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Arizona Debt Statute of Limitations Calculator (2026)

Enter your last payment or activity date to see when the Arizona limitations period would run out for your debt type — credit-card debt runs 6 years, a written contract 6 years. Every result flags revival.

Cited to A.R.S. §12-548; §12-543Source: Arizona State Legislature.

Arizona debt statute-of-limitations calculator

Debt statute of limitations · Arizona
Arizona rule applied to your dates
Limitations period
6 yr
Credit-card debt in Arizona: 6 years. Six years, as a written contract. A 2011 amendment wrote "a credit card as defined in section 13-2101" directly into the written-contract statute, §12-548(A)(2), and the Arizona Supreme Court applied it to credit-card debt in Mertola LLC v. Santos (2018). The 3-year open-account period does NOT apply to credit cards.
Period would run out
Enter your last payment or activity date to see the date.

These are the Arizona figures applied to the date you entered — a plain summary of the period, not a determination that any debt is or is not time-barred.

Once barred, it stays barred

Under Mertola, a partial payment does not reset the clock — only a payment that fully cures the arrears (bringing the account current) re-accrues it. A time-barred Arizona debt is not revived by making a small payment.

The date above assumes no new activity. A statute of limitations does not erase the debt or remove it from your credit report — it is a defense you must raise if you are sued after the period runs. In many states a partial payment or a signed written acknowledgment can restart the clock entirely, so be careful before paying or signing anything on an old account. Revival rules are complex and this is informational only, not legal advice.

Informational only, not legal advice. The statute of limitations is complex, classification-dependent, and revival can reset it — this tool cannot decide your case. See the full breakdown and citations on the Arizona debt statute-of-limitations reference, cited to A.R.S. §12-548; §12-543.

How the Arizona debt clock works

Arizona is the classic trap in the other direction: people assume credit-card debt is a short 3-year "open account," but since a 2011 amendment the statute names credit cards explicitly in the 6-year written-contract provision, §12-548(A)(2). The Arizona Supreme Court settled it in Mertola v. Santos (2018). The 3-year period in §12-543 still governs ordinary oral debts and non-card open accounts — just not credit cards. One tenant-friendly twist from Mertola: the clock starts at your first uncured missed payment, and a later "acceleration" doesn't reset it.

This tool applies the Arizona periods to the date you enter and assumes no new activity. It is informational only and not legal advice — revival can reset the clock and classification can change the period. For the full four-type breakdown, revival rule, and citations, see the Arizona debt statute-of-limitations reference.

Debt statute-of-limitations tools for other states

Same tool, each with its own periods and revival rule.