Statute of Limitations on Debt Collection in Alabama

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Governing law

Alabama's contract-debt deadlines live in Title 6, Chapter 2 ("Limitation of Actions") of the Code of Alabama, principally § 6-2-34 (the general 6-year period), § 6-2-33 (the 10-year period for sealed instruments), and § 6-2-37 (the 3-year period for open/unliquidated accounts), plus § 7-2-725, the state's own version of UCC Article 2's sale-of-goods period.

How long you have on a written debt

Section 6-2-34 requires actions founded on promises in writing not under seal to be commenced within 6 years. It puts loans and stated or liquidated accounts in the same period. A contract or writing under seal instead gets 10 years under § 6-2-33(1), while § 7-2-725 gives a contract for the sale of goods 4 years and permits the original agreement to shorten that period to no less than 1 year.

How long you have on an oral or unwritten debt

Section 6-2-34(9) gives 6 years to an action on a simple contract not specifically enumerated elsewhere. Account classification can change the period: § 6-2-34(5) gives a stated or liquidated account 6 years, but § 6-2-37(1) gives an open or unliquidated account 3 years.

When the clock starts

For an open or unliquidated account, § 6-2-37(1) computes the time from the last item of the account or from when the account is due by contract or usage. For a contract for the sale of goods, § 7-2-725(2) says the claim accrues when breach occurs regardless of whether the injured party knew of the breach.

Can a payment or promise restart the clock?

Section 6-2-16 identifies two exceptions that can remove the statutory bar: a partial payment made on the contract before the bar is complete, or an unconditional promise in writing signed by the person to be charged. The timing phrase matters on its face: the partial-payment route is unavailable once the bar is already complete.

Is there a special rule for consumer debt?

The current provisions sort claims by the obligation's legal category, not by a separate consumer-debt label. That means the relevant question under these sections is whether the claim concerns, for example, a simple contract, a stated or liquidated account, an open or unliquidated account, a sealed instrument, or a sale of goods.

What if the debt originated in another state?

Alabama's borrowing statute, § 6-2-17, recognizes another jurisdiction's bar for a contract made or act done there while the person to be charged was a resident there. The statute makes that foreign bar effective in Alabama in the same manner as in the other jurisdiction.

What trips people up

The account labels carry different periods. A stated or liquidated account is in the 6-year provision, while an open or unliquidated account is in the 3-year provision. A payment also has a timing trap: § 6-2-16 recognizes a partial payment only when it is made before the bar is complete.

Common questions

Does the 6-year or 3-year account period apply? The statutory distinction is between a stated or liquidated account under § 6-2-34(5) and an open or unliquidated account under § 6-2-37(1). The cell cannot classify a particular account without its facts and documents.

I made a payment on an old debt that I think had already expired, did that restart the clock? Section 6-2-16 says a partial payment must be made before the bar is complete. The same section separately recognizes an unconditional signed written promise.

Does moving to Alabama from a state with a shorter deadline help a creditor sue me here? Not automatically. Section 6-2-17 applies its foreign-bar rule only when the contract was made or act was done in the other jurisdiction while the person to be charged was a resident there.

Statutes and sources

• Ala. Code § 6-2-34, "The following must be commenced within six years: (4) Actions founded on promises in writing not under seal; (5) Actions for the recovery of money upon a loan, upon a stated or liquidated account or for arrears of rent due upon a parol demise; (9) Actions upon any simple contract or speciality not specifically enumerated in this section.", official Alabama Legislature text (accessed 2026-08-12)
• Ala. Code § 6-2-33, "The following actions must be commenced within 10 years: (1) Actions founded upon any contract or writing under seal.", official Alabama Legislature text (accessed 2026-08-12)
• Ala. Code § 6-2-37, "The following must be commenced within three years: (1) Actions to recover money due by open or unliquidated account, the time to be computed from the date of the last item of the account or from the time when, by contract or usage, the account is due;", official Alabama Legislature text (accessed 2026-08-12)
• Ala. Code § 7-2-725, "(1) An action for breach of any contract for sale must be commenced within four years after the cause of action has accrued. ... (2) A cause of action accrues when the breach occurs, regardless of the aggrieved party's lack of knowledge of the breach.", official Alabama Legislature text (accessed 2026-08-12)
• Ala. Code § 6-2-16, "No act, promise, or acknowledgment is sufficient to remove the bar to an action ... except a partial payment, made upon the contract by the party sought to be charged before the bar is complete or an unconditional promise in writing signed by the party to be charged thereby.", official Alabama Legislature text (accessed 2026-08-12)
• Ala. Code § 6-2-17, "When the statute of limitations of another state or foreign country has created a bar to an action upon a contract made or act done in such state or country while the party sought to be charged thereby was a resident of such state or country, the bar thus created is effectual in this state ...", official Alabama Legislature text (accessed 2026-08-12)