Statute of Limitations on Debt Collection in New York

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Governing law

New York's contract-debt deadlines live mainly in Article 2 of the Civil Practice Law and Rules (CPLR): § 213 sets the general 6-year period, § 213-d carves out medical debt, § 214-i carves out consumer credit transactions, and § 202 is New York's borrowing statute. Reviving an already-expired debt is governed separately, by General Obligations Law § 17-101.

How long you have on a written debt

Six years, running from the date of breach. CPLR § 213(2) covers "an action upon a contractual obligation or liability, express or implied", the "express or implied" language is doing real work here, because it's what lets this single subsection cover both written and oral debt without a separate rule for each.

How long you have on an oral or unwritten debt

Also six years. New York simply does not draw the written-versus-oral line that many other states use. The same § 213(2) period applies regardless of whether the underlying agreement was ever put in writing, the dimension that actually changes New York's number is whether the debt is a consumer credit transaction or medical debt, not whether it was written down.

When the clock starts

For an ordinary contract or debt claim, the date of breach or default. Medical debt is the notable exception: § 213-d ties its 3-year period to "three years of treatment", the date care was provided, not the date a bill went unpaid.

Can a payment or promise restart the clock?

It depends entirely on what kind of debt it is. For ordinary, non-consumer debt, General Obligations Law § 17-101 sets a broad revival rule: "an acknowledgment or promise contained in a writing signed by the party to be charged" can take a debt "out of the operation of the provisions of limitations", and New York courts have applied this to REVIVE a debt that had already gone time-barred, not just extend one still running. The same section adds that it "does not alter the effect of a payment of principal or interest," meaning a payment on the debt can independently have a revival effect even without a separate signed writing. For consumer credit transaction debt specifically, though, CPLR § 214-i flips this completely: "when the applicable limitations period expires, any subsequent payment toward, written or oral affirmation of or other activity on the debt does not revive or extend the limitations period." Once a consumer credit debt is time-barred, nothing, not a payment, not a signed promise, not any other activity, brings it back.

Is there a special rule for consumer debt?

Yes, two separate ones. Consumer credit transactions (credit cards, consumer loans, and similar debt where "a purchaser, borrower or debtor is a defendant") get cut to 3 years under CPLR § 214-i, down from the general 6-year period, plus the total revival ban described above. Medical debt gets its own separate 3-year period under § 213-d, running from the date of treatment. Both were added within the last several years, § 213-d in 2020, § 214-i by the 2021 Consumer Credit Fairness Act (effective 2022-04-07), making this one of the more actively reformed corners of this survey; a bill that would unify and broaden both carve-outs under one new "consumer debt" definition has already passed both houses of the Legislature in 2026 (see Pending legislation).

What if the debt originated in another state?

CPLR § 202 is New York's borrowing statute, with a resident exception: "an action based upon a cause of action accruing without the state cannot be commenced after the expiration of the time limited by the laws of either the state or the place without the state where the cause of action accrued, except that where the cause of action accrued in favor of a resident of the state the time limited by the laws of the state shall apply." In practice, that means New York courts have applied a shorter out-of-state deadline against a national bank or creditor that wasn't a New York resident when the claim accrued, even where New York's own period would have been longer.

What actually happens once the deadline passes?

For most debt, the ordinary default: expiration is an affirmative defense the debtor must raise, not an automatic bar. New York's statutes don't independently prohibit filing a stale ordinary-debt lawsuit the way some states' do. But for consumer credit transactions specifically, the 2022 Consumer Credit Fairness Act layered on real procedural friction beyond the revival ban: the contract or written instrument must be attached to the complaint, a debt buyer must show a full chain of title from the original creditor, and a plaintiff seeking a default judgment must submit an affidavit affirmatively stating a belief that the statute of limitations has not expired, protections aimed at stopping stale consumer claims from sliding through on a debtor's default, even though the statute doesn't flatly forbid filing them.

What trips people up

New York's 6-year period doesn't split by written versus oral the way many states' do, don't assume an unwritten debt automatically gets less time here. The bigger trap is the opposite direction: assuming the general 6-year/revival-friendly rule applies to a credit card or consumer loan, when CPLR § 214-i's 3-year period and total revival ban control instead. And medical debt is its own separate category entirely, with its clock tied to the treatment date rather than a missed payment, a materially different accrual point than any other debt type in this survey.

Common questions

Does my credit card debt get 6 years or 3? Three years, under CPLR § 214-i, since a credit card balance is a consumer credit transaction, not the general 6-year period that applies to non-consumer contract debt.

I made a payment on an old, already-expired credit card debt, did that revive it? No. CPLR § 214-i provides that after the limitations period expires, "any subsequent payment toward, written or oral affirmation of or other activity on the debt does not revive or extend the limitations period." That's different from the general rule for other kinds of debt.

My hospital bill is 4 years old, can they still sue me? Probably not. Medical debt has its own 3-year period under CPLR § 213-d, running from the date of treatment, not from a missed payment.

Can a debt collector still sue me after the statute of limitations expires? For most debt, nothing in New York's statute stops them from filing, and you have to raise the deadline yourself as a defense. For consumer credit transaction debt, the 2022 reforms make it much harder for a stale claim to slip through by default, though they don't flatly bar filing the lawsuit itself.

Statutes and sources

• N.Y. CPLR § 213, "The following actions must be commenced within six years: ... 2. an action upon a contractual obligation or liability, express or implied, except as provided in section two hundred thirteen-a or two hundred fourteen-i of this article...", https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/CVP/213 (accessed 2026-07-09)
• N.Y. CPLR § 213-d, "An action on a medical debt by a hospital licensed under article twenty-eight of the public health law or a health care professional authorized under title eight of the education law shall be commenced within three years of treatment.", https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/CVP/213-D (accessed 2026-07-09)
• N.Y. CPLR § 214-i, "An action arising out of a consumer credit transaction ... must be commenced within three years... Notwithstanding any other provision of law, when the applicable limitations period expires, any subsequent payment toward, written or oral affirmation of or other activity on the debt does not revive or extend the limitations period.", https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/CVP/214-I (accessed 2026-08-08)
• N.Y. CPLR § 202, "An action based upon a cause of action accruing without the state cannot be commenced after the expiration of the time limited by the laws of either the state or the place without the state where the cause of action accrued, except that where the cause of action accrued in favor of a resident of the state the time limited by the laws of the state shall apply.", https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/CVP/202 (accessed 2026-07-09)
• N.Y. General Obligations Law § 17-101, "An acknowledgment or promise contained in a writing signed by the party to be charged thereby is the only competent evidence of a new or continuing contract whereby to take an action out of the operation of the provisions of limitations of time ... This section does not alter the effect of a payment of principal or interest.", https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/GOB/17-101 (accessed 2026-07-09)