Statute of Limitations on Debt Collection in Maine

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Governing law

Maine's contract-debt deadline sits mainly in 14 M.R.S. Chapter 205 ("Limitation of Actions"). Section 752 sets the general 6-year catch-all that covers almost every ordinary contract claim, while section 751 carves out a 20-year period for a narrower set of debts: contracts or liabilities under seal, promissory notes signed before an attesting witness, and bills, notes, or other debt instruments issued by a bank. Section 751's own text yields to two Uniform Commercial Code provisions (11 M.R.S. §§ 2-725 and 3-1118) whenever they apply, which in practice pulls most negotiable notes and goods-sale contracts out of the 20-year bucket. Sections 860 and 863 separately govern how a payment or acknowledgment can restart the clock, and section 866 is Maine's borrowing statute for debt that arose elsewhere.

How long you have on a written debt

6 years for an ordinary written debt, the same period as an oral one. Section 752's catch-all applies to "all civil actions" regardless of whether there's a signed writing. The real exception is section 751's 20-year period, but it's narrower than it first looks: it covers a contract under seal and a bank-issued debt instrument outright, and nominally covers a witnessed promissory note too, except the Law Court has held that a promissory note only qualifies for that 20-year period if it's also negotiable (Chapman v. Wight, 1887, applied again in Tornesello v. Tisdale, 2008 ME 84); a non-negotiable witnessed note stays on the ordinary 6-year clock. And even a witnessed, negotiable note doesn't actually get 20 years in the end, because section 751's own text steps aside for 11 M.R.S. § 3-1118, which sets a 6-year period (or a demand-based period) for negotiable notes regardless of a witness signature. In practice, the 20-year period is mostly reserved for sealed contracts and bank-issued debt instruments.

How long you have on an oral or unwritten debt

Also 6 years, the identical period section 752 applies to a written (non-sealed, non-negotiable-note) debt. Maine simply doesn't draw a written-versus-oral line for ordinary contract debt.

When the clock starts

The date of breach or default is the ordinary contract rule under Maine case law. A separate rule applies to a mutual or open account with unsettled items between the parties (think a running tab or ongoing account relationship): section 852 runs the clock from the date of the last item in that account, not from each individual charge.

Can a payment or promise restart the clock?

Yes, but the two situations are treated differently. A bare acknowledgment or promise to pay, a statement that doesn't involve an actual payment, only restarts the clock if it's express, in writing, and signed by the debtor (section 860); an acknowledgment by one of several people who owe the debt jointly doesn't bind the others. An actual payment of principal or interest works differently: section 863 says nothing in section 860 reduces the effect of a real payment, so a payment can have its ordinary revival effect without needing to be in a signed writing. But there's a catch on the proof side, a note or memo the CREDITOR writes claiming a payment was made isn't, by itself, enough proof that it actually happened; you need independent evidence of the payment.

Is there a special rule for consumer debt?

Not a shorter or longer time limit, Maine's Consumer Credit Code doesn't change the general 6-year period for a consumer credit debt. It does add a real conduct rule, though: once a debt (consumer credit sale, consumer lease, or consumer loan) is already time-barred, a collector who claims, attempts, or threatens to enforce it is committing an illegal collection practice under Maine's Consumer Credit Code, separate from whatever happens in court.

What if the debt originated in another state?

Maine's borrowing statute only applies in a narrower situation than most states' versions: it bars a claim in Maine that's already time-barred under another state's law ONLY if all the parties, creditor and debtor alike, resided in that other state at the same time. Maine's Law Court has repeatedly confirmed this in cases where a creditor and a debtor never shared residence in the same outside state: when that's true, Maine's own period controls the claim regardless of where the debt arose or how short the other state's deadline might be.

What actually happens once the deadline passes?

For most debt, the ordinary default: expiration is an affirmative defense the debtor has to raise in court, and Chapter 205 doesn't stop a creditor from filing suit on a time-barred claim outright. Consumer credit debt is the exception, Maine's Consumer Credit Code makes it illegal for a collector to claim, attempt, or threaten to enforce a consumer credit sale, lease, or loan debt that's already barred by statute, a real statutory prohibition rather than just a defense to raise if sued.

What trips people up

Maine's 20-year provision for a promissory note signed before an attesting witness reads like it should cover a lot of witnessed notes, but between the negotiability requirement from case law and the statute's own carve-out for UCC-governed notes, most notes actually end up on a 6-year clock (either the general one or the UCC's own note-specific period) rather than 20 years, don't assume a witnessed signature alone buys 20 years. And because Maine's borrowing statute only kicks in when both sides shared residence in the same other state, someone who assumes a shorter out-of-state deadline automatically follows the debt to Maine may be surprised that it doesn't, unless that shared-residence condition is actually met.

Common questions

Does Maine give more time to sue on a written contract than an oral one? No, not for an ordinary debt, both get the same 6-year period. Only a sealed contract, a bank-issued debt instrument, or certain notes get a different period.

I made a payment on an old debt, did that restart the clock? Possibly. An actual payment of principal or interest can have that effect without needing to be in writing, but the creditor still has to prove the payment happened with more than just their own internal notes. A verbal "yes, I still owe that" without any payment needs a signed writing from you to count.

Can a debt collector still sue me after the statute of limitations runs? For most debt, yes, the filing itself isn't illegal, you have to raise the expired deadline as a defense. But for consumer credit debt specifically (a credit card, a consumer loan, a lease), Maine law makes it an illegal collection practice for a collector to even attempt to enforce a claim that's already time-barred.

Does it matter that I moved to Maine after the debt was incurred out of state? It might not help you the way you'd expect. Maine's borrowing statute only imports a shorter out-of-state deadline if both you and the creditor lived in that other state at the same time, if you two never shared residence there, Maine's own period applies instead.

Statutes and sources

• 14 M.R.S. § 751, "Except as provided in Title 11, sections 2‑725 and 3‑1118, subsection (1), personal actions on contracts or liabilities under seal, promissory notes signed in the presence of an attesting witness, or on the bills, notes or other evidences of debt issued by a bank must be commenced within 20 years after the cause of action accrues.", https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14ch205.pdf (accessed 2026-07-09)
• 14 M.R.S. § 752, "All civil actions shall be commenced within 6 years after the cause of action accrues and not afterwards, except actions on a judgment or decree..., and except as otherwise specially provided.", https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14ch205.pdf (accessed 2026-07-09)
• 14 M.R.S. § 852, "In contract actions to recover the balance due, where there have been mutual dealings between the parties, the items of which are unsettled..., the cause of action shall be deemed to accrue at the time of the last item proved in such account.", https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14ch205.pdf (accessed 2026-07-09)
• 14 M.R.S. § 860, "In actions founded on any contract, no acknowledgment or promise takes the case out of the operation hereof, unless the acknowledgment or promise is express, in writing and signed by the party chargeable thereby.", https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14ch205.pdf (accessed 2026-07-09)
• 14 M.R.S. § 863, "Nothing herein contained alters, takes away or lessens the effect of payment of any principal or interest made by any person, but no indorsement or memorandum of such payment... is sufficient proof of payment to take the case out of the statute of limitations.", https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14ch205.pdf (accessed 2026-07-09)
• 14 M.R.S. § 866, "No action shall be brought by any person whose cause of action has been barred by the laws of any state, territory or country while all the parties have resided therein.", https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14ch205.pdf (accessed 2026-07-09)
• 11 M.R.S. § 3-1118, "An action to enforce the obligation of a party to pay a note payable at a definite time must be commenced within 6 years after the due date...", https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/11/title11sec3-1118.html (accessed 2026-07-09)
• 11 M.R.S. § 2-725, "An action for breach of any contract for sale must be commenced within 4 years after the cause of action has accrued.", https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/11/title11sec2-725.html (accessed 2026-07-09)
• 9-A M.R.S. § 5-116, "In attempting to collect an alleged debt arising from a consumer credit sale, consumer lease or consumer loan, a person shall not: ... Claim, or attempt or threaten to enforce a right that has been barred by statute...", https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/9-A/title9-Asec5-116.html (accessed 2026-07-09)