Statute of Limitations on Debt Collection in Hawaii
At a glance
| Governing law | Haw. Rev. Stat. § 657-1(1) (contract debt generally), § 657-6 (debt arising in another jurisdiction), § 657-9 (borrowing statute), § 490:2-725 (UCC goods-sale contracts); revival by acknowledgment or payment is common law, not a codified section |
|---|---|
| Written contract/debt deadline | 6 years: Hawaii does not give a written debt a longer period than an unwritten one; § 657-1(1) covers 'any debt founded upon any contract, obligation, or liability' regardless of whether it's in writing or signed |
| Oral contract/open account deadline | Also 6 years, the same § 657-1(1) period as a written debt: Hawaii draws no written/oral distinction for ordinary contract debt; a contract for the sale of goods is the one exception, following the separate 4-year UCC period in § 490:2-725(1) instead |
| When the clock starts | The date the cause of action accrues: ordinarily the date of breach or default under the contract's own terms, per § 657-1's own 'next after the cause of action accrued' language; no special account-stated or discovery rule appears in the statute itself for ordinary contract debt |
| Can a payment or promise restart the clock? | No Hawaii statute governs this, it's entirely judge-made: a new promise to pay, whether the debt is already time-barred or not, binds the debtor for a fresh limitations period; the promise can be express or implied from an acknowledgment of the debt or from a part payment, but an acknowledgment or part payment is only PRIMA FACIE evidence of a new promise, rebuttable by other evidence and the circumstances, a fact question for the jury, not an automatic reset (First Hawaiian Bank v. Zukerkorn, 1981) |
| Special rule for consumer debt | None for ordinary consumer debt, the same single 6-year period applies to a credit-card balance as to a commercial contract; a narrow, unrelated carve-out exists for a debt a MINOR incurred by consenting to their own medical care under HRS chapter 577A (STI treatment, family planning), that debt's clock doesn't even start until the minor turns 18, then runs 2 years (§ 577A-5) |
| Out-of-state debt | A debt already time-barred where it arose cannot be revived by suing in Hawaii instead, except in favor of a domiciled Hawaii resident who has held the claim since it accrued (§ 657-9); separately, § 657-6 sets a 4-year period (shorter than Hawaii's own 6-year period) for a debt where the cause of action itself arose in another jurisdiction, subject to § 657-9 |
| What expiration actually does | Ordinary affirmative defense only, which the debtor must plead (Haw. R. Civ. P. 8(c) lists 'statute of limitations' among the enumerated affirmative defenses); Hawaii has no statute barring a collector from merely attempting to sue on a time-barred debt |
Requirements one by one
Governing law
Hawaii's contract-debt deadline sits in Chapter 657 ("Limitation of Actions"), Part I, § 657-1(1) sets the general 6-year period, § 657-6 sets a shorter period for a debt that arose in another jurisdiction, and § 657-9 is the borrowing statute governing when that foreign period controls instead. A contract for the sale of goods is carved out separately under the UCC, § 490:2-725. Unlike many states, Hawaii has no standalone statute governing revival by acknowledgment or payment; that comes from case law instead.
How long you have on a written debt
6 years. Section 657-1(1) covers "any debt founded upon any contract, obligation, or liability", there's no separate, longer period for a signed or written debt. A credit-card balance, a signed promissory note, and an unsigned invoice are all treated the same way.
How long you have on an oral or unwritten debt
Also 6 years, the identical period as a written debt, since § 657-1(1) draws no distinction based on writing. The one carve-out is a contract for the sale of goods, which instead follows the UCC's separate 4-year period under § 490:2-725(1), regardless of whether it's written or oral.
When the clock starts
The date the cause of action accrues, ordinarily the date of breach or default under the contract's own terms. Section 657-1's own text ties the 6-year period to run "next after the cause of action accrued," and no special account-stated or discovery-based accrual rule appears in the statute for an ordinary contract debt.
Can a payment or promise restart the clock?
Yes, but through case law rather than a statute. In First Hawaiian Bank v. Zukerkorn, Hawaii's Intermediate Court of Appeals treated a new promise to pay as starting a new limitations period even when the old debt was already barred. The promise may be express or inferred from an acknowledgment or part payment.
An acknowledgment or part payment is only rebuttable initial evidence of that new promise. A court therefore cannot treat every payment as an automatic reset; the debtor may show from the surrounding circumstances that no renewed promise was intended.
Is there a special rule for consumer debt?
No, for ordinary consumer debt, the same single 6-year period applies whether the debt is a personal credit-card balance or a commercial contract. There is one narrow, unrelated carve-out: if a minor self-consents to their own medical care (for a sexually transmitted infection or family planning services) under Hawaii's minor-consent statute, the minor personally assumes financial responsibility for that debt, and the clock on suing to collect it doesn't even start running until the minor turns 18, then the creditor has 2 years from that birthday.
What if the debt originated in another state?
Hawaii applies whichever period is shorter: its own 6-year period, or (subject to the borrowing statute) a 4-year period for a debt where the cause of action arose in another jurisdiction. The borrowing statute itself blocks reviving a claim in Hawaii that's already time-barred where it originated, with a carve-out for someone who has been a Hawaii resident the entire time they've held the claim.
What actually happens once the deadline passes?
The ordinary default. Hawaii's own Rules of Civil Procedure list "statute of limitations" among the affirmative defenses a defendant must plead, it's not a jurisdictional bar the court raises on its own, and it doesn't erase the underlying debt. Hawaii has no statute making it independently unlawful merely to attempt suing or otherwise collecting on a time-barred debt.
What trips people up
Because Hawaii's revival rule treats a payment or acknowledgment as only rebuttable evidence rather than an automatic reset, a single old payment doesn't guarantee a Hawaii debt was actually revived, the real answer can turn on disputed facts about what the payment was for and the circumstances surrounding it, unlike states with a clean bright-line statutory test. And because Hawaii applies the very same period to both written and oral debt, someone assuming a longer deadline just because their agreement was in writing (as in many other states) would be mistaken, in Hawaii it makes no difference.
Common questions
Does Hawaii give more time for a written contract than an oral one? No. Hawaii applies the same single 6-year period to both, with only a contract for the sale of goods following a separate, shorter 4-year UCC rule instead.
I made a payment on an old debt, did that restart the clock? Possibly, even if the debt was already time-barred, but it's not automatic. Hawaii courts treat a payment as only rebuttable evidence of a new promise to pay, so whether it actually revived the debt can depend on the specific facts and circumstances.
Can a debt collector still sue me after the statute of limitations runs? Hawaii law doesn't stop the filing itself, but you can raise the expired deadline as a defense in court, and the suit should fail if you do. There's no state law making the mere attempt illegal.
Does the deadline differ for credit card debt specifically? No. Hawaii applies the same 6-year period to consumer credit-card debt as to any other contract debt.
Statutes and sources
- Haw. Rev. Stat. § 657-1, "The following actions shall be commenced within six years next after the cause of action accrued, and not after: (1) Actions for the recovery of any debt founded upon any contract, obligation, or liability...", https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol13_Ch0601-0676/HRS0657/HRS_0657-0001.htm (accessed 2026-07-09)
- Haw. Rev. Stat. § 657-6, "Subject to section 657-9, actions for the recovery of any debt founded upon any contract, obligation, or liability, where the cause of action has arisen in any foreign jurisdiction... shall be commenced within four years after the cause of action accrued, and not after.", https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol13_Ch0601-0676/HRS0657/HRS_0657-0006.htm (accessed 2026-07-09)
- Haw. Rev. Stat. § 657-9, "When a cause of action has arisen in any foreign jurisdiction, and by the laws thereof an action thereon cannot there be maintained against a person, by reason of the lapse of time, an action thereon shall not be maintained against the person in this State, except in favor of a domiciled resident thereof, who has held the cause of action from the time it accrued.", https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol13_Ch0601-0676/HRS0657/HRS_0657-0009.htm (accessed 2026-07-09)
- Haw. Rev. Stat. § 577A-5, "Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, an action to recover any debt founded upon any contract, obligation, or liability made pursuant to this chapter shall not commence until a minor has reached the age of majority, provided that said action shall commence within two years of the date a minor reaches the age of majority.", https://data.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol12_Ch0501-0588/HRS0577A/HRS_0577A-0005.htm (accessed 2026-07-09)
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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