the debtor to revive the SOL. The lopsided rule: payment without writing restarts the clock; words without payment require a signed writing. This means debt collectors who extract even a small payment accomplish the most powerful SOL-revival action available — a nominal payment resets a six-year window from zero.

Why this matters in practice: Midland Funding, Portfolio Recovery Associates, and debt servicers commonly contact consumers about allegedly owed debts — sometimes through offers to settle for a fraction of the claimed amount, sometimes through hardship-payment programs, sometimes through letters suggesting that a small payment shows good faith. Under New Jersey law, a $10 or $20 payment on a previously time-barred debt restarts the entire six-year SOL clock.

Before pleading the SOL defense in your New Jersey Answer, pull your full payment history on the underlying account. Check all three credit reports at AnnualCreditReport.com. Review all correspondence with any debt collector on this account. Identify the date of every payment — no matter how small — to any debt collector or original creditor on the underlying account, then run the SOL analysis from the most recent payment date. If you made any payment in the past six years on this debt, you may not have an SOL defense at all, even if the original default was more than six years ago.

The safer practical rule: do NOT make any payment on a potentially time-barred New Jersey credit card debt without consulting an attorney. The risk of reviving a six-year SOL window far outweighs the benefit of any nominal payment.

Most Midland Funding and Portfolio Recovery Associates lawsuits in New Jersey are filed in the Special Civil Part of the Superior Court. Under R. 6:1-2(a), Special Civil Part has jurisdiction over cases where the amount in controversy does not exceed $20,000 (raised from $15,000 effective July 1, 2022). The typical Midland or PRA credit card case — often for a balance of a few thousand dollars — falls within Special Civil Part jurisdiction.

New Jersey has a three-tier civil-court structure for consumer-debt cases:

Special Civil Part — Small Claims sub-track (≤$5,000): hearing-based procedure. No written Answer is required — the summons sets a hearing date and the defendant must appear. This sub-track is rare for Midland or PRA cases but occasionally applies to smaller claims.

Special Civil Part — regular (above $5,000 up to $20,000): the most common tier for debt-buyer cases. Written Answer is required within 35 days of service under R. 6:3-1. CRITICAL: under R. 6:3-1, the 35-day deadline CANNOT be extended by consent — extensions require a court order. This is unusual nationally; most states allow informal party stipulations. Do not rely on any informal "courtesy extension" from the plaintiff's attorney.

Law Division (above $20,000): full Rules of Court under R. 4:1 et seq. apply; the Answer deadline is 35 days under R. 4:6-1(a). Most Midland and PRA cases do not reach the Law Division.

Two NJ-specific procedural rules that apply in the Special Civil Part:

R. 6:3-2(c) — five-element pleading disclosure and sworn affidavit: every assigned-claim complaint in the Special Civil Part must specify (a) the original creditor's name; (b) the last four digits of the original account number; (c) the last four digits of the defendant's SSN if known; (d) the current owner of the debt; and (e) the full chain of assignment from original creditor through every intermediate purchaser to the named plaintiff — with a separate sworn affidavit reciting the same content. This is one of the most detailed debt-buyer pleading rules in the country. When the complaint is missing any of these five elements or the affidavit is defective, raise it as an affirmative defense in your Answer.

R. 6:6-3(a) — chain-of-title affidavit at default: UNIQUE to New Jersey nationally. Even if you never respond to the complaint, the plaintiff must produce a sworn chain-of-title affidavit — reciting the same five-element content as R. 6:3-2(c) — before the Special Civil Part can enter a default judgment. Most states rubber-stamp defaults; New Jersey requires the plaintiff to affirmatively prove ownership of the debt even at the default stage. This passive protection operates without the defendant taking any action, though it is not always rigorously enforced.

For the comprehensive procedural framework — including the Atalese arbitration doctrine, R. 6:6-3(a) enforcement mechanics, and the three-tier court structure — see the companion post at /blog/how-to-fight-debt-lawsuit-new-jersey.

New Jersey Court Rule 4:5-4 requires that affirmative defenses — including the statute of limitations — be specifically pleaded in the Answer or they are waived: "In pleading to a preceding pleading, a party shall set forth affirmatively... statute of limitations." If you do not raise the SOL defense in your Answer, you cannot raise it later.

Before pleading the SOL defense, run the § 2A:14-24 revival analysis (Section 4). If you have made any payment on this account in the past six years, the payment may have restarted the SOL clock, and pleading the defense without accounting for that payment could waste the defense and damage credibility. Identify the date of your LAST payment on the account — whether to the original creditor or to any subsequent debt buyer — and run the six-year SOL from that date, not from the date of original default.

If the gap between your last payment and the complaint filing date exceeds six years, plead the defense in the affirmative defenses section of your Answer:

"Affirmative Defense — Statute of Limitations: Plaintiff's claim is barred by the applicable statute of limitations. Under N.J.S.A. § 2A:14-1, the statute of limitations on a contractual claim not under seal is six years. Defendant's last payment on the underlying account occurred on [date], more than six years before Plaintiff filed this action on [complaint date]. No event has occurred since [date] that would toll or revive the statute of limitations under N.J.J.S.A. § 2A:14-24 or § 2A:14-22."

Also include the § 2A:14-22 absence-from-state caveat if it might apply: "Defendant has consistently resided in New Jersey since [year]; § 2A:14-22 does not toll the limitations period."

File within the 35-day deadline under R. 6:3-1 (Special Civil Part) or R. 4:6-1(a) (Law Division). Under R. 6:3-1, no consent extensions — court order only.

The federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act is the primary private-right collector-conduct statute available in New Jersey. Unlike Florida (FCCPA), California (Rosenthal Act), North Carolina (NCDCA), or Ohio (CSPA), New Jersey does not have a debt-collection-specific state statute providing a direct analog to the FDCPA.

Federal FDCPA, 15 U.S.C. § 1692e: prohibits false or misleading representations in connection with debt collection. Filing a lawsuit on a time-barred debt implies the debt is legally enforceable — which is false when the SOL has run.

Federal FDCPA, 15 U.S.C. § 1692f: prohibits unfair or unconscionable collection practices. Filing a time-barred lawsuit qualifies.

15 U.S.C. § 1692k provides the private right of action: statutory damages up to $1,000 per proceeding, plus actual damages and attorney's fees.

New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act (NJCFA), N.J.S.A. § 56:8-1 et seq. — CONTESTED framing required. The NJCFA prohibits unconscionable commercial practices, deception, fraud, and misrepresentation in connection with the "sale" of "merchandise." N.J.S.A. § 56:8-19 provides mandatory treble damages on actual ascertainable loss plus mandatory attorney's fees — one of the strongest state-statutory remedies in the country.

However, New Jersey appellate courts have significantly narrowed the NJCFA's application to third-party debt collection. In Williams-Hopkins v. LVNV Funding, the Appellate Division (2023, affirmed 2025) held that the NJCFA does NOT apply to third-party debt-buyer collection. Do NOT assert the NJCFA as a confident counterclaim in a standard debt-buyer case.

The NJCFA may still apply in specific fact patterns involving affirmative misstatements beyond mere collection of an assigned debt — for example, false statements about the amount owed, misrepresentations about the chain of title, or other specific deceptive conduct that goes beyond the act of bringing a collection action. These are fact-specific determinations that require attorney analysis.

Practical framing: for a New Jersey defendant, the federal FDCPA is the primary counterclaim framework for standard debt-buyer collection conduct. The NJCFA should be considered and potentially asserted where the specific facts involve deceptive affirmative misstatements, but it should not be assumed available for every debt-buyer lawsuit. Consult an attorney before asserting NJCFA counterclaims in a New Jersey debt-collection case.

For the full NJCFA application framework, the TCCWNA analysis (also contested after Spade v. Select Comfort, 232 N.J. 504 (2018)), and the Atalese arbitration doctrine, see the companion post at /blog/how-to-fight-debt-lawsuit-new-jersey.

2018 multistate settlement: New Jersey participated in the multistate Encore/Midland settlement. AG Gurbir Grewal joined the 42-state coalition and signed New Jersey onto the Assurance of Voluntary Compliance. Structural consumer relief applicable in New Jersey:

Up to $1,850 in judgment balance credits per qualifying New Jersey consumer. Eligibility requirements: (1) a judgment was entered against you in a New Jersey court between January 1, 2003 and September 14, 2009; (2) you disputed the debt with Midland before the lawsuit was filed; (3) you never made a payment on the account. If you have an old Midland judgment from a New Jersey court meeting all three criteria, contact the New Jersey Attorney General's Division of Consumer Affairs about the balance reduction.

The 2018 multistate also imposed ongoing affidavit and account-documentation reforms on Midland — covering the same robo-signed affidavit practices that New Jersey's R. 6:3-2(c) and R. 6:6-3(a) target procedurally. For full coverage of the 2018 multistate, including the AVC terms and the complete list of participating states, see /blog/encore-midland-2018-multistate-settlement.

Federal CFPB enforcement — all four orders apply nationwide including New Jersey:

CFPB v. Encore Capital Group (September 9, 2015): $42 million in consumer refunds, $10 million civil penalty, and a halt on collecting or selling more than $125 million in debts. Press release at consumerfinance.gov/about-us/newsroom/cfpb-takes-action-against-the-two-largest-debt-buyers-for-using-deceptive-tactics-to-collect-bad-debts/.

CFPB v. Encore Capital Group (October 16, 2020): $15 million civil penalty plus $79,308.81 in redress. Encore filed approximately 100 time-barred lawsuits and sent approximately 425,000 letters missing the required time-barred-debt disclosure after the 2015 consent order was in effect. Press release at consumerfinance.gov/about-us/newsroom/consumer-financial-protection-bureau-settles-lawsuit-debt-collectors-and-debt-buyers-encore-capital-group-midland-funding-midland-credit-management-and-asset-acceptance-capital-corp/.

CFPB v. Portfolio Recovery Associates (September 9, 2015): approximately $27 million total — $19 million in consumer refunds plus civil penalties.

CFPB v. Portfolio Recovery Associates (April 13, 2023): $24.18 million. The CFPB labeled PRA a "repeat offender" for continuing violations after the 2015 consent order. Press release at consumerfinance.gov/about-us/newsroom/cfpb-orders-portfolio-recovery-associates-to-pay-more-than-24-million-illegal-debt-collection-practices-reporting-violations/.

For comprehensive coverage of all four CFPB enforcement actions, see /blog/cfpb-encore-midland-portfolio-recovery-enforcement.

Filing a lawsuit to collect a time-barred debt violates federal law and creates counterclaim exposure.

Federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1692e: prohibits false or misleading representations in connection with debt collection. Filing a lawsuit on a debt that the plaintiff knows or should know is time-barred is an implicit representation that the debt is legally enforceable. That representation is false when the SOL has run.

Federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1692f: prohibits unfair or unconscionable means of collecting a debt. Filing a time-barred lawsuit qualifies.

15 U.S.C. § 1692k provides the private right of action: statutory damages up to $1,000 per proceeding, plus actual damages and attorney's fees.

New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act, N.J.S.A. § 56:8-2 (CONTESTED APPLICATION): the NJCFA prohibits "unconscionable commercial practice, deception, fraud, false pretense, false promise, [or] misrepresentation." Where debt-buyer conduct involves affirmative misstatements about the time-barred status of a debt — beyond merely filing a collection action — the NJCFA may apply, potentially triggering N.J.S.A. § 56:8-19's mandatory treble damages and mandatory attorney's fees. But application to standard third-party debt-collection is contested under Williams-Hopkins. This should be evaluated with attorney guidance on the specific facts.

The CFPB's record confirms this is not a theoretical risk. The 2020 CFPB action against Encore found that Midland filed approximately 100 time-barred lawsuits and sent approximately 425,000 collection letters missing the required time-barred-debt disclosure — after being ordered in 2015 to stop.

Practical implication: if Midland or PRA filed a New Jersey lawsuit on a debt where the last payment — accounting for the § 2A:14-24 revival analysis — was more than six years before the complaint filing date, the lawsuit is both procedurally defective (SOL defense under N.J.S.A. § 2A:14-1) and the basis for a federal FDCPA counterclaim (15 U.S.C. §§ 1692e, 1692f, 1692k). The NJCFA counterclaim requires fact-specific analysis given the Williams-Hopkins contested framing.

Midland Funding LLC and Portfolio Recovery Associates LLC regularly file New Jersey lawsuits on credit card accounts that have been in default for multiple years before the debt buyer purchased the portfolio.

For a typical Midland Funding New Jersey Special Civil Part case:

First, verify which court tier has the case — check the caption. Special Civil Part regular (≤$20,000) governs most Midland and PRA cases. Calculate your Answer deadline: 35 days from service under R. 6:3-1, no consent extensions.

Second, check the R. 6:3-2(c) pleading disclosures. Does the complaint: (a) name the original creditor; (b) provide the last-four account digits; (c) provide the last-four SSN if known; (d) identify the current owner of the debt; and (e) trace the FULL chain of assignment from original creditor to named plaintiff? Is there a separate sworn affidavit? Each deficiency is an affirmative defense to raise in your Answer.

Third — and MOST important — run the § 2A:14-24 revival analysis before pleading the SOL defense. Find the date of every payment you have ever made on this account, to any debt collector or original creditor. If the most recent payment is within six years of the complaint date, the SOL defense may not be available.

Fourth, if the last payment was more than six years before the complaint date and no payment restarts the clock, raise the SOL defense under N.J.S.A. § 2A:14-1 in your Answer's affirmative defenses section under R. 4:5-4.

Fifth, check whether you qualify for the 2018 multistate balance reduction: old Midland judgment from a New Jersey court between 2003 and 2009, you disputed the debt before the lawsuit, and you never paid.

Sixth, assess potential FDCPA counterclaim exposure (§ 1692k) and fact-specific NJCFA exposure (contested under Williams-Hopkins) where Midland's conduct includes affirmative misstatements beyond mere collection.

For Portfolio Recovery Associates New Jersey cases: the same SOL and R. 6:3-2(c) analysis applies. PRA's complaint will identify the original creditor.

For the full New Jersey defense playbook including Atalese arbitration analysis, R. 6:6-3(a) default protection, and the three-tier court structure, see /blog/how-to-fight-debt-lawsuit-new-jersey.

New Jersey's statute-of-limitations framework on credit card debt differs from every other state in the SOL series in two critical ways.

The six-year SOL is the longest in the series. Pennsylvania's is four years (three with the borrowing statute for Delaware issuers); New York's is three years; California's is four years; Texas's is four years; Florida's is five years. New Jersey at six years is the least defendant-favorable SOL period in Tier 1 and Tier 2 of the series.

The § 2A:14-24 revival trap is the most defendant-unfavorable revival rule in the series. Partial payment ALONE restarts the six-year SOL clock — no written acknowledgment needed. This is less protective than North Carolina (signed writing required), Minnesota (categorical no-revival), Texas (post-expiry no-revival for debt buyers), and California (its own partial-payment contours). Run the revival analysis before concluding the SOL has run.

What New Jersey provides as offsets:

The 35-day Answer deadline (longer than PA's 20, TX Justice Court's 14, and tied with NJ Law Division): more time to prepare than most other states.

R. 6:3-2(c): the five-element pleading disclosure plus sworn affidavit requirement is one of the most rigorous debt-buyer pleading rules nationally. Many Midland and PRA complaints are defective under this rule.

R. 6:6-3(a): the default-stage chain-of-title affidavit requirement is unique nationally — a passive procedural protection that operates even if the defendant never responds.

The federal FDCPA: the primary private-right remedy against debt-buyer misconduct in New Jersey. Filing on time-barred debt violates §§ 1692e and 1692f; § 1692k provides up to $1,000 statutory damages plus attorney's fees.

The 2018 multistate: NJ participated; up to $1,850 in balance credits for qualifying old Midland judgments from 2003-2009.

The federal CFPB record: two CFPB enforcement orders against Midland's parent and two against PRA — all apply in New Jersey.

Practical sequence: (1) check the court tier and calculate the 35-day Answer deadline; (2) pull ALL payment history on the account; (3) run the § 2A:14-24 revival analysis from your most recent payment date; (4) if the SOL has run, plead it in your Answer under R. 4:5-4; (5) check R. 6:3-2(c) pleading defects; (6) consider FDCPA counterclaims; (7) check 2018 multistate balance credit eligibility.

I'm John DiSalle. In April 2026, I won my own debt-buyer case pro se in Eau Claire County, Wisconsin — Plaza Services LLC v. DiSalle, Case No. 2025SC000885, dismissed April 9, 2026. Wisconsin's SOL on debt is also six years — the same as New Jersey's. The New Jersey framework has structural features that are genuinely less defendant-favorable than most other states in the SOL series: the six-year SOL gives debt buyers a long filing window, and the § 2A:14-24 partial-payment revival rule is one of the most defendant-unfavorable in the country. But New Jersey also has R. 6:6-3(a) — a passive default-stage affidavit protection that is unique nationally — and R. 6:3-2(c)'s detailed debt-buyer pleading requirements, which give pro se defendants procedural leverage that most other states lack. Combined with the federal FDCPA record and the 2018 multistate settlement participation, New Jersey defendants have a layered defense framework even when the SOL hasn't run. I built Answered to give pro se New Jersey defendants the verified citation framework for all of these defenses.

For the full story, visit /about/john-disalle.

File your Answer before the 35-day deadline under R. 6:3-1 (Special Civil Part) or R. 4:6-1(a) (Law Division). Under R. 6:3-1, the deadline CANNOT be extended by consent — court order only. File by day 30 to be safe.

Before pleading the SOL defense: pull ALL payment history on the underlying account — from the original creditor, from any debt servicer, and from any subsequent debt buyer. Run the § 2A:14-24 revival analysis from the date of your MOST RECENT payment. If you made any payment within six years of the complaint filing date, the SOL defense may not be available.

In your Answer's affirmative defenses section under R. 4:5-4, plead: the statute-of-limitations defense citing N.J.S.A. § 2A:14-1; and R. 6:3-2(c) pleading defects if the complaint is missing any of the five required elements (original creditor name, last-four account digits, last-four SSN, current owner, full chain of assignment) or the separate sworn affidavit.

Do not make any payment on a potentially time-barred New Jersey credit card debt without legal advice. Under N.J.S.A. § 2A:14-24, partial payment alone restarts the six-year SOL clock with no written acknowledgment required.

Consider a counterclaim under the federal FDCPA (15 U.S.C. § 1692k) if Midland or PRA filed on a time-barred debt. Consider fact-specific NJCFA counterclaim analysis (N.J.S.A. § 56:8-19) where the specific conduct involves affirmative misstatements — but note that NJCFA application to standard third-party debt collection is contested under Williams-Hopkins v. LVNV Funding (App. Div. 2023, affirmed 2025).

If you have an old Midland judgment from a New Jersey court between January 1, 2003 and September 14, 2009, you disputed the debt before the lawsuit was filed, and you never made a payment, contact the New Jersey Attorney General's Division of Consumer Affairs about the 2018 multistate $1,850 balance reduction.

For the Answered New Jersey state defense framework, visit /sued-for-debt/new-jersey. For the complete New Jersey defense guide including R. 6:3-2(c), R. 6:6-3(a), Atalese arbitration doctrine, and the three-tier court structure, see /blog/how-to-fight-debt-lawsuit-new-jersey. For the debt buyer directory, visit /debt-buyers.