The state rule, the city rule, and the one that follows your debtor

Statutes of limitation are state law and commonly run 3-6 years for commercial obligations, varying by whether the debt rests on a written contract, an open account or an oral agreement. In many states a partial payment or written acknowledgement can restart the clock - which is worth knowing before agreeing to a payment plan on a very old balance.

No. The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act defines 'debt' as an obligation of a consumer arising out of a transaction primarily for personal, family or household purposes - business-to-business obligations fall outside the statute entirely. That does not mean B2B collection is unregulated: state collection statutes, phone-consent rules, contract terms and ordinary law still apply.

Commercial legal placement commonly starts around a $2,500 balance - below that the cost stack usually consumes the recovery. Litigation also changes the economics: an attorney suit fee sits on top of the agency's contingency, and court costs are separate. Ask for the all-in cost at your typical balance before agreeing to litigation as an escalation.

Normalize three things: the commission ladder by account age, what happens to the rate after attorney forwarding, and remittance timing. Then verify licensing in your debtors' states and place a test batch rather than the whole ledger. Recovery against the quoted ladder tells you more in one cycle than any sales conversation.

Sooner than most businesses do. Commercial accounts are commonly reported as around 68.9% collectable at three months past due and around 51.3% at six months, with recovery falling sharply after a year - and the commission rises over the same period. Waiting costs twice. A written escalation ladder with a fixed placement date recovers more than case-by-case judgement.