Statute of Limitations on Debt by State

A statute of limitations sets how long a creditor or debt collector has to file a lawsuit to collect a debt. There is no single national period for debts. Each state sets its own, the period usually depends on the kind of agreement behind the debt, and some states have separate periods for particular kinds of debt such as medical bills or consumer credit.

This page sets out the general rule in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia for written contracts, oral contracts, promissory notes, and open accounts, and then walks through the kinds of debt that have rules of their own. Every figure in the table is tied to the official statutory text, with a link to the source and the date it was last checked against that text.

The page describes general rules only. Whether a particular lawsuit was filed in time depends on facts this page does not address. For how a period starts, what can pause or restart it, and which state’s law applies, see the credit card debt guide, which covers those questions in detail.

How Limitations Periods Apply to Debts

The federal courts’ glossary describes a statute of limitations as “the time within which a lawsuit must be filed or a criminal prosecution must begin” (U.S. Courts, Glossary of Legal Terms). For debts, the Federal Trade Commission explains that the length of the period “depends on what kind of debt it is and the law in your state — or the state specified in your credit contract or agreement creating the debt” (FTC, Debt Collection FAQs).

A limitations period is raised by the party being sued. In federal court, a party responding to a pleading “must affirmatively state any avoidance or affirmative defense, including: … statute of limitations” (Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(c)(1)). State courts follow their own procedural rules about how and when a defense must be raised.

The Four Kinds of Agreement

Most state limitations statutes do not name particular kinds of debt. They set periods for kinds of agreements, and a debt takes the period of the agreement it arises from. The table on this page shows four of them side by side.

Kansas is a typical example of a state that separates written from unwritten agreements. It allows five years for “an action upon any agreement, contract or promise in writing” (Kan. Stat. Ann. § 60-511(1)) and three years for “all actions upon contracts, obligations or liabilities expressed or implied but not in writing” (Kan. Stat. Ann. § 60-512(1)).

Some states group the categories differently. New Mexico sets six years for “actions founded upon any bond, promissory note, bill of exchange or other contract in writing” (N.M. Stat. Ann. § 37-1-3(A)) and four years for actions “founded upon accounts and unwritten contracts” (N.M. Stat. Ann. § 37-1-4). In New Mexico, a promissory note and a written contract share one period, and an account shares the period for unwritten contracts.

Because the categories can carry different periods, the category a debt falls into can matter as much as the state. That classification is decided under each state’s own law, and this page does not make it for any particular debt.

Medical Debt

Several states set a separate period for medical bills. These special rules appear under the state’s row in the table and in the calculator results. The ones verified so far are:

• Arkansas: 2 years for an action to recover charges for medical services provided by a physician or other medical service provider, counted from the date of the services or the most recent partial payment, whichever is later (Ark. Code Ann. § 16-56-106(b)).
• Florida: 3 years for an action to collect medical debt for services rendered by a facility licensed under chapter 395, counted from the date the facility refers the debt to a third party for collection (Fla. Stat. § 95.11(4)).
• Nevada: 4 years for an action to recover an amount owed to a hospital for hospital care, counted from the date a payment due for the services is not paid (Nev. Rev. Stat. § 11.2095).
• New York: 3 years for an action on a medical debt by a licensed hospital or health care professional, counted from the date of treatment (N.Y. C.P.L.R. § 213-d).
• Virginia: 3 years for an action on a contract to collect medical debt, counted from the due date of the final invoice for the health care service (Va. Code Ann. § 8.01-246(B)).

Some of these rules start the period from an event other than the usual one. Florida’s runs “from the date on which the facility refers the medical debt to a third party for collection” (Fla. Stat. § 95.11(4)), New York’s requires suit “within three years of treatment” (N.Y. C.P.L.R. § 213-d), and Virginia’s runs “from the due date applicable to the final invoice for a health care service” (Va. Code Ann. § 8.01-246(B)).

In states without a medical-debt rule, a medical bill is subject to the general categories in the table, like any other debt.

Consumer Debt and Consumer Credit

A few states set a period for consumer debt as a whole, or for particular kinds of consumer credit:

• Arizona: 6 years for an action for a debt evidenced by or founded on a credit card (Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 12-548(A)(2)).
• District of Columbia: 3 years for an action to collect a consumer debt commenced on or after September 1, 2021, whether the claim is based on a contract, an account stated, an open account, or another cause (D.C. Code § 28-3814(o)).
• Minnesota: 6 years for actions upon an obligation arising out of a consumer debt primarily for personal, family, or household purposes (Minn. Stat. § 541.053).
• New York: 3 years for an action arising out of a consumer credit transaction in which a purchaser, borrower or debtor is a defendant (N.Y. C.P.L.R. § 214-i).
• Ohio: 6 years for an action arising out of a consumer transaction incurred primarily for personal, family, or household purposes, whether or not the agreement was put in writing (Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 2305.07(C)).

Rules like these can apply regardless of which of the four general categories a debt would otherwise fall into. The District of Columbia’s, for example, applies “whether the legal basis of the claim sounds in contract, account stated, open account, or other cause” (D.C. Code § 28-3814(o)).

Personal Loans and Promissory Notes

A promissory note is a signed promise to pay. In most jurisdictions with a verified entry, the period for notes comes from a provision on “a note payable at a definite time.” Texas’s version reads: “an action to enforce the obligation of a party to pay a note payable at a definite time must be commenced within six years after the due date or dates stated in the note or, if a due date is accelerated, within six years after the accelerated due date” (Tex. Bus. & Com. Code § 3.118(a)).

Most of those provisions use six years. A few differ: Arkansas uses “five (5) years” (Ark. Code Ann. § 4-3-118(a)), and Missouri uses “ten years” (Mo. Rev. Stat. § 400.3-118(a)).

A loan may be documented in a note, in a written agreement, or both. Which column applies to a particular loan depends on the documents and on the state’s law, and this page does not decide that question.

Debts Pursued by Collection Agencies and Debt Buyers

Some states have rules aimed specifically at debt collectors. Maine’s is:

• Maine: 6 years for a collection action by a debt collector, including a debt buyer, on a consumer debt, counted from the consumer’s last activity on the debt (Me. Rev. Stat. tit. 32, § 11013(8)).

A federal rule also applies to debt collectors. Under Regulation F, “A debt collector must not bring or threaten to bring a legal action against a consumer to collect a time-barred debt” (12 C.F.R. § 1006.26(b)). The regulation defines a debt collector as “any person who uses any instrumentality of interstate commerce or mail in any business the principal purpose of which is the collection of debts, or who regularly collects or attempts to collect, directly or indirectly, debts owed or due, or asserted to be owed or due, to another” (12 C.F.R. § 1006.2(i)).

Federal Student Loans

Federal student loans are treated differently. Federal law states that its purpose is “to ensure that obligations to repay loans and grant overpayments are enforced without regard to any Federal or State statutory, regulatory, or administrative limitation on the period within which debts may be enforced,” and provides that “no limitation shall terminate the period within which suit may be filed, a judgment may be enforced, or an offset, garnishment, or other action initiated or taken by” the lenders, guaranty agencies, and federal officials it lists (20 U.S.C. § 1091a(a)).

That provision covers the federal student loan programs it names, such as loans made under “part B” and “part D or E” of the federal student aid subchapter. The state periods in the table do not limit collection of those loans. Private student loans are not named in that provision.

Court Judgments Are Different

Collecting on a court judgment is a different matter from suing on the underlying debt. Some limitations statutes list actions on judgments separately from contract claims. Nevada’s six-year section, for example, includes “an action upon a judgment or decree of any court of the United States, or of any state or territory within the United States, or the renewal thereof” (Nev. Rev. Stat. § 11.190(1)(a)), and Florida’s five-year section includes “an action on a judgment or decree of any court, not of record, of this state or any court of the United States, any other state or territory in the United States, or a foreign country” (Fla. Stat. § 95.11(2)(a)).

The table on this page covers lawsuits to collect a debt, not the enforcement of a judgment already entered.

Time-Barred Debt

Regulation F defines “time-barred debt” as “a debt for which the applicable statute of limitations has expired” (12 C.F.R. § 1006.26(a)). Whether a debt collector may still contact a person about such a debt depends on the state: the FTC notes that “some state laws say it’s illegal for a debt collector to contact you about a time-barred debt, but other states allow it” (FTC, Debt Collection FAQs).

Payments can also matter. According to the FTC, “in some states, if you make a payment or even acknowledge in writing that you owe the debt, the clock resets and a new statute of limitations period begins” (FTC, Debt Collection FAQs). The credit card debt guide gives state examples of how these rules differ.

How to Use the Table and Calculator

The table below lists the general period for each of the four categories in every state and the District of Columbia, with the statute and a link to the official text. A cell that says “Not yet verified” has no figure checked against an official source; it does not mean there is no limit. Special rules appear in a note under the state’s row.

The calculator asks for a state, a type of agreement, and a start date. It shows the general period, the date that period would end if counted from the date entered, and the statute it comes from, and it lists any special rules for that state. It does not take into account when the claim actually accrued, payments, acknowledgments, or which state’s law applies, and it does not determine whether any claim is still timely.

Sources and Methodology

Every entry was checked against the statute’s official text: the state legislature’s website, the state’s official code publisher, or, for states whose official code is published by LexisNexis, that public-access site. Each quotation was matched word for word against the page itself. Where an official site could not be reached, the entry was checked against an Internet Archive copy of the same official page, and the entry’s verification date is the date of that copy.

Statutes are amended and courts interpret them. The rules on this page may not reflect recent changes, and they are not a substitute for advice from an attorney licensed in the relevant state.