Statute of Limitations are individually set by each states statutes or codes. It is usually found in the Uniform Commercial Code section within their respective laws. SOL covers a wide array of topics including the statute of limitations on assault, SOL on parking tickets, SOL on being sued for a debt, SOL for filing a claim if injured, and so on. There are probably 100+ covering various legal matters.
As it pertains to debt, as you saw, there are various SOLs covering specific debts like contracts, promissory (loan) notes, open debts (CCs), and so on. Every state has their own rules on when the SOL clock starts. Generally, SOL is based on the day you first went delinquent (DOFD) on a debt and never recovered. So, if you have a CC that went bad, lets say February 2010 as an example, then this month a 30 day late would appear. Next month a 60 day late will appear assuming you don't pay. Then you'll see a 90 day, then 120 , and so on. The time you went delinquent and never recovered would be 2/2010. The SOL clock starts from that point and ticks on. In your prev. post you mentioned that your state's SOL was 4 years for CC. So, the CCC or the collecting CA has until 2/2014, 4 yrs later, to file a lawsuit against you to sue you on an unpaid debt. If they don't do it by then, they cannot win in court if you were to defend yourself. Now some CAs try to be sneaky and sue past SOL, but you'd tell the judge that the debt is time-barred and the judge will dismiss the case if that's the situation.
When looking at SOL, you should really read your state's statutes very closely. Site like in the link I provided before list SOL but there are some errors. State laws change all the time and you should go to the source to confirm. Also, some states allow for SOL to be reset if you make a promise to pay (e.g. you tell the CCC or CA "I owe the debt, I'll pay you later"). This is why we tell everyone to keep everything in writing. Often calls are recorded without your permission and a CA will do anything to get you to pay or promise to pay. Some states allow SOL to reset if you make a written promise to pay. I'm in VA and it is like that here. Finally, some states will allow SOL to be reset, even if it was expired, if you make a payment on it. We suggest if you ever pay any debt, you do so to PIF. There's a case somewhere (note to self: find it and post this one day) where a family member found a 100+ year old library book in the attic of her home from which she inherited. The library book wasn't 100 years old, it was older, but it was checked out over 100 yrs ago. The person noted that the Library's name was inscribed in the book and she did the right thing to try to return it. Well, that reset SOL in their state and with the decades of library fines, the library then tried to sue that family for thousands and thousands of dollars. I don't know all the specifics and don't recall the outcome, but was a great example of what not to do with an unpaid debt.
The other thing to look out for is tolling. You mentioned that you moved from one state to another. You'd really have to dig into the statutes and look up the word "tolling" as it is used most frequently. Look in both statutes to see if that's allowed. Most states do not allow debts to be tolled.
