Montana: Statute of Limitations on Debt Collection

Requirements one by one

Governing law

Montana's contract-debt deadlines live in Title 27, chapter 2 of the
Montana Code Annotated ("Statutes of Limitations"). Section 27-2-202 sets
the core periods for a contract debt, split by whether it's founded on a
written instrument. Section 27-2-102 supplies the general accrual rule.
Section 27-2-302 has its own accrual rule just for mutual, open accounts.
Section 27-2-409 governs how an acknowledgment or payment can restart the
clock. And sections 27-2-502 through 27-2-505, Montana's version of the
Uniform Conflict of Laws-Limitations Act, govern which state's
limitations period applies to a debt connected to more than one state.

How long you have on a written debt

6 years, for a contract, covenant, obligation, or liability founded on an
instrument in writing. This is a genuinely recent number: 2025 Senate Bill
143 cut it down from 8 years, and the shorter period applies to any action
on a written-instrument debt filed on or after October 1, 2025. A lawsuit
filed before that date on an already-accruing written debt could still be
measured under the old 8-year period, but for a suit filed today, 6 years
controls.

How long you have on an oral or unwritten debt

5 years, for a contract, account, or promise not founded on an instrument
in writing, unchanged by the 2025 amendment, which only shortened the
written-instrument number. Montana splits unwritten obligations further
than most states: a THIRD period, 3 years, applies to a non-written
obligation or liability that isn't itself a contract, account, or promise, a narrower catch-all bucket sitting below the ordinary 5-year oral-debt
period.

When the clock starts

A claim accrues once "all elements of the claim or cause exist or have
occurred" and the right to sue is complete. Montana's general accrual
statute is explicit that a creditor's lack of knowledge of the claim, or
of when it accrued, does NOT delay the start of the clock, there's no
discovery-rule exception for ordinary contract debt (the statute's only
discovery-rule carve-out applies to concealed personal-injury or
property-damage claims, not debt). A mutual, open, and current account
with reciprocal demands between the parties follows a different rule: it
accrues from the date of the last item proved in the account, on either
side.

Can a payment or promise restart the clock?

Yes, and Montana treats a bare acknowledgment and an actual payment
differently, though both work. An acknowledgment of the debt only counts
if it's in a writing signed by the debtor. A "part payment", any payment
of principal or interest, works on its own, with no writing needed at
all. Either one is enough, by statute, to cause the clock to "begin
running anew." The statute doesn't spell out whether this can revive a
debt whose clock has ALREADY fully run, or only extend one that's still
ticking, its text doesn't include the kind of express "can't revive an
already-barred debt" limitation some other states' statutes have.

Is there a special rule for consumer debt?

No. Section 27-2-202 applies the same set of periods to consumer and
commercial debt alike; Montana has no separate, shorter limitations period
just for a consumer-credit-transaction debt.

What if the debt originated in another state?

Montana doesn't use the shorter-of-two-periods approach common in many
states. Instead, under its version of the Uniform Conflict of
Laws-Limitations Act, if a claim is substantively governed by another
state's law, that OTHER state's limitations period applies, even if it's
longer than Montana's own. Montana's own period only controls a claim
that's substantively governed by Montana law. There's a fairness backstop,
though: if a court finds the other state's period is substantially
different from Montana's and either didn't give a fair opportunity to sue
or would impose an unfair burden on the defense, Montana's own period
applies instead.

What actually happens once the deadline passes?

The ordinary default. Expiration is an affirmative defense the debtor has
to raise; nothing in this chapter of Montana law stops a creditor from
filing suit on a time-barred debt outright.

What trips people up

Montana's 3-way split, 6 years written, 5 years oral/account/promise, 3
years for any OTHER non-written obligation, is easy to flatten into a
simple written-versus-oral binary, but that narrower 3-year bucket is real
and sits below the ordinary 5-year period. And because the written-debt
period just dropped from 8 to 6 years for suits filed on or after October
2025, anyone relying on an older 8-year expectation for a written debt
could be surprised that a newer filing deadline already applies. Montana's
conflict-of-laws approach is also a real trap for the opposite reason
people usually expect from a "borrowing statute": it can sometimes give a
creditor MORE time (not less) if another state's law substantively
governs the debt and that state's period is longer than Montana's.

Common questions

Does Montana give more time to sue on a written contract than an oral
one?
Yes, 6 years for a written-instrument debt versus 5 years for an oral
contract, account, or promise. A third, narrower 3-year period applies to
other non-written obligations that aren't a contract, account, or promise.

I made a payment on an old debt, did that restart the clock?
Yes, under Montana's statute, a payment of principal or interest restarts
the clock on its own, without needing to be in writing. A verbal
acknowledgment without a payment needs a signed writing to count.

Does the 6-year period for written debt apply to my old debt, or was it
always 6 years?
It changed recently, Montana's written-contract period was 8 years until
a 2025 law shortened it to 6, effective for lawsuits filed on or after
October 1, 2025.

Can a debt collector still sue me after the statute of limitations
runs?
Nothing in this chapter of Montana law stops the filing itself, you have
to raise the expired deadline as a defense, and the suit should fail if
you do.

Statutes and sources

• 27-2-202, MCA, "Section 1. Section 27-2-202, MCA, is amended to read:
  '27-2-202. Actions based on contract or other obligation. (1) The period
  prescribed for the commencement of an action on any contract, covenant,
  obligation, or liability founded on an instrument in writing is within
  8 6 years. (2) The period prescribed for the commencement of an action
  on a contract, account, or promise not founded on an instrument in
  writing is within 5 years. (3) The period prescribed for the
  commencement of an action on an obligation or liability, other than a
  contract, account, or promise, not founded on an instrument in writing
  is within 3 years.'", https://archive.legmt.gov/content/Sessions/69th/Contractor_index/CH0174.pdf
  (accessed 2026-07-09)
• 27-2-102, MCA, "a claim or cause of action accrues when all elements
  of the claim or cause exist or have occurred, the right to maintain an
  action on the claim or cause is complete... Lack of knowledge of the
  claim or cause of action, or of its accrual,... does not postpone the
  beginning of the period of limitation.", https://leg.mt.gov/bills/mca/title_0270/chapter_0020/part_0010/section_0020/0270-0020-0010-0020.html
  (accessed 2026-07-09)
• 27-2-302, MCA, "In an action brought to recover a balance due upon a
  mutual, open, and current account where there have been reciprocal
  demands between the parties, the cause of action is deemed to have
  accrued from the time of the last item proved in the account on either
  side.", https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/2007/mca/27/2/27-2-302.htm
  (accessed 2026-07-09)
• 27-2-409, MCA, "(1) An acknowledgment or the part payment of a debt is
  sufficient evidence to cause the relevant statute of limitations to
  begin running anew. (2) An acknowledgment must be contained in some
  writing signed by the party to be charged thereby. (3) Part payment is
  any payment of principal or interest.", https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/2007/mca/27/2/27-2-409.htm
  (accessed 2026-07-09)
• 27-2-503, MCA, "if a claim is substantively based: (a) upon the law of
  one other state, the limitation period of that state applies... (2) The
  limitation period of Montana applies to all other claims.", https://leg.mt.gov/bills/mca/title_0270/chapter_0020/part_0050/section_0030/0270-0020-0050-0030.html
  (accessed 2026-07-09)
• 27-2-505, MCA, "If a court determines that the limitation period of
  another state... is substantially different from the limitation period
  of Montana and has not afforded a fair opportunity to sue upon, or
  imposes an unfair burden in defending against, the claim, the limitation
  period of Montana applies.", https://leg.mt.gov/bills/mca/title_0270/chapter_0020/part_0050/section_0050/0270-0020-0050-0050.html
  (accessed 2026-07-09)