District of Columbia: Statute of Limitations on Debt Collection
The short answer
DC doesn't split ordinary contract debt by written versus oral, a single 3-year period covers 'a simple contract, express or implied.' A bond or other sealed instrument gets much more time, 12 years, but for CONSUMER debt specifically, a 2021 law overrides even that longer period and caps everything at 3 years, 'notwithstanding the provisions of any other statute of limitations.' A signed, written acknowledgment or a bare payment of principal or interest can each restart a still-running clock, but that same 2021 law flatly bans reviving a CONSUMER debt once its 3-year period has already fully expired, no matter what the debtor says or pays afterward. DC has no borrowing statute for out-of-state debt. And unlike most states' bare affirmative-defense default, DC treats suing on a consumer debt a collector knows or should know is time-barred as an unlawful trade practice in its own right, not just a defense the debtor has to raise.
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This is the general rule in District of Columbia. Ezel applies current District of Columbia law to your specific facts and answers with citations to the statutes.
| Governing law | D.C. Code § 12-301(7) (general 3-year period for 'a simple contract, express or implied,' covering written and oral alike); § 12-301(6) (12-year period for a bond or other instrument under seal); § 28-3504 (signed writing required for an acknowledgment or promise to restart the clock, doesn't alter the effect of a payment); § 28-3814(o) (a 2021 law setting a hard 3-year cap specifically for CONSUMER debt, overriding even the seal exception, effective for actions commenced on or after 2021-09-01); § 28-3814(l) (bars reviving an already-expired consumer debt by payment or affirmation); § 28:2-725 (separate UCC 4-year period for a contract for the sale of goods); § 28:3-118 (separate periods, mostly 6 years, for negotiable instruments like notes) |
|---|---|
| Written contract/debt deadline | 3 years, D.C. Code § 12-301(7) covers 'a simple contract, express or implied,' with no separate, longer period for a signed writing. The general exception runs longer: a bond or other instrument under seal gets 12 years (§ 12-301(6)), but § 28-3814(o) specifically overrides that longer period for CONSUMER debt, capping it at 3 years 'notwithstanding the provisions of any other statute of limitations unless that statute provides for a shorter limitations period,' and its text says explicitly 'this time period also applies to contracts under seal.' A contract for the sale of goods instead follows the UCC's own 4-year period (§ 28:2-725), and a promissory note generally follows Article 3's 6-year period (§ 28:3-118(a)) |
| Oral contract/open account deadline | Also 3 years: the identical period § 12-301(7) applies to a written simple contract. DC draws no written-versus-oral line for ordinary contract debt; both fall in the same 3-year bucket |
| When the clock starts | § 12-301(7) runs the 3-year period 'from the time the right to maintain the action accrues,' without itself defining accrual for an ordinary contract claim (the general common-law default is the date of breach or default). No separate DC statute was found supplying a special accrual rule for a running or open account, unlike some states' codes |
| Can a payment or promise restart the clock? | DC splits this two ways depending on whether the debt is consumer debt. For ordinary (non-consumer) debt, § 28-3504 requires any acknowledgment or promise to be 'in writing, signed by the party chargeable thereby' to restart a still-running clock, but that section 'does not alter or take away, or lessen the effect of a payment of principal or interest', so a bare payment restarts the clock on its own, with no writing needed. But for CONSUMER debt specifically, § 28-3814(l) cuts the other way once the period has fully run: 'when the applicable limitations period... has expired, any subsequent payment toward or written or oral affirmation of such consumer debt shall not extend the limitations period', a flat ban on reviving an already-expired consumer debt by any means, similar to New York's approach for consumer credit debt |
| Special rule for consumer debt | Yes, and it's a significant one. § 28-3814(o), added in 2021, sets a hard 3-year period specifically for consumer debt (money owed from a purchase, lease, or loan of goods, services, or property for personal, family, medical, or household purposes) that applies 'whether the legal basis of the claim sounds in contract, account stated, open account, or other cause, and notwithstanding the provisions of any other statute of limitations unless that statute provides for a shorter limitations period', and its text specifically extends that 3-year cap to 'contracts under seal,' overriding the general 12-year seal period whenever the underlying debt is consumer debt. It applies to actions commenced on or after 2021-09-01 |
| Out-of-state debt | None found: D.C. Code Title 12, Chapter 3 (the general limitations chapter, §§ 12-301 through 12-311) contains no provision importing a shorter out-of-state limitations period for a cause of action that arose elsewhere. DC's own 3-year period governs a qualifying contract claim regardless of where the debt originated |
| What expiration actually does | Depends on whether the debt is consumer debt. For debt outside § 28-3814's consumer-debt-collection scope, the ordinary default applies: expiration is an affirmative defense the debtor must raise, not an independent bar on filing. But for CONSUMER debt, § 28-3814(f)(10) makes it an unlawful, unfair trade practice for a debt collector to initiate a lawsuit 'when the debt collector knows or reasonably should know that the applicable statute of limitations period has expired': a real, though knowledge-based (not automatic), statutory consequence beyond the bare affirmative-defense default, enforceable separately under DC's Consumer Protection Procedures Act |
Compare this rule across all 50 states + DC →
Requirements one by one
Governing law
DC's contract-debt deadline lives in Title 12 ("Right to Remedy"),
Chapter 3 ("Limitation of Actions"). Section 12-301(7) sets the general
3-year period for "a simple contract, express or implied." Section
12-301(6) pulls a bond or other sealed instrument out to 12 years.
Section 28-3504, in DC's separate commercial code, governs whether an
acknowledgment or payment can restart the clock. And a 2021 addition to
DC's Debt Collection Law, section 28-3814(o), layers a hard, overriding
3-year cap specifically onto consumer debt, alongside a companion
anti-revival rule (subsection (l)) and a conduct-based bar on suing a
time-barred consumer debt (subsection (f)(10)).
How long you have on a written debt
3 years for an ordinary written debt, section 12-301(7)'s "simple
contract" category covers it, with no separate, longer period for a
signed writing. The general exception runs longer: a bond or other
instrument under seal gets 12 years (section 12-301(6)). But if the debt
is CONSUMER debt, section 28-3814(o) overrides even that longer seal
period, capping it at 3 years, its own text says "this time period
also applies to contracts under seal." A contract for the sale of goods
instead follows the UCC's separate 4-year period (section 28:2-725), and
a promissory note generally follows Article 3's own 6-year period
(section 28:3-118(a)).
How long you have on an oral or unwritten debt
Also 3 years, the identical period section 12-301(7) applies to a
written simple contract. DC simply doesn't draw a written-versus-oral
line for ordinary contract debt.
When the clock starts
Section 12-301(7) starts the 3-year period "from the time the right to
maintain the action accrues," without itself defining that moment for an
ordinary contract claim (the general default is the date of breach or
default). No separate DC provision was found setting a special accrual
rule for a running or open account.
Can a payment or promise restart the clock?
It depends on whether the debt is consumer debt, and whether the clock
has already fully run. For ordinary (non-consumer) debt that's still
within its limitations period, section 28-3504 requires any
acknowledgment or promise to be "in writing, signed by the party
chargeable thereby", but that section separately preserves the effect
of a payment: it "does not alter or take away, or lessen the effect of a
payment of principal or interest," so a bare payment restarts the clock
on its own, no writing required. But for CONSUMER debt whose 3-year
period has ALREADY expired, section 28-3814(l) flatly bars reviving it:
"any subsequent payment toward or written or oral affirmation of such
consumer debt shall not extend the limitations period." A goodwill
payment or a promise on an old, already-time-barred consumer debt does
nothing to revive a collector's ability to sue.
Is there a special rule for consumer debt?
Yes, and it's a significant one. Section 28-3814(o), added in 2021, sets
a hard 3-year period specifically for consumer debt, debt from a
purchase, lease, or loan of goods, services, or property for personal,
family, medical, or household purposes, that applies "whether the
legal basis of the claim sounds in contract, account stated, open
account, or other cause, and notwithstanding the provisions of any other
statute of limitations unless that statute provides for a shorter
limitations period." Critically, its own text extends that 3-year cap to
"contracts under seal," overriding the general 12-year seal period
whenever the underlying debt is consumer debt. It applies to actions
commenced on or after September 1, 2021.
What if the debt originated in another state?
DC has no borrowing statute for contract debt. Chapter 3 contains no
provision that imports a shorter limitations period from the jurisdiction
where a debt originated; DC's own 3-year period governs a qualifying
claim regardless of where the debt arose.
What actually happens once the deadline passes?
It depends on whether the debt is consumer debt. For debt outside the
Debt Collection Law's scope, the ordinary default applies: expiration is
a defense the debtor must raise, not an independent bar on filing. But
for CONSUMER debt, section 28-3814(f)(10) makes it an unlawful, unfair
trade practice for a debt collector to sue "when the debt collector
knows or reasonably should know that the applicable statute of
limitations period has expired", a real statutory consequence beyond
the bare affirmative-defense default, though it turns on the collector's
knowledge rather than being an automatic bar the way some states'
statutes are.
What trips people up
DC's 2021 consumer-debt overhaul creates a genuine two-track system that
easily gets missed: the general chapter (section 12-301) still governs
non-consumer contract debt exactly the way it always did, complete with
a 12-year period for sealed instruments and ordinary signed-writing
revival, but for consumer debt, an entirely separate section
(28-3814) silently overrides all of that with its own 3-year hard cap and
its own anti-revival rule. A creditor or reader relying only on section
12-301 without checking whether section 28-3814 applies to their specific
debt type could reach the wrong answer, especially for a debt secured by
a sealed instrument, where the two sections point in opposite directions.
Common questions
Does DC give more time to sue on a written contract than an oral one?
No, both get the same 3-year period. A bond or other sealed instrument
(12 years for non-consumer debt) is the general exception, but that
exception disappears for consumer debt, which is capped at 3 years even
if it's under seal.
I made a payment on an old consumer debt, did that restart the
clock?
Only if the clock hadn't already fully expired. A payment on a
still-running consumer debt clock has its ordinary effect, but section
28-3814(l) specifically bars any payment or affirmation from reviving a
consumer debt whose 3-year period has already run out.
Can a debt collector still sue me after the statute of limitations
runs?
For most debt, yes, the filing itself isn't blocked; you have to raise
the expired deadline as a defense. But for consumer debt, DC law makes it
an unlawful trade practice for a collector to sue when it knows or should
know the debt is already time-barred, giving you an affirmative claim in
addition to the defense.
My debt originated in a state with a shorter deadline than DC's, does that shorter period apply here?
No. DC has no borrowing statute for contract debt, so its own 3-year
period (or the consumer-debt cap, if it applies) governs regardless of
where the debt originated.
Statutes and sources
- D.C. Code § 12-301, "(7) on a simple contract, express or implied--
3 years; ... (6) on an executor's or administrator's bond-- 5 years; on
any other bond or single bill, covenant, or other instrument under
seal-- 12 years", https://code.dccouncil.gov/us/dc/council/code/sections/12-301 (accessed
2026-07-09) - D.C. Code § 28-3504, "In an action upon a simple contract, an
acknowledgement, or promise, by words only is not sufficient evidence
of a new or continuing contract whereby to take the case out of the
operation of the statute of limitations... unless the acknowledgement,
or promise, is in writing, signed by the party chargeable thereby. This
section does not alter or take away, or lessen the effect of a payment
of principal or interest made by any person.", https://code.dccouncil.gov/us/dc/council/code/sections/28-3504
(accessed 2026-07-09) - D.C. Code § 28-3814(o), "Any action for the collection of a consumer
debt that is commenced on or after September 1, 2021, shall only be
commenced within 3 years of accrual. This period shall apply whether
the legal basis of the claim sounds in contract, account stated, open
account, or other cause, and notwithstanding the provisions of any
other statute of limitations unless that statute provides for a
shorter limitations period. This time period also applies to contracts
under seal.", https://code.dccouncil.gov/us/dc/council/code/sections/28-3814
(accessed 2026-07-09) - D.C. Code § 28-3814(l), "Notwithstanding any other provision of law,
when the applicable statute of limitations period for an action to
collect consumer debt has expired, any subsequent payment toward or
written or oral affirmation of such consumer debt shall not extend the
limitations period.", https://code.dccouncil.gov/us/dc/council/code/sections/28-3814
(accessed 2026-07-09) - D.C. Code § 28-3814(f)(10), "No debt collector shall use any unfair,
fraudulent, deceptive, or misleading representation, device, or
practice to collect a consumer debt... including: ... (10) initiating
a cause of action to collect a consumer debt when the debt collector
knows or reasonably should know that the applicable statute of
limitations period has expired", https://code.dccouncil.gov/us/dc/council/code/sections/28-3814
(accessed 2026-07-09) - D.C. Code § 28:2-725, "An action for breach of any contract for sale
must be commenced within four years after the cause of action has
accrued.", https://code.dccouncil.gov/us/dc/council/code/sections/28:2-725
(accessed 2026-07-09)
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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