Arkansas: Statute of Limitations on Debt Collection
The short answer
Arkansas gives a creditor 5 years to sue on a debt founded on a written obligation and only 3 years on an unwritten (oral or open-account) debt. The clock runs from accrual, and a mutual open account runs from the date of the last item on it. For a written debt specifically, either a partial payment or a written acknowledgment of default restarts the clock: Arkansas is unusually permissive here, since the payment itself doesn't need to be in writing. A verbal promise alone does not revive an unwritten debt. Medical-service debt gets its own separate, shorter deadline. There's no general consumer-debt carve-out and no borrowing statute reaching an out-of-state debt.
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This is the general rule in Arkansas. Ezel applies current Arkansas law to your specific facts and answers with citations to the statutes.
| Governing law | Ark. Code Ann. §§ 16-56-105, 16-56-106, 16-56-111, 16-56-122, 16-56-127 |
|---|---|
| Written contract/debt deadline | 5 years from accrual (§ 16-56-111(a)) |
| Oral contract/open account deadline | 3 years from accrual (§ 16-56-105(1), (3)) |
| When the clock starts | Date the cause of action accrues (ordinarily the breach/default); a mutual open account runs from the date of the last item proved in the account (§ 16-56-127) |
| Can a payment or promise restart the clock? | For a written obligation, either a partial payment (no writing required) or a written acknowledgment of default restarts the clock (§ 16-56-111(b)); for an unwritten ("simple contract") debt, a verbal promise or acknowledgment does not (§ 16-56-122) |
| Special rule for consumer debt | None for consumer credit generally, but medical-service debt gets its own separate 2-year period running from service or last partial payment, whichever is later (§ 16-56-106) |
| Out-of-state debt | None: Arkansas's limitations chapter has no borrowing statute; its own periods apply regardless of where the debt arose |
| What expiration actually does | Ordinary affirmative-defense default: no Arkansas statute bars a creditor or collector from merely suing or threatening suit on a time-barred debt |
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Requirements one by one
Governing law
Arkansas's contract-debt deadlines live in Ark. Code Ann. Title 16,
Chapter 56, Subchapter 1, "General Provisions", primarily § 16-56-111
(written obligations) and § 16-56-105 (unwritten contracts), along with
§ 16-56-127 (mutual open accounts), § 16-56-122 (the verbal-acknowledgment
bar), and § 16-56-106 (a separate period specifically for medical-service
debt).
How long you have on a written debt
Five years, running from accrual. Section 16-56-111(a) covers "written
obligations, duties, or rights," with a narrow carve-out for a specific
type of instrument governed elsewhere in the code (§ 4-4-111, the Uniform
Commercial Code's rule for a note payable on demand).
How long you have on an oral or unwritten debt
Three years. Section 16-56-105 covers "any contract, obligation, or
liability not under seal and not in writing" and, separately, "any contract
or liability, expressed or implied." An ordinary open account or store
charge account not backed by a signed writing typically falls in this
shorter bucket.
When the clock starts
The default is the date the cause of action accrues, ordinarily the date
of breach or default. For a mutual, open, current account specifically,
§ 16-56-127 sets a different trigger: the claim "shall be deemed to have
accrued from the time of the last item proved in the account", so a
running charge account's clock resets with each new item, not the first
one.
Can a payment or promise restart the clock?
It depends on whether the underlying debt is written or unwritten, and
Arkansas treats the two very differently. For a WRITTEN obligation,
§ 16-56-111(b) is genuinely permissive: "partial payment or written
acknowledgment of default shall toll this statute of limitations", the
word "or" means either one works on its own, so a bare partial payment
restarts a written debt's clock with no signed writing required at all.
For an UNWRITTEN ("simple contract") debt, § 16-56-122 goes the other
direction: "no verbal promise or acknowledgment ... shall be deemed
sufficient evidence to take any case out of the operation of this act", a spoken promise to pay does not revive or restart an oral debt's clock.
Is there a special rule for consumer debt?
Not for consumer credit generally, the same 5-year written / 3-year
unwritten split in §§ 16-56-105 and 16-56-111 applies to a credit card
balance the same as a business contract. Medical-service debt is the one
real exception: § 16-56-106 sets its own separate period, running not from
Chapter 56's general accrual rule but "from the date the services were
performed or provided or from the date of the most recent partial payment
for the services, whichever is later," and caps it at 2 years for services
performed after March 31, 1985 (an earlier, narrower 18-month period still
governs older, pre-1985 charges).
What if the debt originated in another state?
Nothing changes. Arkansas's limitations chapter contains no borrowing
statute, no provision that imports a shorter out-of-state deadline the
way many other states' laws do. Arkansas's own 5-year or 3-year period
applies to a debt sued on in Arkansas regardless of where the debt
originated.
What actually happens once the deadline passes?
The ordinary default. Arkansas follows the common-law rule: expiration is
an affirmative defense the debtor has to raise (under Ark. R. Civ. P.
8(c)), not an independent bar the creditor violates just by filing.
Arkansas's own Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (Ark. Code Ann.
§§ 17-24-501 to -512) closely mirrors the federal FDCPA's conduct rules
for licensed collectors, but doesn't add a standalone state-law ban on
suing or threatening suit specifically because a debt is time-barred
beyond what federal law already requires.
What trips people up
Because Arkansas lets a bare, unwritten partial payment restart a WRITTEN
debt's clock, a small "good faith" payment toward an old signed loan or
credit agreement can reset the full 5 years without the person paying ever
signing anything or being told that's what happened, a real trap for
someone trying to chip away at old debt. The reverse trap exists for an
unwritten debt: because § 16-56-122 blocks only a "verbal promise or
acknowledgment," and doesn't address a bare payment on an oral debt the
way § 16-56-111(b) does for a written one, whether a payment alone (as
opposed to a spoken promise) restarts an unwritten debt's clock isn't
answered by the statute's plain text, treat that as an open question
rather than assuming either answer.
Common questions
Does the 5-year or 3-year period apply to my credit card debt?
It depends on whether the account is backed by a signed written agreement.
An unwritten or open account typically falls under the 3-year period in
§ 16-56-105; a debt clearly founded on a signed written instrument falls
under the 5-year period in § 16-56-111.
I made a payment on an old written debt, did that restart the clock?
Yes, under § 16-56-111(b), a partial payment restarts a written debt's
clock even without any signed writing. For an unwritten debt, the statute
only addresses a verbal promise (which does not restart the clock); it
doesn't separately address a bare payment.
Can a debt collector still contact me after the statute of limitations
runs?
Arkansas's limitations statute doesn't itself bar contact or even a
lawsuit, expiration is a defense the debtor must raise. Federal FDCPA
rules and Arkansas's own mirroring Fair Debt Collection Practices Act
govern what a licensed collector may otherwise say or do, which is outside
this survey's scope.
Does the debt just disappear once the time limit passes?
No. The underlying debt still exists and can still be voluntarily paid or
reported; what changes is that a court will dismiss a lawsuit on it if the
debtor raises the time-bar as a defense.
Statutes and sources
- Ark. Code Ann. § 16-56-111, "Actions to enforce written obligations,
duties, or rights... shall be commenced within five (5) years after the
cause of action shall accrue. ... [P]artial payment or written
acknowledgment of default shall toll this statute of limitations.", https://law.justia.com/codes/arkansas/title-16/subtitle-5/chapter-56/subchapter-1/section-16-56-111/
(accessed 2026-07-09) - Ark. Code Ann. § 16-56-105, "The following actions shall be commenced
within three (3) years after the cause of action accrues: (1) All actions
founded upon any contract, obligation, or liability not under seal and
not in writing...", https://law.justia.com/codes/arkansas/title-16/subtitle-5/chapter-56/subchapter-1/section-16-56-105/
(accessed 2026-07-09) - Ark. Code Ann. § 16-56-127, "the cause of action shall be deemed to
have accrued from the time of the last item proved in the account.", https://law.justia.com/codes/arkansas/title-16/subtitle-5/chapter-56/subchapter-1/section-16-56-127/
(accessed 2026-07-09) - Ark. Code Ann. § 16-56-122, "No verbal promise or acknowledgment in any
action founded on a simple contract shall be deemed sufficient
evidence...", https://law.justia.com/codes/arkansas/title-16/subtitle-5/chapter-56/subchapter-1/section-16-56-122/
(accessed 2026-07-09) - Ark. Code Ann. § 16-56-106, "An action shall not be brought to recover
charges for medical services performed or provided after March 31, 1985
... after the expiration of a period of two (2) years from the date the
services were performed or provided or from the date of the most recent
partial payment for the services, whichever is later.", https://law.justia.com/codes/arkansas/title-16/subtitle-5/chapter-56/subchapter-1/section-16-56-106/
(accessed 2026-07-09)
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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