Statute of Limitations on Debt Collection in Georgia
At a glance
| 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 |
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. Georgia appellate decisions applying this statute hold that partial payment without the required writing does not revive or extend the debt. See Bingham v. Advance Industrial Security, Inc., 138 Ga. App. 875, 228 S.E.2d 1 (1976), and Garrett v. Lincoln Cemetery, 148 Ga. App. 744, 252 S.E.2d 650 (1979), both collected in the current § 9-3-112 annotations.
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? It depends on the agreement and the claim. An open-account claim gets four years, but Georgia's Court of Appeals has applied the six-year written- contract period to credit-card debt based on an accepted written agreement; the cardholder's particular form of acceptance was not decisive. See Hill v. American Express, 289 Ga. App. 576, 657 S.E.2d 547 (2008), collected in the current § 9-3-24 annotations.
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 2026-08-23)
- 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 2026-08-23)
- 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 2026-08-23)
- 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/title-9/chapter-3/article-6/section-9-3-112/ (accessed 2026-08-23)
- 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 2026-08-23)
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
What does Georgia law mean for your facts?
You just read the general rule. Ask your own question and see which parts of current Georgia law apply to your situation, with citations you can check.
Opens in Ezel Pro.
- Starts from the statutes this survey is built on
- Cites every source it relies on, so you can verify it
- Chat, drafting and research in one workspace