Statute of Limitations on Debt Collection in North Dakota

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Governing law

North Dakota's contract-debt deadline lives in Title 28 ("Judicial Procedure, Civil"), Chapter 28-01 ("Time for Commencing Actions"). Section 28-01-16(1) sets the general 6-year period for "an action upon a contract, obligation, or liability, express or implied." Section 28-01-15 pulls a judgment, a contract embedded in a real-estate conveyance or mortgage, and a mortgage foreclosure action out to a longer 10-year period. Section 28-01-37 supplies a special accrual rule for a mutual, open, running account. Section 28-01-36 governs whether an acknowledgment or payment can restart the clock. And a contract for the sale of goods follows its own separate Uniform Commercial Code period, N.D.C.C. § 41-02-104, rather than the general contract rule.

How long you have on a written debt

6 years. Section 28-01-16(1) covers "an action upon a contract, obligation, or liability, express or implied" without distinguishing a signed writing from an oral promise. The real exceptions run longer: a contract contained in a conveyance or mortgage of real property gets 10 years instead (section 28-01-15(2)), and a contract for the sale of goods gets the UCC's separate 4-year period (section 41-02-104) rather than the general 6-year rule.

How long you have on an oral or unwritten debt

Also 6 years, the identical period section 28-01-16(1) applies to a written contract, obligation, or liability. North Dakota simply doesn't draw a written-versus-oral line for ordinary contract debt.

When the clock starts

Section 28-01-16(1) starts the 6-year period when "the claim for relief has accrued," without itself defining that moment for an ordinary contract claim (the general default is the date of breach or default). There's one specific exception: for a mutual, open, and current account with reciprocal demands between the parties, an ongoing running tab, rather than a single fixed debt, section 28-01-37 starts the clock "from the time of the last item proved in the account on either side," not from any single earlier charge.

Can a payment or promise restart the clock?

Yes, and North Dakota splits this the same way as South Dakota's cell in this survey (the two statutes are worded almost identically): section 28-01-36 requires any acknowledgment or promise of a new or continuing contract to be "contained in some writing signed by the party to be charged," or it doesn't count to restart the clock. But the same section separately preserves the effect of a payment, it "does not alter the effect of any payment of principal or interest", meaning a bare payment, with no writing and no signature at all, restarts the clock on its own.

Is there a special rule for consumer debt?

No. No North Dakota statute sets a distinct, shorter or longer, limitations period specifically for consumer-credit-transaction debt. The general 6-year period in section 28-01-16(1) applies to consumer and commercial debt alike.

What if the debt originated in another state?

North Dakota has no borrowing statute for contract debt. Chapter 28-01 contains no provision that imports a shorter limitations period from the state where a debt originated. The one related provision, section 28-01-32, actually runs the opposite direction: it pauses North Dakota's own clock while a defendant is out of the state, rather than borrowing a shorter foreign period. North Dakota's own 6-year period governs a qualifying claim regardless of where the debt arose.

What actually happens once the deadline passes?

The ordinary default. Section 28-01-39 says the objection that a suit wasn't filed in time "can only be taken by answer", the debtor has to raise it. Nothing in Chapter 28-01 stops a creditor from filing suit on a time-barred debt outright.

What trips people up

The payment-versus-acknowledgment split in section 28-01-36 is the sharpest trap: a text message or phone call promising to pay an old debt does nothing to restart the clock unless it's in a signed writing, but actually sending even a small payment restarts it automatically, with no writing at all. Someone trying to negotiate a partial settlement on a debt they think is close to time-barred can accidentally restart the full clock just by making a good-faith partial payment. Separately, the 10-year period for a contract embedded in a real-estate conveyance or mortgage is easy to overlook because it lives in a different section (28-01-15) than the general contract rule, and it applies only when the contract itself is part of the conveyance or mortgage instrument, not to an ordinary unsecured debt.

Common questions

Does North Dakota give more time to sue on a written contract than an oral one? No, both get the same 6-year period. A contract embedded in a real- estate conveyance or mortgage (10 years) and a contract for the sale of goods under the UCC (4 years) are the real exceptions.

I made a payment on an old debt, did that restart the clock? Yes. Section 28-01-36 specifically preserves the effect of "any payment of principal or interest" as sufficient to restart the 6-year period, even without any signed writing.

Can a debt collector still sue me after the statute of limitations runs? Yes, the filing itself isn't blocked, you have to raise the expired deadline as a defense in your answer to the lawsuit.

My debt originated in a state with a shorter deadline than North Dakota's, does that shorter period apply here? No. North Dakota has no borrowing statute for contract debt, so its own 6-year period applies regardless of where the debt originated.

Statutes and sources

• N.D.C.C. § 28-01-16, "The following actions must be commenced within six years after the claim for relief has accrued: 1. An action upon a contract, obligation, or liability, express or implied, subject to the provisions of sections 28-01-15 and 41-02-104.", https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t28c01.pdf (accessed 2026-07-09)
• N.D.C.C. § 28-01-15, "The following actions must be commenced within ten years after the claim for relief has accrued: 1. An action upon a judgment or decree of any court of the United States or of any state or territory within the United States; 2. An action upon a contract contained in any conveyance or mortgage of or instrument affecting the title to real property except a covenant of warranty... 3. Any action or proceeding for the foreclosure of a mortgage upon real estate.", https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t28c01.pdf (accessed 2026-07-09)
• N.D.C.C. § 28-01-37, "In an action brought to recover a balance due upon a mutual open, and current account, when there have been reciprocal demands between the parties, the claim for relief is deemed to have accrued from the time of the last item proved in the account on either side.", https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t28c01.pdf (accessed 2026-07-09)
• N.D.C.C. § 28-01-36, "No acknowledgment or promise is sufficient evidence of a new or continuing contract, whereby to take the case out of the operation of this chapter, unless the same is contained in some writing signed by the party to be charged thereby, but this section does not alter the effect of any payment of principal or interest.", https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t28c01.pdf (accessed 2026-07-09)
• N.D.C.C. § 28-01-32, "If any person is out of this state at the time a claim for relief accrues against that person, an action on such claim for relief may be commenced in this state at any time within the term limited in this chapter for the bringing of an action on such claim for relief after the return of such person into this state.", https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t28c01.pdf (accessed 2026-07-09)
• N.D.C.C. § 28-01-39, "The objection that an action was not commenced within the time limited by law can only be taken by answer.", https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t28c01.pdf (accessed 2026-07-09)
• N.D.C.C. § 41-02-104, "An action for breach of any contract for sale must be commenced within four years after the claim for relief has accrued. By the original agreement the parties may reduce the period of limitation to not less than one year but may not extend it.", https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t41c02.pdf (accessed 2026-07-09)