Category · 5 topics
Money & Debt Law by State
The deadlines and ceilings that decide a debt dispute: how long a collector can sue, how much of a paycheck can be taken, what small claims court will hear, and how much of your home creditors can never touch.
Pick a topic
Each topic opens a state-by-state hub; every figure inside is cited to the official statute.
Why these five topics belong together
Debt collection runs on clocks and caps, and both are set state by state. The statute of limitations (the legal deadline to file a lawsuit) decides whether an old credit card or contract debt can still reach a courtroom, and in many states a single small payment can restart that clock. Wage garnishment law sets how much of each paycheck a judgment creditor can actually take. Federal law sets a floor for garnishment, but many states protect more than the federal minimum, and a few bar wage garnishment for consumer debt almost entirely.
The other three topics cover what happens around a judgment. Small claims limits set the largest dispute you can bring without hiring a lawyer, along with the filing fee and whether lawyers are even allowed in the room. The two homestead topics are close cousins that get mixed up constantly: one is the creditor exemption, which shields home equity when you are sued or bankrupt, and the other is the property tax break, which lowers the assessed value your county taxes. Same word, different statutes, very different dollar amounts, which is why each gets its own state-by-state hub here.