Statute of Limitations on Debt Collection in Nevada

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Governing law

Nevada's contract-debt deadlines live in NRS Chapter 11, "Limitation of Actions", primarily § 11.190 (the general period-setting section), along with § 11.200 (accrual and revival by payment), § 11.210 (mutual open accounts), § 11.390 (acknowledgment or new promise), and § 11.020 (the out-of-state bar). A separate statute outside Chapter 11, NRS 649.375(1)(j), specifically bars a licensed collection agency from filing suit once the deadline has passed.

How long you have on a written debt

Six years, running from accrual. Section 11.190(1)(b) covers "an action upon a contract, obligation or liability founded upon an instrument in writing," alongside a separate 6-year period for a judgment (§ 11.190(1)(a)).

How long you have on an oral or unwritten debt

Four years. Section 11.190(2)(c) covers "a contract, obligation or liability not founded upon an instrument in writing," and the same 4-year period separately covers "an open account for goods, wares and merchandise sold and delivered" (§ 11.190(2)(a)) and "any article charged on an account in a store" (§ 11.190(2)(b)), so an ordinary revolving or store charge account typically falls in this shorter bucket unless it's backed by a signed written agreement.

When the clock starts

The default is the date the cause of action accrues, ordinarily the date of breach or default. Section 11.200(1) sets a more specific rule for a running account: the clock dates "from the last transaction or the last item charged or last credit given." For a mutual, open, and current account with reciprocal demands between the parties specifically, § 11.210 sets the same kind of trigger: the claim accrues "from the time of the last item proved in the account on either side."

Can a payment or promise restart the clock?

It depends on timing and form. Section 11.390 sets the general rule: "no acknowledgment or promise shall be sufficient evidence of a new or continuing contract ... unless the same be contained in some writing signed by the party to be charged", with one statutory exception, cross- referenced to § 11.200. That exception, in § 11.200(1), lets a bare payment of principal or interest restart the clock with no writing at all, but only "if such payment be made after the same shall have become due", in other words, while the debt is still due and the clock is still running. Once the period has fully run out, § 11.200(2) shuts that door completely: "any payment on a debt, affirmation of a debt or other activity taken relating to a debt by a debtor after the time in NRS 11.190 has expired does not revive the applicable limitation." The Nevada Supreme Court reached the same result under the predecessor version of this statute in Riff v. Kowal (1960), holding that a payment made on an obligation that was already barred did not revive it.

Is there a special rule for consumer debt?

No. Nevada's general limitations statute does not carve out a separate period for consumer credit transactions; the same 6-year written / 4-year unwritten split in § 11.190 applies whether the debt is a business contract or a personal credit card balance.

What if the debt originated in another state?

Section 11.020 is Nevada's borrowing statute: if a claim is already time-barred under the law of the state or country where it arose, Nevada won't let a creditor revive it by suing here instead, "an action thereon shall not be maintained against the person in this State", unless the person owed the debt "has held the cause of action from the time it accrued" as "a citizen" of Nevada. This mirrors the shorter-of-two-periods structure with a resident-creditor carve-out used in several other states.

What actually happens once the deadline passes?

It depends on who's trying to collect. For an original creditor, Nevada follows the ordinary default: expiration is an affirmative defense the debtor has to raise, and nothing in Chapter 11 independently stops a creditor from filing suit anyway. But for a licensed collection agency specifically, Nevada goes further. NRS 649.375(1)(j) makes it a prohibited practice to "file a civil action to collect a debt when the collection agency, compliance manager, agent or employee knows or should know that the applicable limitation period for filing such an action has expired." That rule reaches licensed collection agencies and debt buyers, not an original creditor collecting its own debt or an attorney collecting for a client in the ordinary course of practicing law (both fall outside the "collection agency" definition).

What trips people up

A payment on an old debt can cut two very different ways in Nevada depending on timing, and the line between them is exact: a payment made before the 6-year or 4-year deadline runs restarts the clock automatically, with no writing needed, while the identical payment made even one day after the deadline has already passed does nothing at all under § 11.200(2). A debtor (or a well-meaning family member) trying to "chip away" at an old balance can easily land on the wrong side of that line without realizing it matters. Separately, a mutual open account's clock resets with every new item on it under § 11.210, so an account that's still actively being charged on can look like it never gets close to expiring, purely because new items keep pushing the last-item date forward.

Common questions

Does the 6-year or 4-year period apply to my credit card debt? It depends on whether the account is backed by a signed written agreement. An unwritten or store charge account typically falls under the 4-year period in § 11.190(2)(a)-(c); a credit card account backed by a signed cardholder agreement can fall under the 6-year written period instead.

I made a payment on an old debt, did that restart the clock? Only if the debt wasn't already time-barred when you paid. A payment made while the debt was still within its 6-year or 4-year window restarts the clock under § 11.200(1), even without a signed writing. A payment made after the deadline had already passed does not revive it, by the express terms of § 11.200(2).

Can a debt collector still contact me after the statute of limitations runs? Nevada's limitations statute doesn't bar all contact, it only stops an original creditor's ability to force payment through a defense the debtor must raise, and it separately bars a licensed collection agency from filing suit once it knows the deadline has passed. Other federal and state debt-collection-conduct law governs what a collector may otherwise say or do, which is outside this survey's scope.

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 changes is a court's willingness to enforce it through a lawsuit, and, for a licensed collection agency specifically, its legal ability to even file one.

Statutes and sources

• Nev. Rev. Stat. § 11.190, "actions other than those for the recovery of real property... may only be commenced as follows: 1. Within 6 years: ... (b) An action upon a contract, obligation or liability founded upon an instrument in writing... 2. Within 4 years: (a) An action on an open account for goods, wares and merchandise sold and delivered... (c) An action upon a contract, obligation or liability not founded upon an instrument in writing.", https://www.leg.state.nv.us/nrs/nrs-011.html (accessed 2026-07-09)
• Nev. Rev. Stat. § 11.200, "whenever any payment on principal or interest has been or shall be made upon an existing contract... if such payment be made after the same shall have become due, the limitation shall commence from the time the last payment was made... any payment on a debt, affirmation of a debt or other activity taken relating to a debt by a debtor after the time in NRS 11.190 has expired does not revive the applicable limitation.", https://www.leg.state.nv.us/nrs/nrs-011.html (accessed 2026-07-09)
• Nev. Rev. Stat. § 11.390, "No acknowledgment or promise shall be sufficient evidence of a new or continuing contract ... unless the same be contained in some writing signed by the party to be charged thereby, except as provided in NRS 11.200.", https://www.leg.state.nv.us/nrs/nrs-011.html (accessed 2026-07-09)
• Nev. Rev. Stat. § 11.020, "When a cause of action has arisen in another state... an action thereon shall not be maintained against the person in this State, except in favor of a citizen thereof who has held the cause of action from the time it accrued.", https://www.leg.state.nv.us/nrs/nrs-011.html (accessed 2026-07-09)
• Nev. Rev. Stat. § 11.210, "the cause of action shall be deemed to have accrued from the time of the last item proved in the account on either side.", https://www.leg.state.nv.us/nrs/nrs-011.html (accessed 2026-07-09)
• Nev. Rev. Stat. § 649.375, "A collection agency... shall not: ... (j) File a civil action to collect a debt when the collection agency, compliance manager, agent or employee knows or should know that the applicable limitation period for filing such an action has expired.", https://www.leg.state.nv.us/nrs/nrs-649.html (accessed 2026-07-09)