Statute of Limitations on Debt Collection in District of Columbia

At a glance

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. 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, "Except as otherwise specifically provided by law, actions for the following purposes may not be brought after the expiration of the period specified below from the time the right to maintain the action accrues: ... (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; (7) on a simple contract, express or implied— 3 years", https://code.dccouncil.gov/us/dc/council/code/sections/12-301 (accessed 2026-08-09)
• 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 2026-08-09)
• 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 2026-08-09)
• 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 2026-08-09)
• 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 2026-08-09)
• 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 2026-08-09)
• D.C. Code § 28:3-118, "An action to enforce the obligation of a party to pay a note payable at a definite time must be commenced within 6 years after the due date or dates stated in the note, or, if a due date is accelerated, within 6 years after the accelerated due date.", https://code.dccouncil.gov/us/dc/council/code/sections/28:3-118 (accessed 2026-08-09)