Statute of Limitations on Debt Collection in Florida

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Governing law

Florida's contract-debt deadlines live in Chapter 95 ("Limitations of Actions"): § 95.11 sets the core time periods, § 95.031 states the general accrual rule, § 95.04 governs reviving an already-barred debt, § 95.051 lists what tolls (pauses) a running clock, and § 95.10 is Florida's borrowing statute for debts that arose elsewhere. Section 559.72 separately regulates consumer-debt collection conduct.

How long you have on a written debt

Five years, running from the date of breach. Section 95.11(2)(b) covers "a legal or equitable action on a contract, obligation, or liability founded on a written instrument." Signed personal loans, promissory notes, mortgages, and most cardholder agreements backed by a signed application fall here.

How long you have on an oral or unwritten debt

Four years. Section 95.11(3)(j) covers "a contract, obligation, or liability not founded on a written instrument, including an action for the sale and delivery of goods, wares, and merchandise, and on store accounts." A handshake loan, or a credit card or open account where the creditor can't produce a signed agreement, generally falls into this shorter bucket instead. Because this classification genuinely matters, five years versus four can be the difference between a live claim and a dead one, whether a debt buyer can actually produce the original signed cardholder agreement is frequently the whole fight in a Florida collection case.

When the clock starts

The date of breach. Under § 95.031(1), "a cause of action accrues when the last element constituting the cause of action occurs", for an ordinary contract or debt claim, that's the date of the missed payment or other default, not the date the creditor discovers the problem. Florida courts do not apply a delayed-discovery rule to ordinary breach-of-contract claims.

Can a payment or promise restart the clock?

Florida splits this into two separate rules depending on whether the debt is still within its limitations period or has already expired. While the clock is still running, § 95.051(1)(f) tolls (pauses, rather than restarts) it for "the payment of any part of the principal or interest of any obligation or liability founded on a written instrument", a partial payment on a written debt buys the creditor more time by pausing the countdown, without requiring any separate writing. Once a debt has already become time-barred, though, a payment alone under § 95.051 isn't enough, reviving it requires § 95.04's separate rule: "an acknowledgment of, or promise to pay, a debt barred by a statute of limitations must be in writing and signed by the person sought to be charged."

Is there a special rule for consumer debt?

Yes, for one defined category. Section 95.11(4) gives a creditor 3 years to collect medical debt for services rendered by a facility licensed under Chapter 395, and the period runs from the date the facility refers the debt to a third party for collection. Other consumer obligations remain under the general written-instrument or unwritten-obligation periods. The Florida Consumer Collection Practices Act (§ 559.72) separately regulates collection conduct, including harassment and knowingly asserting a right that does not exist, but does not add another limitations period.

What if the debt originated in another state?

Section 95.10 is a straightforward borrowing statute with no exception for Florida residents: "when the cause of action arose in another state ... and its laws forbid the maintenance of the action because of lapse of time, no action shall be maintained in this state." If a debt is already time-barred under the law of the state where it arose, Florida courts simply won't hear it, regardless of whether the person suing is a longtime Florida resident, unlike states that carve out an exception for their own residents.

What actually happens once the deadline passes?

The ordinary default: expiration is an affirmative defense the debtor has to raise, not an automatic bar. Nothing in § 95.11 stops a creditor from filing suit on an already time-barred debt, and if the debtor doesn't show up or doesn't raise the defense, a Florida court can and does enter a default judgment regardless of the debt's age.

What trips people up

Whether a credit card debt gets 5 years or 4 often comes down to paperwork a debt buyer may not have: without the original signed cardholder agreement, the account risks being treated as an unwritten open account under the shorter 4-year rule instead of the 5-year written-contract rule, which can be the deciding factor in a case filed between four and five years after default. Also easy to miss: § 95.051(1)(f)'s tolling-by-payment rule only applies to a debt "founded on a written instrument", a partial payment on a purely oral debt doesn't get the same automatic pause. And negotiating or exchanging demand letters with a creditor does nothing to the clock on its own; only one of the specific grounds listed in § 95.051 (or a signed acknowledgment under § 95.04, if the debt has already expired) has any legal effect.

Common questions

Is my credit card debt on the 5-year or 4-year clock? It depends on whether the creditor or debt buyer can produce a signed cardholder agreement. With one, § 95.11(2)(b)'s 5-year written-contract period applies; without one, courts have applied the shorter 4-year open-account period under § 95.11(3)(j) instead.

I made a small payment on an old debt, did that restart the clock? If the debt was still within its limitations period and is founded on a written instrument, that payment tolled (paused) the clock under § 95.051(1)(f), effectively extending your deadline. If the debt had already expired, a bare payment alone doesn't revive it, only a signed written acknowledgment or promise under § 95.04 does that.

Can a debt collector still sue me after the statute of limitations runs? Nothing in Florida's own statute stops them from filing, and a court won't dismiss it automatically, you have to raise the expired-deadline defense yourself, or risk a default judgment. A time-barred lawsuit can separately violate the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, a question outside this survey's scope.

Does the debt just disappear once the time limit passes? No. Florida follows the majority rule that the debt itself survives; what expires is only the creditor's ability to force payment through a lawsuit, unless the debtor fails to raise the defense.

Statutes and sources

• Fla. Stat. § 95.11, "(2) WITHIN FIVE YEARS.— ... (b) A legal or equitable action on a contract, obligation, or liability founded on a written instrument... (3) WITHIN FOUR YEARS.— ... (j) A legal or equitable action on a contract, obligation, or liability not founded on a written instrument, including an action for the sale and delivery of goods, wares, and merchandise, and on store accounts. ... (4) WITHIN THREE YEARS.— An action to collect medical debt for services rendered by a facility licensed under chapter 395, provided that the period of limitations shall run from the date on which the facility refers the medical debt to a third party for collection.", https://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0000-0099/0095/Sections/0095.11.html (accessed 2026-08-09)
• Fla. Stat. § 95.031, "Except as provided in subsection (2) and in s. 95.051 and elsewhere in these statutes, the time within which an action shall be begun under any statute of limitations runs from the time the cause of action accrues. (1) A cause of action accrues when the last element constituting the cause of action occurs.", https://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0000-0099/0095/Sections/0095.031.html (accessed 2026-08-09)
• Fla. Stat. § 95.04, "An acknowledgment of, or promise to pay, a debt barred by a statute of limitations must be in writing and signed by the person sought to be charged.", https://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0000-0099/0095/Sections/0095.04.html (accessed 2026-08-09)
• Fla. Stat. § 95.051, "The running of the time under any statute of limitations ... is tolled by: ... (f) The payment of any part of the principal or interest of any obligation or liability founded on a written instrument.", https://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0000-0099/0095/Sections/0095.051.html (accessed 2026-08-09)
• Fla. Stat. § 95.10, "When the cause of action arose in another state or territory of the United States, or in a foreign country, and its laws forbid the maintenance of the action because of lapse of time, no action shall be maintained in this state.", https://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0000-0099/0095/Sections/0095.10.html (accessed 2026-08-09)
• Fla. Stat. § 559.72, "In collecting consumer debts, a person may not: ... (7) Willfully communicate with the debtor or any member of her or his family with such frequency as can reasonably be expected to harass the debtor or her or his family, or willfully engage in other conduct which can reasonably be expected to abuse or harass the debtor or any member of her or his family. ... (9) Claim, attempt, or threaten to enforce a debt when such person knows that the debt is not legitimate, or assert the existence of some other legal right when such person knows that the right does not exist.", https://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0500-0599/0559/Sections/0559.72.html (accessed 2026-08-09)