Missouri: Statute of Limitations on Debt Collection

Requirements one by one

Governing law

Missouri's contract-debt deadlines sit in Chapter 516 (Civil Procedure and
Limitations) of the Revised Statutes of Missouri: RSMo § 516.110(1) sets the
10-year period for a written debt, § 516.120(1) sets the 5-year catch-all for
everything else, § 516.100 fixes the accrual rule, §§ 516.320 and 516.340
govern revival, § 516.190 is the borrowing statute, and, outside Chapter
516 entirely, 15 CSR 60-8.100, an Attorney General regulation under the
Missouri Merchandising Practices Act (Chapter 407), bars suing or threatening
suit on expired consumer debt.

How long you have on a written debt

Ten years. RSMo § 516.110(1) covers "any writing, whether sealed or
unsealed, for the payment of money or property", a longer period than most
states give even their written-contract category, and one that squarely
covers a signed promissory note, loan agreement, or similar instrument for a
sum certain.

How long you have on an oral or unwritten debt

Five years. RSMo § 516.120(1) is Missouri's catch-all: "all actions upon
contracts, obligations or liabilities, express or implied," except what's
already covered by the 10-year written-instrument rule. This is where an
oral agreement, an open account, or an account stated typically lands, and it's also where most credit-card debt ends up, because a credit-card
relationship usually isn't backed by a single signed writing that states a
sum certain the way a promissory note does. Courts frequently have to decide
which bucket a specific credit-card or open-account claim falls into, since
the difference between 5 and 10 years is substantial.

When the clock starts

Not the date of breach. Missouri's general accrual statute, RSMo § 516.100,
expressly rejects that default: the cause of action "shall not be deemed to
accrue when the wrong is done or the technical breach of contract or duty
occurs, but when the damage resulting therefrom is sustained and is capable
of ascertainment." For an ordinary missed-payment debt, damage is usually
sustained and ascertainable close to the default itself, so this rule often
produces a similar practical result to a breach-date rule, but it's a
distinct, delayed-ascertainment standard written directly into the statute,
not a discovery-rule gloss added later by courts the way some other states
have done.

Can a payment or promise restart the clock?

Yes, and Missouri's rule for a bare payment is unusually generous to
creditors. RSMo § 516.320 requires a signed writing for an "acknowledgment or
promise" to restart the clock, an oral promise alone does nothing. But RSMo
§ 516.340 separately preserves "the effect of a payment of any principal or
interest made by any person," with no writing requirement at all. The
Missouri Supreme Court read that preserved payment-effect broadly in
Caneer v. Kent, 342 Mo. 878, 119 S.W.2d 214 (Mo. 1938): payments made
after a note is already time-barred do not automatically revive it, but
they do revive it if made at the debtor's direction or with the debtor's
knowledge and consent. That's a meaningfully more permissive revival rule
than the flat "can't revive an already-expired claim" line some other states
draw.

Is there a special rule for consumer debt?

Not currently. Missouri has no statute setting a separate limitations period
for consumer credit transactions, the general 10-year/5-year split applies
regardless of whether the debt is a credit card balance or a commercial
account. Legislators have tried to change this twice recently and failed
both times: HB 1509 (2025 Regular Session) and its near-identical successor
HB 2793 (2026 Regular Session) would each have cut the written-debt period to
5 years for debt collection specifically and carved out a dedicated 2-year
period just for credit-card debt. Both bills stalled in committee with no
floor vote and died at their session's close.

What if the debt originated in another state?

Missouri's borrowing statute, RSMo § 516.190, is a straightforward
one-directional rule with no resident exception: "Whenever a cause of action
has been fully barred by the laws of the state, territory or country in
which it originated, said bar shall be a complete defense to any action
thereon, brought in any of the courts of this state." It only ever helps a
debtor, by importing a shorter foreign bar as a defense, and never
extends Missouri's own periods; it doesn't matter whether either party is or
was a Missouri resident.

What actually happens once the deadline passes?

It depends on whether the debt is consumer debt. For an ordinary commercial
or business debt, Missouri follows the common-law default: expiration is an
affirmative defense the debtor must raise, not an automatic bar. But for a
debt that is "primarily for personal, family, or household purposes,"
Missouri goes further: 15 CSR 60-8.100, a regulation the Attorney General
adopted under the Merchandising Practices Act (RSMo Chapter 407), makes it an
unfair trade practice to even threaten to file suit, let alone actually
file it, once "the statute of limitation to file a civil action for
collection of the debt has expired." A violation exposes the collector to
Merchandising Practices Act liability, separate from any federal FDCPA claim.

What trips people up

Missouri's 10-year/5-year gap makes the written-vs-oral classification a much
higher-stakes question here than in states where the two periods are close
together or identical, credit-card debt in particular gets fought over
constantly because the difference between the two buckets can mean five extra
years of exposure. And Missouri's payment-revival rule is a real trap for
anyone assuming a payment on an already-dead debt is harmless: unlike states
that flatly bar reviving an expired claim, Missouri's courts have allowed a
payment made after expiration to revive the debt if the debtor authorized or
knew about it, so a payment made by a family member, business partner, or
anyone else acting with the debtor's knowledge can restart the clock even
after the debtor thought the debt was safely time-barred.

Common questions

Does the 10-year or 5-year period apply to my credit card debt?
Usually 5 years, because most credit-card relationships aren't backed by a
single signed writing that states a fixed sum the way a promissory note
does, but this is genuinely litigated, and a credit-card debt backed by an
actual signed cardholder agreement for the payment of money can be argued
into the 10-year bucket.

I made a small payment on an old debt, did that restart the clock?
Very likely, and it can matter even if the deadline had already passed.
RSMo § 516.340 preserves the effect of a bare payment with no writing
required, and Missouri courts have held that a payment made even after the
debt is already time-barred can revive it, as long as it was made at the
debtor's direction or with the debtor's knowledge and consent.

Can a debt collector still sue me after the statute of limitations runs?
For most consumer debt, no, 15 CSR 60-8.100 makes it an unfair practice to
even threaten suit on a personal, family, or household debt once the
deadline has expired. For a commercial or business debt, the ordinary
affirmative-defense rule applies instead, and you'd need to raise the expired
deadline yourself.

Does the debt just disappear once the time limit passes?
No. The underlying obligation still exists and can still be paid
voluntarily; what changes is the creditor's ability to force payment through
a lawsuit, and, for consumer debt, the collector's legal ability to even
threaten one.

Statutes and sources

• RSMo § 516.110, "Within ten years: (1) An action upon any writing,
  whether sealed or unsealed, for the payment of money or property ...", https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=516.110 (accessed
  2026-07-09)
• RSMo § 516.120, "Within five years: (1) All actions upon contracts,
  obligations or liabilities, express or implied, except those mentioned in
  section 516.110 ...", https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=516.120 (accessed
  2026-07-09)
• RSMo § 516.100, "... the cause of action shall not be deemed to accrue
  when the wrong is done or the technical breach of contract or duty occurs,
  but when the damage resulting therefrom is sustained and is capable of
  ascertainment ...", https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=516.100 (accessed
  2026-07-09)
• RSMo § 516.320, "... no acknowledgment or promise hereafter made shall
  be evidence of a new or continuing contract ... unless such acknowledgment
  or promise be made or contained by or in some writing subscribed by the
  party chargeable thereby.", https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=516.320 (accessed
  2026-07-09)
• RSMo § 516.340, "Nothing contained in sections 516.320 and 516.330 shall
  alter, take away or lessen the effect of a payment of any principal or
  interest made by any person.", https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=516.340 (accessed
  2026-07-09)
• RSMo § 516.190, "Whenever a cause of action has been fully barred by the
  laws of the state, territory or country in which it originated, said bar
  shall be a complete defense to any action thereon, brought in any of the
  courts of this state.", https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=516.190 (accessed
  2026-07-09)
• 15 CSR 60-8.100, "It is an unfair practice for any person to threaten to
  file a civil action, or to file a civil action, for a debt that is
  primarily for personal, family, or household purposes, if such debt has
  been, (A) In default for a period of time such that the statute of
  limitation to file a civil action for collection of the debt has expired
  ...", https://www.sos.mo.gov/cmsimages/adrules/csr/current/15csr/15c60-8.pdf
  (accessed 2026-07-09)
• Caneer v. Kent, 342 Mo. 878, 119 S.W.2d 214 (Mo. 1938), a payment made
  after a note is already time-barred can revive it if made at the debtor's
  direction or with the debtor's knowledge and consent.