Statute of Limitations on Debt Collection in Massachusetts
At a glance
| Governing law | M.G.L. c. 260, § 2 (six-year unified contract period); § 1 (twenty years for sealed/bank/witnessed-note debt); §§ 13-14 (acknowledgment and part payment) |
|---|---|
| Written contract/debt deadline | 6 years from breach (§ 2): the SAME period as an oral debt; 20 years instead for a contract under seal, a bank-issued note, or a promissory note signed before an attesting witness where the original payee is suing (§ 1); a UCC sale-of-goods contract gets only 4 years (G.L. c. 106, § 2-725(1)) |
| Oral contract/open account deadline | 6 years from breach (§ 2): Massachusetts does not distinguish oral from written contract debt at all; this value equals the written_contract_period figure |
| When the clock starts | Date of breach/default under the ordinary common-law rule; a stated account runs from the date of the statement of account (King v. Davis, 1897; Zelby Holdings, Inc. v. Videogenix, Inc., 2017) |
| Can a payment or promise restart the clock? | A signed writing can take a claim out of the statute's bar (§ 13); separately, and without needing any writing, a payment of principal or interest by the debtor has the same effect on its own (§ 14): though a mere creditor-side endorsement of a payment, unsigned by the debtor, is NOT by itself sufficient proof |
| Special rule for consumer debt | None: the general 6-year period covers credit card and other consumer debt the same as any other contract debt (confirmed by Mass.gov's own debt-collection guidance) |
| Out-of-state debt | Structurally different from most states: § 9 primarily TOLLS (pauses) the Massachusetts clock while a defendant resides outside the Commonwealth, but its final clause also bars reviving a claim that was already time-barred where the defendant resided at the time |
| What expiration actually does | Ordinary affirmative defense only: no Massachusetts limitations statute bars suing on a time-barred debt; separately, a state debt-collection regulation (940 CMR 7.07) requires a specific disclosure when collecting a time-barred debt, but does not bar the collection or the lawsuit itself |
Requirements one by one
Governing law
Massachusetts consolidates its civil limitations periods in M.G.L. c. 260 ("Limitation of Actions"): § 2 sets the general six-year contract period, § 1 carves out a 20-year period for a narrower set of higher-formality debt instruments, §§ 13 and 14 govern acknowledgment and part payment, and § 9 handles what happens when a defendant lives outside the Commonwealth.
How long you have on a written debt
Six years from the date of breach, the same period that applies to an oral debt (see below). Section 2 covers "actions of contract ... founded upon contracts or liabilities, express or implied," without distinguishing written from oral. A narrow set of debt types instead gets 20 years under § 1: a contract under seal, a bank-issued note of debt, and a promissory note signed in the presence of an attesting witness where the lawsuit is brought by the original payee. Separately, a contract for the sale of goods governed by the Uniform Commercial Code gets only 4 years (G.L. c. 106, § 2-725(1)), shorter than the general contract rule.
How long you have on an oral or unwritten debt
Also six years, Massachusetts is one of the states, like New York, that doesn't distinguish an oral or unwritten debt from a written one at all. Section 2's six-year period covers both "express or implied" liabilities without requiring a signed writing, so this figure is identical to the written-contract number rather than a shorter one.
When the clock starts
The ordinary rule is the date of breach or default. For a stated account specifically, Massachusetts courts start the clock on the date of the statement of account itself, not the date of the underlying purchases (King v. Davis, 1897; Zelby Holdings, Inc. v. Videogenix, Inc., 2017).
Can a payment or promise restart the clock?
Yes, through two separate routes. Section 13 requires a signed writing for an acknowledgment or promise to have any effect: "no acknowledgment or promise shall be evidence of a new or continuing contract ... unless such acknowledgment or promise has been made by, or is contained in, a writing signed by the party chargeable thereby." Section 14 then preserves a separate, older common-law route that doesn't need any writing at all: "The preceding section shall not alter or impair the effect of a payment of principal or interest made by any person." A genuine payment made by the debtor works on its own, but the statute is specific that a one-sided paper trail isn't enough: "no endorsement or memorandum of any such payment ... by or on behalf of the party to whom such payment has been ... made, shall be sufficient proof of the payment," meaning a creditor can't manufacture proof of a payment restart just by writing it down on their own records.
Is there a special rule for consumer debt?
No. Massachusetts does not set a separate, shorter limitations period for consumer credit transactions. The Commonwealth's own consumer-facing guidance confirms the same six-year period under § 2 applies to credit card debt as to any other contract debt.
What if the debt originated in another state?
Massachusetts' version of this issue works differently than the typical state borrowing statute. Section 9 is framed primarily as a tolling provision protecting Massachusetts creditors: if a defendant lives outside Massachusetts when a cause of action accrues, "the action may be commenced within the time herein limited after he comes into the commonwealth," and if a defendant later moves out of state, that time away is excluded from the running clock, both provisions that can effectively lengthen a creditor's practical window rather than shorten it. But the same section ends with a genuine borrowing-statute clause: "no action shall be brought by any person upon a cause of action which was barred by the laws of any state or country while he resided therein", so a claim that was already time-barred under the law of a state where the debtor lived at the time can't be revived just by bringing suit in Massachusetts instead.
What actually happens once the deadline passes?
The ordinary common-law default applies: expiration is an affirmative defense the debtor has to raise, not an automatic bar on filing suit. What Massachusetts adds on top of that default is a disclosure requirement, not a suit-barring rule. The Attorney General's debt collection regulation, 940 CMR 7.07, requires a creditor attempting to collect a time-barred debt to include a specific warning. The regulation's safe-harbor disclosure says: "THIS DEBT MAY BE TOO OLD FOR YOU TO BE SUED ON IT IN COURT." Failing to include that disclosure is an unfair or deceptive practice, but the regulation doesn't stop a creditor from filing suit or from continuing to seek voluntary repayment of a time-barred debt, as a federal court applying Massachusetts law confirmed in Schaefer v. ARM Receivable Management, Inc. (D. Mass. 2011).
What trips people up
Because Massachusetts doesn't split written from oral debt, someone expecting a shorter deadline for an informal or unwritten agreement (the pattern in states like California) will be surprised that Massachusetts treats it exactly the same as a signed contract. A "goodwill" payment on an old account is a genuine trap here just like in other payment-restarts-the- clock states: § 14 gives a real payment legal effect with no signed writing needed, so paying even a small amount can restart the six-year clock without the person realizing it. And the § 9 borrowing-style clause is easy to miss because it's buried at the end of a section mostly about tolling for absent defendants, not framed as a standalone borrowing statute the way most other states structure theirs.
Common questions
Does the 6-year period apply to my credit card debt? Yes. Massachusetts doesn't distinguish written from oral contract debt, and there's no separate shorter period for consumer or credit card debt, credit card balances get the same six years as any other contract claim.
I made a small payment on an old debt, did that restart the clock? Yes, if you personally made the payment. Section 14 gives a genuine payment of principal or interest legal effect on its own, without any signed writing required.
Can a debt collector still sue me after the statute of limitations runs? Yes, Massachusetts has no statute barring the lawsuit itself. You would need to raise the expired deadline as a defense. Separately, if a collector contacts you about a debt it believes may be time-barred, state regulation requires it to disclose that the debt may be too old to sue on.
Does the debt just disappear once the time limit passes? No. The underlying debt still exists and can still be voluntarily paid or reported; what expires is the creditor's ability to force payment through a lawsuit.
Statutes and sources
- M.G.L. c. 260, § 2, "Actions of contract ... founded upon contracts or liabilities, express or implied ... shall ... be commenced only within six years next after the cause of action accrues.", https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartIII/TitleV/Chapter260/Section2 (accessed 2026-08-21)
- M.G.L. c. 260, § 13, "No acknowledgment or promise shall be evidence of a new or continuing contract ... unless such acknowledgment or promise has been made by, or is contained in, a writing signed by the party chargeable thereby.", https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartIII/TitleV/Chapter260/Section13 (accessed 2026-08-21)
- M.G.L. c. 260, § 14, "The preceding section shall not alter or impair the effect of a payment of principal or interest made by any person; but no endorsement or memorandum of any such payment ... shall be sufficient proof of the payment...", https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartIII/TitleV/Chapter260/Section14 (accessed 2026-08-21)
- M.G.L. c. 260, § 9, "...no action shall be brought by any person upon a cause of action which was barred by the laws of any state or country while he resided therein.", https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartIII/TitleV/Chapter260/Section9 (accessed 2026-08-21)
- M.G.L. c. 260, § 1, "The following actions shall be commenced only within twenty years next after the cause of action accrues: First, Actions upon contracts under seal.", https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartIII/TitleV/Chapter260/Section1 (accessed 2026-08-21)
- M.G.L. c. 106, § 2-725, "An action for breach of any contract for sale must be commenced within four years after the cause of action has accrued.", https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleXV/Chapter106/Section2-725 (accessed 2026-08-21)
- 940 CMR 7.07(24), "THIS DEBT MAY BE TOO OLD FOR YOU TO BE SUED ON IT IN COURT.", https://www.mass.gov/doc/940-cmr-7-debt-collection-regulations/download (accessed 2026-08-21)
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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