Louisiana: Statute of Limitations on Debt Collection

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), plus La. R.S. 10:2-725, the sale-of-goods period adopted into
Louisiana's own commercial code.

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. A debt for the sale of goods gets 4 years under La. R.S.
10:2-725. 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. For a debt arising from the sale of goods, the clock generally
starts at the date of breach under Louisiana's version of UCC § 2-725.

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 (La. R.S. § 51:1401 et seq.) addresses how a collector may
act, not how long they have to sue.

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 weighing whether dismissing or maintaining the
suit serves "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, a sale of goods, or something else). 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, "When the substantive law of this state would
  be applicable to the merits of an action brought in this state, the
  prescription and peremption law of this state applies. ... if the action
  is brought by or on behalf of any person who, at the time the cause of
  action arose, neither resided in nor was domiciled in this state, the
  action shall be barred if it is barred by a statute of limitation or
  repose or by a law of prescription or peremption of the other state ...", https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=110570 (accessed 2026-07-09)