Statute of Limitations on Debt Collection in Louisiana

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Governing law

Louisiana's debt-collection deadlines live in the Civil Code's prescription title (Book III, Title XXIV), principally arts. 3494 (the 3-year period), 3498 (5 years, for notes and instruments), and 3499 (the residual 10-year period).

How long you have on a written debt

There's no separate "written" category at all. What matters is what kind of debt it is. Article 3494 sets a 3-year period for "an action for the recovery of compensation for services rendered," "an action on money lent," and "an action on an open account", covering most everyday consumer debt, whether it's a personal loan, a credit card balance, or an unpaid invoice. A promissory note, "whether negotiable or not", instead gets 5 years under art. 3498. Anything that doesn't fit one of those specific categories falls into art. 3499's residual "personal action" bucket, which runs 10 years, the longest general contract period in this survey.

How long you have on an oral or unwritten debt

Exactly the same as written debt. Louisiana simply does not use signature or writing as the dividing line the way common-law states do. Whether an agreement was signed, verbal, or never formalized at all makes no difference to which of the categories above applies, only the nature of the debt does.

When the clock starts

Generally, the date the obligation becomes due. Article 3498 states this explicitly for notes and instruments: the 5-year period "commences to run from the day payment is exigible", the date payment could first be demanded.

Can a payment or promise restart the clock?

Yes, and Louisiana's mechanism looks different from common-law "revival." Article 3464 states simply: "Prescription is interrupted when one acknowledges the right of the person against whom he had commenced to prescribe." No signed writing is required by the text, an acknowledgment of any kind interrupts a still-running prescriptive period, restarting it from zero. But once the period has already fully run, a different set of rules takes over. A civil obligation that's been "extinguished by prescription" becomes a "natural obligation" under art. 1762(1), a category of moral-but-not-legal duty. Article 1761 spells out what that means: it "is not enforceable by judicial action," but "whatever has been freely performed in compliance with a natural obligation may not be reclaimed", so a voluntary payment on an expired debt can't be undone, and "a contract made for the performance of a natural obligation is onerous," meaning a fresh, separate promise to pay it is itself a valid, enforceable contract. In practice, this means an already-prescribed debt isn't simply revived the way it might be in a state like South Carolina; instead, paying or re-promising creates a new obligation with its own prescriptive period.

Is there a special rule for consumer debt?

None found. The same prescriptive periods apply whether the debt is personal or commercial. Louisiana's Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law begins at La. R.S. § 51:1401, while § 51:1405 declares unfair or deceptive trade practices unlawful; those provisions regulate conduct rather than set the deadline to sue on the underlying debt.

What if the debt originated in another state?

Louisiana doesn't use a simple "borrow the shorter period" rule the way many states do. Article 3549 generally applies Louisiana's own prescription law even to a claim governed by another state's substantive law, subject to a multi-factor exception based on compelling considerations of remedial justice. There is one sharp exception: if the person suing was not a Louisiana resident or domiciliary when the claim arose, and another state's law governs the merits, the claim is barred if it's barred under that other state's law, but only where that state itself treats its own deadline as substantive (extinguishing the right, not just the remedy) rather than merely procedural.

What actually happens once the deadline passes?

Prescription is an ordinary defense that a debtor must raise, Louisiana has no statute that independently bars a creditor from attempting to sue on a prescribed debt the way some states do. Once prescription has run, though, the underlying debt doesn't fully disappear: it survives as an unenforceable natural obligation, which matters mainly if the debtor ever voluntarily pays or re-promises to pay it.

What trips people up

People coming from a common-law state often look for a "written contract" number and a separate "oral contract" number, Louisiana doesn't have either; the dividing line is what the debt actually is (a loan, an account, a note, or another personal action). Acknowledging a debt is riskier than people expect: no signed writing is needed to interrupt a still-running clock under art. 3464. And a "goodwill" payment on a debt that's already prescribed doesn't quite work the way it does elsewhere, it can't revive the old, expired claim directly, but because a voluntary payment on a natural obligation can't be reclaimed, and a new promise to pay one is independently enforceable, the practical effect for a debtor can end up similar: money paid stays paid, and a fresh promise creates a new, enforceable claim.

Common questions

Does the 3-year period apply to my credit card debt? Usually yes. Louisiana generally treats revolving credit card debt as "an action on an open account" under art. 3494, giving it 3 years, regardless of whether the cardholder agreement was signed.

I acknowledged an old debt or made a payment, did that restart the clock? If the debt hadn't yet prescribed, yes, any acknowledgment, even without a signed writing, interrupts (restarts) the clock under art. 3464. If the debt had already fully prescribed, the acknowledgment or payment doesn't revive the old claim directly, but a new promise to pay creates its own separately enforceable obligation.

Can a debt collector still sue me after the Louisiana deadline passes? Nothing in Louisiana law stops them from filing, and prescription is a defense you have to raise yourself; a court can still enter judgment if you don't plead it.

Does moving to Louisiana from a state with a shorter deadline help a creditor sue me here? Not necessarily. Louisiana generally applies its own prescription periods even to claims governed by another state's law, though a narrow exception can bar a nonresident's claim if the other state's deadline is substantive and already ran.

Statutes and sources

• La. Civ. Code art. 3494, "The following actions are subject to a liberative prescription of three years: ... An action on money lent; ... An action on an open account; ...", https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=110518 (accessed 2026-07-09)
• La. Civ. Code art. 3498, "Actions on instruments, whether negotiable or not, and on promissory notes, whether negotiable or not, are subject to a liberative prescription of five years. This prescription commences to run from the day payment is exigible.", https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=110524 (accessed 2026-07-09)
• La. Civ. Code art. 3499, "Unless otherwise provided by legislation, a personal action is subject to a liberative prescription of ten years.", https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=110525 (accessed 2026-07-09)
• La. Civ. Code art. 3464, "Prescription is interrupted when one acknowledges the right of the person against whom he had commenced to prescribe.", https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/LawPrint.aspx?d=110487 (accessed 2026-07-09)
• La. Civ. Code art. 1761, "A natural obligation is not enforceable by judicial action. Nevertheless, whatever has been freely performed in compliance with a natural obligation may not be reclaimed. A contract made for the performance of a natural obligation is onerous.", https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=108995 (accessed 2026-07-09)
• La. Civ. Code art. 1762, "Examples of circumstances giving rise to a natural obligation are: (1) When a civil obligation has been extinguished by prescription or discharged in bankruptcy.", https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=108996 (accessed 2026-07-09)
• La. Civ. Code art. 3549, Louisiana prescription generally applies in a Louisiana action, subject to the article's remedial-justice tests and its substantive-foreign-bar rule for a qualifying nonresident plaintiff., https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=110570 (accessed 2026-07-09)
• La. R.S. § 51:1401, "This Chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law."", https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=104025 (accessed 2026-08-10)
• La. R.S. § 51:1405(A), "Unfair methods of competition and unfair or deceptive acts or practices in the conduct of any trade or commerce are hereby declared unlawful.", https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=104029 (accessed 2026-08-10)