Tools · Debt
Maryland Debt Statute of Limitations Calculator (2026)
Enter your last payment or activity date to see when the Maryland limitations period would run out for your debt type — credit-card debt runs 3 years, a written contract 3 years. Every result flags revival.
Maryland debt statute-of-limitations calculator
These are the Maryland 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 (too old to sue over).
Maryland is unusually protective. Under §5-1202, once the limitations period on a consumer debt has expired, a payment, a written or oral affirmation, or any other activity on the debt does NOT revive or extend it. A creditor also may not file suit after the period runs. Warning: this protection applies once the debt is already time-barred. While the debt is still live, a voluntary partial payment or a written acknowledgment can restart the 3-year clock, so do not pay or promise on old debt without knowing where the deadline falls.
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.
- Debt type
- Credit-card debt
- Time limit to sue (SOL period)
- 3 years
- Last payment / activity
- Not entered
- Period runs out
- —
- Revival
- Once barred, it stays barred
Plain-language summary, 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 Maryland debt statute-of-limitations reference, cited to Md. Code, Cts. & Jud. Proc. §5-101; §5-102; §5-1202.
How the Maryland debt clock works
Maryland keeps its debt clock simple on the front end and strict on the back end. Nearly every contract debt, whether written, oral, an open account, or a credit card, runs on one 3-year period under Cts. & Jud. Proc. §5-101, so there is no longer written-contract track to hunt for. The distinctive twist is §5-102, which gives specialties a full 12 years: an instrument under seal, a bond, a recognizance, or a court judgment. That 3-year versus 12-year gap is the thing to check, because a debt tied to a sealed instrument outlives an ordinary account by nearly a decade. Maryland is also one of the more consumer-protective states on revival: §5-1202 says that once the period has expired, a later payment or affirmation cannot bring the debt back. The catch is timing, because a payment made before the deadline can still restart the clock.
This tool applies the Maryland 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 Maryland debt statute-of-limitations reference.
Debt statute-of-limitations tools for other states
Same tool, each with its own periods and revival rule.