Statute of Limitations on Debt Collection in Montana
At a glance
| Governing law | 27-2-202, MCA (contract-debt periods: 6 years written, 5 years oral/account/promise, 3 years other non-written obligation); 27-2-102 (accrual); 27-2-302 (mutual/open accounts); 27-2-409 (acknowledgment and part payment); 27-2-502 to 27-2-505 (Uniform Conflict of Laws-Limitations Act, Montana's borrowing-statute equivalent) |
|---|---|
| Written contract/debt deadline | 6 years for a contract, covenant, obligation, or liability founded on an instrument in writing (27-2-202(1), MCA): shortened from 8 years by 2025 Senate Bill 143 (Ch. 174, L. 2025), which applies to an action on a written-instrument debt filed on or after October 1, 2025; a suit filed before that date on an already-accruing written debt could still fall under the old 8-year period |
| Oral contract/open account deadline | 5 years for a contract, account, or promise not founded on an instrument in writing (27-2-202(2), MCA): unchanged by the 2025 amendment, which only shortened the written-instrument period. Montana actually splits non-written debt further: a THIRD, 3-year period (27-2-202(3)) applies to a non-written obligation or liability that isn't itself a contract, account, or promise |
| 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 (27-2-102(1)(a), MCA): an objective, breach-based trigger for ordinary debt, with no discovery-rule exception: 27-2-102(2) expressly says a party's lack of knowledge of the claim or its accrual does not postpone the clock (the statute's only discovery-rule carve-out is for concealed personal-injury/property claims, not contract debt). A mutual, open, and current account with reciprocal demands between the parties instead accrues from the date of 'the last item proved in the account on either side' (27-2-302, MCA) |
| Can a payment or promise restart the clock? | Either an acknowledgment or a part payment of a debt is independently sufficient to restart the clock (27-2-409(1), MCA: 'sufficient evidence to cause the relevant statute of limitations to begin running anew'). An acknowledgment must be in a writing signed by the debtor (27-2-409(2)); a 'part payment', defined as any payment of principal or interest (27-2-409(3)), needs no writing at all. Unlike some states' revival statutes, § 27-2-409's text does not expressly limit this to a still-running clock, so it isn't clear on its face whether the same rule can revive an ALREADY-expired debt or only extend one still running |
| Special rule for consumer debt | None found: 27-2-202 sets one set of periods that applies to consumer and commercial debt alike, with no separate limitations period specifically for a consumer-credit transaction |
| Out-of-state debt | Montana uses the Uniform Conflict of Laws-Limitations Act rather than a typical shorter-of-two-periods borrowing statute: if a claim is substantively governed by another state's law, that OTHER state's limitation period applies (27-2-503(1)(a), MCA): not automatically the shorter of the two. Montana's own period applies only to a claim substantively governed by Montana law (27-2-503(2)). A fairness override (27-2-505) reverts to Montana's period if the otherwise-applicable 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 to defend |
| What expiration actually does | Ordinary affirmative defense: Chapter 2 doesn't bar a creditor from filing suit on a time-barred claim outright; the debtor must raise the expired deadline. No Montana statute in this chapter makes merely attempting to sue or collect on expired debt independently unlawful |
Requirements one by one
Written and unwritten contract periods
Section 27-2-202 supplies all three buckets: "(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 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."
The 6-year written-instrument period is recent. The official 2007 edition said, "The period prescribed for the commencement of an action upon any contract, obligation, or liability founded upon an instrument in writing is within 8 years." The 2025 act's applicability clause says it reaches covered actions "that are filed on or after October 1, 2025."
When the clock starts
A claim 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, and a court or other agency is authorized to accept jurisdiction of the action." Section 27-2-102 then says: "Lack of knowledge of the claim or cause of action, or of its accrual, by the party to whom it has accrued does not postpone the beginning of the period of limitation."
The account-specific rule is narrower than a generic running balance. It applies to "a mutual, open, and current account where there have been reciprocal demands between the parties," and measures accrual "from the time of the last item proved in the account on either side."
Can a payment or promise restart the clock?
Montana treats an acknowledgment and a payment differently: "An acknowledgment must be contained in some writing signed by the party to be charged thereby," while "Part payment is any payment of principal or interest." Either is "sufficient evidence to cause the relevant statute of limitations to begin running anew." The section does not say whether this language revives a period that already expired, so that question should not be answered from the statute alone.
What if the debt originated in another state?
Section 27-2-503 says that when a claim is substantively based "upon the law of one other state, the limitation period of that state applies" and that "[t]he limitation period of Montana applies to all other claims." This can select a longer as well as a shorter foreign period. Section 27-2-505 returns to Montana's period if the other state's period is substantially different and "has not afforded a fair opportunity to sue upon, or imposes an unfair burden in defending against, the claim."
What trips people up
The filing date matters to the 2025 change: the act applies the shorter written-instrument period to actions filed on or after October 1, 2025, not only to debts created after that date. Also, do not treat every revolving or open balance as a mutual-account claim; § 27-2-302 requires reciprocal demands between the parties.
Common questions
Does this deadline govern collection of an existing judgment? No. This page covers the time to file the original contract-debt lawsuit, not the separate period for enforcing or renewing a judgment already entered.
Does the last transaction always set the deadline for an account? No. The text of § 27-2-302 is limited to a mutual, open, and current account with reciprocal demands. Whether a particular account fits that definition can require a fact-specific legal analysis.
Statutes and sources
- 27-2-202, MCA, "(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 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://leg.mt.gov/bills/mca/title_0270/chapter_0020/part_0020/section_0020/0270-0020-0020-0020.html (accessed 2026-08-17)
- Former 27-2-202(1), MCA (2007 official edition), "The period prescribed for the commencement of an action upon any contract, obligation, or liability founded upon an instrument in writing is within 8 years.", https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/2007/mca/27/2/27-2-202.htm (accessed 2026-08-17)
- 2025 Mont. Laws ch. 174, sec. 3, "Applicability. [This act] applies to actions to recover damages for on any contract, covenant, obligation, or liability founded on an instrument in writing that are filed on or after October 1, 2025.", https://archive.legmt.gov/content/Sessions/69th/Contractor_index/CH0174.pdf (accessed 2026-08-17)
- 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 2026-08-17)
- 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 2026-08-17)
- 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 2026-08-17)
- 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 2026-08-17)
- 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 2026-08-17)
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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