Georgia: Statute of Limitations on Debt Collection
The short answer
Georgia gives a creditor 6 years to sue on a signed written contract and only 4 years on an open account or any contract not signed by the debtor. The clock generally starts when the debt becomes due and payable. Georgia's revival rule is strict: a payment or acknowledgment only restarts the clock, even reviving an already time-barred debt, if it's entered in writing; a bare unwritten payment does nothing. Georgia has no borrowing statute at all, so its own periods apply to a Georgia lawsuit no matter where the debt originated. Once the deadline passes, it's an ordinary defense the debtor must raise, not an automatic bar.
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This is the general rule in Georgia. Ezel applies current Georgia law to your specific facts and answers with citations to the statutes.
| Governing law | O.C.G.A. §§ 9-3-24 (simple written contracts), 9-3-25 (open accounts and unsigned contracts), 9-3-26 (residual catch-all), 9-3-112 (revival) |
|---|---|
| Written contract/debt deadline | 6 years after the debt becomes due and payable (§ 9-3-24): covers a 'simple contract in writing,' not sale-of-goods or negotiable-instrument debt, which follow their own UCC periods |
| Oral contract/open account deadline | 4 years from accrual (§ 9-3-25): covers 'open account, or ... any contract not under the hand of the party sought to be charged,' i.e. not signed by the debtor; a residual 4-year catch-all (§ 9-3-26) covers anything not otherwise addressed |
| When the clock starts | The date the debt becomes due and payable / the date of breach; for an installment or running account, courts look to when each item or installment became due |
| Can a payment or promise restart the clock? | Strict writing requirement for both routes: a payment must be entered upon a written evidence of debt by the debtor, OR there must be a separate written acknowledgment of the existing liability: either revives even an already time-barred debt as a 'new promise to pay' (§ 9-3-112), but a bare unwritten payment alone does not |
| Special rule for consumer debt | None: no separate statutory period for consumer credit debt; consumer debt is classified the same way as any other debt, under the written/open-account split above |
| Out-of-state debt | None: Georgia has no borrowing statute; Georgia's own limitations periods apply to a suit filed in a Georgia court regardless of where the debt was incurred or which state's law otherwise governs the contract |
| What expiration actually does | Ordinary affirmative defense only: must be pleaded affirmatively under O.C.G.A. § 9-11-8(c) or it is waived; no independent Georgia statute bars a collector from suing or continuing to seek payment on a time-barred debt |
Compare this rule across all 50 states + DC →
Requirements one by one
Governing law
Georgia's contract-debt deadlines sit in Title 9 (Civil Practice), Chapter
3 ("Limitations of Actions"), Article 2, § 9-3-24 (signed written
contracts), § 9-3-25 (open accounts and unsigned contracts), and a residual
catch-all in § 9-3-26. Article 6's § 9-3-112 supplies the revival rule.
How long you have on a written debt
Six years, running from when the debt "become[s] due and payable," under
§ 9-3-24, which covers "simple contracts in writing." This section
specifically excludes sale-of-goods claims under UCC Article 2 and
negotiable instruments under UCC Article 3, both of which follow their own
separate periods, so a promissory note or a check isn't necessarily
governed by this six-year number.
How long you have on an oral or unwritten debt
Four years. Section 9-3-25 covers "open account, or ... the breach of any
contract not under the hand of the party sought to be charged", "hand" in
this context means the debtor's own handwriting or signature. A separate
residual section, § 9-3-26, catches "all other actions upon contracts
express or implied not otherwise provided for" at the same four years, so
in practice almost anything that isn't a signed written contract lands in
this four-year bucket.
When the clock starts
The date the debt becomes due and payable, generally the date of breach
or default. For a running account or an installment debt, Georgia courts
look to when each item or installment individually became due, rather than
treating the whole balance as accruing at once.
Can a payment or promise restart the clock?
Only if it's in writing, but when it is, the effect is powerful. Section
9-3-112 says "a payment entered upon a written evidence of debt by the
debtor or upon any other written acknowledgment of the existing liability
shall be equivalent to a new promise to pay." That covers two distinct
routes: a payment physically entered or noted on the written instrument
itself, or a separate written acknowledgment of the debt. Either one is
"equivalent to a new promise to pay", and Georgia courts have applied
this to revive a debt whose original deadline had already passed, not just
extend a still-running one. What doesn't work: a bare, unwritten payment
with no accompanying writing. Courts applying this statute have repeatedly
held that "mere partial payment, in the absence of a writing, is not
sufficient to revive or extend" the debt.
Is there a special rule for consumer debt?
No. Georgia doesn't set a separate limitations period for consumer credit
transactions, a credit card balance or personal loan is classified the
same way as any other debt, under the written/open-account split above.
What if the debt originated in another state?
Nothing changes based on where the debt arose. Georgia is one of a
minority of states with no borrowing statute at all, there's no Georgia
law that "borrows" a shorter out-of-state limitations period the way many
other states do. Georgia courts treat the statute of limitations as a
matter of procedure governed by the law of the forum, so Georgia's own
periods apply to any suit filed in a Georgia court, regardless of where the
underlying debt was incurred.
What actually happens once the deadline passes?
The ordinary default. Georgia's Civil Practice Act, § 9-11-8(c), lists
"statute of limitations" among the affirmative defenses a party "shall set
forth affirmatively" in response to a pleading, meaning a debtor who
doesn't raise it can lose the defense entirely. There's no separate Georgia
statute that independently stops a creditor from suing on, or simply
seeking voluntary payment of, a time-barred debt.
What trips people up
Because Georgia's revival rule requires a writing for either a payment
entry or an acknowledgment, and because it can bring back a debt that's
already fully expired, a debtor who signs a payment plan, a settlement
letter, or anything else that puts the debt in writing on an old,
supposedly dead account can hand the creditor a brand-new six-year window.
By the same token, an unsigned or informal agreement, even a
substantial one, gets only the shorter four-year period under § 9-3-25,
not the six years a signed version of the same deal would get, since
"under the hand of" the debtor specifically means signed or in the
debtor's own handwriting.
Common questions
Does my credit card debt get the 6-year or 4-year period?
Usually 4 years, since most credit card debt is classified as an open
account rather than a contract personally signed by the cardholder, though the specific facts of how the account was opened can matter.
I made a small payment on an old debt, did that restart the clock?
Only if the payment was entered in writing on the debt instrument, or
accompanied by a separate written acknowledgment. An unwritten cash payment
by itself does not restart or revive anything under Georgia law.
Does it matter that my debt originated with a company in another
state?
No. Georgia has no borrowing statute, so Georgia's own written/open-account
periods apply to a lawsuit filed here regardless of where the debt
started.
Can a debt collector still contact me after the deadline passes?
The statute of limitations itself only bars a lawsuit; it doesn't
independently prohibit contact. Whether a specific contact about a
time-barred debt is lawful is a separate question under federal and
Georgia debt-collection-conduct law, outside this survey's scope.
Statutes and sources
- O.C.G.A. § 9-3-24, "All actions upon simple contracts in writing shall
be brought within six years after the same become due and payable.", https://law.justia.com/codes/georgia/title-9/chapter-3/article-2/section-9-3-24/
(accessed 2026-07-09) - O.C.G.A. § 9-3-25, "All actions upon open account, or for the breach of
any contract not under the hand of the party sought to be charged ...
shall be brought within four years after the right of action accrues.", https://law.justia.com/codes/georgia/title-9/chapter-3/article-2/section-9-3-25/
(accessed 2026-07-09) - O.C.G.A. § 9-3-26, "All other actions upon contracts express or implied
not otherwise provided for shall be brought within four years from the
accrual of the right of action.", https://law.justia.com/codes/georgia/title-9/chapter-3/article-2/section-9-3-26/
(accessed 2026-07-09) - O.C.G.A. § 9-3-112, "A payment entered upon a written evidence of debt
by the debtor or upon any other written acknowledgment of the existing
liability shall be equivalent to a new promise to pay.", https://law.justia.com/codes/georgia/2020/title-9/chapter-3/article-6/section-9-3-112/
(accessed 2026-07-09) - O.C.G.A. § 9-11-8(c), "In pleading to a preceding pleading, a party
shall set forth affirmatively ... statute of limitations ...", https://law.justia.com/codes/georgia/title-9/chapter-11/article-3/section-9-11-8/
(accessed 2026-07-09)
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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