Statute of Limitations on Debt Collection in California

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Governing law

California's contract-debt deadlines live in Title 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure, "Of the Time of Commencing Civil Actions", specifically §§ 337 (written contracts), 339 (oral contracts), 360 (acknowledgment and revival), and 361 (the borrowing statute for debts that arose in another state).

How long you have on a written debt

Four years, running from the date of breach. This covers "any contract, obligation or liability founded upon an instrument in writing" (§ 337(a)), and California folds book accounts and written accounts stated into this same 4-year bucket rather than giving them their own shorter period (§ 337(b)), so a credit card balance backed by a signed cardholder agreement, or an itemized written invoice, generally gets the full 4 years, not the shorter oral-contract period.

How long you have on an oral or unwritten debt

Two years, half the written-contract period. Section 339(1) covers "a contract, obligation or liability not founded upon an instrument of writing." This is a real trap: an informal loan, a verbally modified agreement, or any debt that was never reduced to a signed writing gets only half the time a written version of the same debt would get.

When the clock starts

The default rule is the date of breach or default. For a multi-item written account specifically, § 337(b) sets a different starting point: "if an account stated is based upon an account of one item, the time shall begin to run from the date of the item, and if an account stated is based upon an account of more than one item, the time shall begin to run from the date of the last item", so a running account (like a credit card) generally starts its clock from the most recent charge or entry on it, not the first one.

Can a payment or promise restart the clock?

It depends on what kind of debt it is and what form the acknowledgment takes. For most debts, § 360 requires a signed writing: "no acknowledgment or promise is sufficient evidence of a new or continuing contract ... unless the same is contained in some writing, signed by the party to be charged." A phone call promising to pay, or a partial payment on an ordinary account, does not by itself restart the clock under this general rule. But § 360 carves out one specific exception: for a promissory note, "any payment on account of principal or interest due ... shall be deemed a sufficient acknowledgment", no writing needed, and it restarts the clock "from time to time as any such payment is made." Either way, the statute draws a hard line: this can only extend a clock that's still running. "No such payment of itself shall revive a cause of action once barred", once the deadline has already passed, nothing short of a fresh written promise (and even that is untested for a fully-expired claim) brings the claim back.

Is there a special rule for consumer debt?

No. Unlike some states, California does not set a separate, shorter limitations period for consumer credit transactions. The same 4-year written / 2-year oral split applies whether the debt is a business contract or a personal credit card balance.

What if the debt originated in another state?

Section 361 is California's borrowing statute: if a debt is already time-barred under the law of the state (or country) where it arose, California won't let a creditor revive it by suing here instead, "an action thereon shall not be maintained against him in this State", unless the person owed the debt "has been a citizen of this State, and ... has held the cause of action from the time it accrued." In practice, that carve-out matters more for the person who WOULD be suing (the creditor's residency, not the debtor's), a longtime California-resident creditor isn't cut off by a shorter foreign deadline, but a creditor who wasn't a California resident the whole time can be.

What actually happens once the deadline passes?

More than in most states. The ordinary rule elsewhere is that expiration is just an affirmative defense, a debtor has to raise it, and nothing stops a creditor from filing suit anyway and hoping the debtor doesn't show up. California's § 337(d) goes further for written debt: "a person shall not bring suit or initiate an arbitration or other legal proceeding to collect the debt" once the period has run. That's a direct statutory prohibition on even trying, not just a defense waiting to be raised. The debt itself still exists and can still be voluntarily paid or reported, expiration doesn't erase it, but a lawsuit or arbitration demand on it is off the table.

What trips people up

Making a "goodwill" partial payment on an old promissory note can accidentally restart the clock, even with no written acknowledgment at all, § 360's payment-on-a-note exception applies automatically, whether or not the person paying meant to reset anything. On the other side, once a debt is genuinely time-barred, a collector who still sues anyway isn't just risking a losing defense, they're violating § 337(d) directly, which can support its own claim against the collector (separate from the underlying debt dispute). And because California doesn't carve out a shorter period for consumer debt the way some states now do, a credit card balance here gets the same 4 years as a signed business contract, don't assume consumer debt is automatically shorter just because that's the trend in other states.

Common questions

Does the 4-year or 2-year period apply to my credit card debt? Almost always 4 years. California treats a written or book account the same as any other written contract under § 337(b), and most credit card agreements are backed by a signed or electronically-accepted cardholder agreement.

I made a small payment on an old debt, did that restart the clock? For an ordinary account or contract, no, not unless you also signed a written acknowledgment. For a promissory note specifically, yes, a bare payment on principal or interest restarts the clock under § 360, even without a signed writing.

Can a debt collector still contact me after the statute of limitations runs? The statute itself only bars a lawsuit or arbitration demand under § 337(d); it doesn't bar all contact. Whether a specific collection call or letter about a time-barred debt is lawful is a separate question governed by federal and state debt-collection-conduct law, not 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 expires is the creditor's ability to force payment through a lawsuit or arbitration.

Statutes and sources

• Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 337, "Within four years: (a) An action upon any contract, obligation or liability founded upon an instrument in writing... (d) When the period in which an action must be commenced under this section has run, a person shall not bring suit or initiate an arbitration or other legal proceeding to collect the debt.", https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=CCP&sectionNum=337. (accessed 2026-07-09)
• Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 339, "Within two years: 1. An action upon a contract, obligation or liability not founded upon an instrument of writing...", https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=CCP&sectionNum=339. (accessed 2026-07-09)
• Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 360, "No acknowledgment or promise is sufficient evidence of a new or continuing contract ... unless the same is contained in some writing, signed by the party to be charged thereby, provided that any payment on account of principal or interest due on a promissory note ... shall be deemed a sufficient acknowledgment...", https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=CCP&sectionNum=360. (accessed 2026-07-09)
• Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 361, "When a cause of action has arisen in another State ... an action thereon shall not be maintained against him in this State, except in favor of one who has been a citizen of this State, and who has held the cause of action from the time it accrued.", https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=CCP&sectionNum=361. (accessed 2026-07-09)