Consumer Debt · Statute of Limitations
Statute of Limitations on Debt by State
How many years a creditor or debt collector has to sue you, state by state, for credit-card and contract debt, and when a payment can restart the clock, each cited to the statute.
Shortest credit-card clocks
Where a credit-card lawsuit becomes time-barred soonest. Conditional states use the shorter (unsigned-account) period.
Shortest credit-card SOL
Watch out for
Arizona & Georgia put credit cards on the long written-contract clock (6 years), not a short open-account one. New York cut consumer debt to 3 years in 2022. Florida and Virginia are conditional: the period depends on whether a signed cardholder agreement exists.
Type a state to jump straight to its full debt statute of limitations guide.
Every state in one table
The credit-card and oral-contract periods, the revival rule, and the statute for every state, grouped by the written-contract period. Each group heading is the written-contract answer for the states under it.
Written contract: 3 years (7)
| State | Credit card | Oral contract | Revival | Statute |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alaska | 3 yearsContract (AS 09.10.053) | 3 years | Signed writing | AS 09.10.053; AS 09.10.200; AS 45.03.118 |
| Delaware | 3 yearsContract (§8106) | 3 years | Can restart | 10 Del. C. §8106; 6 Del. C. §3-118; 6 Del. C. §2-725 |
| Maryland | 3 yearsSimple contract (§5-101) | 3 years | No revival | Md. Code, Cts. & Jud. Proc. §5-101; §5-102; §5-1202 |
| Mississippi | 3 yearsOpen account / catch-all (§15-1-49) | 3 years | Signed writing | Miss. Code §15-1-49; §15-1-29; §15-1-3; §15-1-73; §75-3-118 |
| New Hampshire | 3 yearsPersonal action / contract (RSA 508:4) | 3 years | Can restart | RSA 508:4; RSA 382-A:3-118 (notes); RSA 508:8 (revival) |
| North Carolina | 3 yearsContract, express or implied | 3 years | Signed writing | N.C.G.S. §1-52(1); §1-47(2); §1-26 |
| South Carolina | 3 yearsContract / open account | 3 years | Can restart | S.C. Code §15-3-530(1); §15-3-120; §15-3-130 |
Written contract: 4 years (3)
| State | Credit card | Oral contract | Revival | Statute |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | 4 yearsOpen book account / account stated | 2 years | Signed writing | Cal. Civ. Proc. Code §337; §339; §360 |
| Pennsylvania | 4 yearsContract | 4 years | Can restart | 42 Pa.C.S. §5525; 13 Pa.C.S. §3118 |
| Texas | 4 yearsDebt / open or stated account | 4 years | No revival | Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code §16.004; Tex. Fin. Code §392.307 |
Written contract: 5 years (7)
| State | Credit card | Oral contract | Revival | Statute |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arkansas | 5 yearsWritten contract (contested) | 3 years | Can restart | Ark. Code §16-56-111; §16-56-105; §16-56-121 |
| Florida | 5 or 4 yearsdepends on signed cardholder agreement | 4 years | Signed writing | Fla. Stat. §95.11(2)(b); §95.11(3)(j); §95.04 |
| Idaho | 5 yearsWritten contract (§5-216) | 4 years | Can restart | Idaho Code §5-216; §5-217; §5-222; §5-238 |
| Kansas | 3 yearsOpen account (debated) | 3 years | Can restart | K.S.A. §60-511; §60-512; §60-520; §84-3-118 |
| Nebraska | 4 yearsOpen account (likely) | 4 years | Can restart | Neb. Rev. Stat. §25-205; §25-206; §25-216 |
| Oklahoma | 3 yearsOpen account (not in writing) | 3 years | Can restart | 12 O.S. §95(A)(1)-(2); §101; §102 |
| Virginia | 5 or 3 yearsdepends on signed cardholder agreement | 3 years | Can restart | Va. Code §8.01-246(2); §8.01-246(4); §8.01-229 |
Written contract: 6 years (25)
| State | Credit card | Oral contract | Revival | Statute |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 3 yearsOpen account (§6-2-37) | 6 years | Signed writing | Ala. Code §6-2-34; §6-2-37; §6-2-16 |
| Arizona | 6 yearsWritten contract (named in statute) | 3 years | No revival | A.R.S. §12-548; §12-543 |
| Colorado | 6 yearsLiquidated or determinable amount (§13-80-103.5) | 3 years | Can restart | C.R.S. §13-80-103.5; §13-80-101; §13-80-113 |
| Connecticut | 6 yearsWritten contract | 3 years | Can restart | Conn. Gen. Stat. §52-576; §52-581; §42a-3-118 |
| Georgia | 6 yearsWritten contract (long side) | 4 years | Signed writing | O.C.G.A. §9-3-24; §9-3-25; §§9-3-110/112 |
| Hawaii | 6 yearsContract / open account (§657-1) | 6 years | Signed writing | HRS §657-1; §657-2; UCC §490:3-118 |
| Indiana | 6 yearsOpen account (same either way) | 6 years | Can restart | Ind. Code §34-11-2-9; §34-11-2-7; §34-11-2-11; §34-11-9-1 |
| Maine | 6 yearsContract / open account (§752) | 6 years | No revival | 14 M.R.S. §752; §751; §860; §863; 11 M.R.S. §3-1118; 32 M.R.S. §11013(8) |
| Massachusetts | 6 yearsUniform contract period (classification moot) | 6 years | Can restart | M.G.L. c.260 §2; §13; §14 |
| Michigan | 6 yearsOpen account / general contract | 6 years | Can restart | MCL §600.5807(9); §600.5866 |
| Minnesota | 6 yearsContract / open account (consumer debt) | 6 years | No revival | Minn. Stat. §541.05, subd. 1(1); §541.053; §541.17; §541.31 |
| Montana | 5 yearsOpen account | 5 years | Can restart | Mont. Code Ann. §27-2-202; §27-2-409 |
| Nevada | 4 yearsOpen account | 4 years | No revival | NRS 11.190; NRS 11.200; NRS 11.390 |
| New Jersey | 6 yearsUniform contract period (classification moot) | 6 years | Can restart | N.J.S.A. §2A:14-1; §2A:14-24 |
| New Mexico | 4 yearsOpen account (§37-1-4) | 4 years | Can restart | NMSA 1978, §37-1-3; §37-1-4; §37-1-16 |
| New York | 3 or 6 years3 consumer debt (6 other) | 6 years | No revival | CPLR §213(2); CPLR §214-i |
| North Dakota | 6 yearsContract / open account (§28-01-16) | 6 years | Can restart | N.D.C.C. §28-01-16(1); §28-01-36; §28-01-37 |
| Ohio | 6 yearsAccount stated / consumer transaction | 4 years | Can restart | Ohio Rev. Code §2305.06; §2305.07 |
| Oregon | 6 yearsContract (ORS 12.080) | 6 years | Can restart | ORS 12.080; 12.230; 12.240 |
| South Dakota | 6 yearsContract (§15-2-13) | 6 years | Can restart | SDCL §15-2-13; §15-2-29; §57A-3-118 |
| Tennessee | 6 yearsContract (§28-3-109) | 6 years | Can restart | Tenn. Code Ann. §28-3-109; §47-2-725; §47-3-118 |
| Utah | 4 yearsOpen account (6 often applied) | 4 years | Can restart | Utah Code §78B-2-309; §78B-2-307; §78B-2-113 |
| Vermont | 6 yearsContract (§511) | 6 years | Can restart | 12 V.S.A. §511; §507; §508; §591 |
| Washington | 6 yearsWritten contract / account receivable | 3 years | Can restart | RCW §4.16.040; §4.16.080 |
| Wisconsin | 6 yearsContract (§893.43) | 6 years | Can restart | Wis. Stat. §893.43; §893.05; §893.45; §893.07; §403.118 |
Written contract: 10 years (8)
| State | Credit card | Oral contract | Revival | Statute |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Illinois | 5 yearsUnwritten / open account (short side) | 5 years | Can restart | 735 ILCS 5/13-206; 735 ILCS 5/13-205 |
| Iowa | 5 yearsOpen / unwritten account | 5 years | Signed writing | Iowa Code §614.1(4); §614.1(5); §614.11 |
| Kentucky | 5 years (contested)Unwritten contract (open question) | 5 years | Can restart | KRS §413.160; §413.120; §413.090; §355.3-118 |
| Louisiana | 3 yearsOpen account / money lent | 10 years | Can restart | La. Civ. Code arts. 3494, 3495, 3498, 3499, 3464 |
| Missouri | 5 yearsOpen account (§516.120) | 5 years | Signed writing | Mo. Rev. Stat. §516.110; §516.120; §516.320 |
| Rhode Island | 10 yearsGeneral contract (§9-1-13) | 10 years | Can restart | R.I. Gen. Laws §9-1-13(a); §6A-2-725; §6A-3-118; §9-1-17 |
| West Virginia | 5 yearsOpen account (short side, debated) | 5 years | Signed writing | W. Va. Code §55-2-6; §55-2-8; §46-3-118 (notes) |
| Wyoming | 8 yearsOpen account (unwritten contract) | 8 years | Can restart | Wyo. Stat. §1-3-105(a)(i)-(ii); §1-3-119 |
Jump to your state
Open any state for its full detail — the credit-card, written, oral, and promissory-note periods and the revival rule, each cited to the statute.
How to read a debt statute of limitations
The statute of limitations is the deadline for a creditor or collector to sue you over a debt. Each state sets different periods for written contracts, oral contracts, open accounts, and promissory notes, usually 3 to 10 years. Credit-card debt is the most-searched, and the most classification- dependent, because states disagree on whether a cardholder agreement is a "written" or an "open" account.
Two cautions matter everywhere. First, the deadline does not erase the debt; it is an affirmative defense you must raise if you are sued after the period runs. Second, in many states a partial payment or a signed written acknowledgment can restart the clock, so a small payment on an old account can undo years of protection. Every figure here links to the statute, and pages still pending final statute verification say so plainly. This is legal information, not legal advice.