Oregon: Statute of Limitations on Debt Collection

Requirements one by one

Governing law

Oregon's contract-debt deadlines live in ORS Chapter 12 ("Limitations of
Actions and Suits"), principally § 12.080(1), the general 6-year period for
"a contract or liability, express or implied." Judgments and pre-1965 sealed
instruments get a longer 10-year period under § 12.070, and a debt for the
sale of goods is carved out into its own 4-year period under § 72.7250, part
of Oregon's enactment of UCC Article 2. Revival is addressed separately in
§§ 12.230 and 12.240, and out-of-state debt is addressed by Oregon's adoption
of the Uniform Conflict of Laws-Limitations Act, §§ 12.410 to 12.480. Oregon's
Unlawful Debt Collection Practices Act, ORS § 646.639, adds a real bar on
suing over a debt once it's time-barred, but only for a third-party debt
collector or a debt buyer.

How long you have on a written debt

Six years, the same as an oral debt. Section 12.080(1) covers "a contract
or liability, express or implied," and draws no distinction at all based on
whether the agreement was ever signed or put in writing. The real exceptions
run in the other direction: a debt for the sale of goods gets only 4 years
under § 72.7250, and Oregon courts have applied that shorter period even to
an account-stated claim when the underlying transaction was a sale of goods,
rather than the general 6-year period (Moorman Mfg. Co. v. Hall, 113 Or.
App. 30 (1992)). A judgment or a sealed instrument entered into before August
13, 1965 gets a longer 10 years under § 12.070.

How long you have on an oral or unwritten debt

The same 6 years as written debt. Oregon simply doesn't draw the
written-versus-oral line that many other states do; § 12.080(1)'s "express or
implied" language reaches an oral promise the same way it reaches a signed
one.

When the clock starts

The default rule is the date of breach or default, with no discovery rule.
Oregon's Court of Appeals confirmed this directly in Romero v. Amburn
(2022): even though a companion part of the same statute (covering injury to
a property interest) does carry a discovery rule under the Oregon Supreme
Court's Rice v. Rabb (2014) decision, an ordinary breach-of-contract claim
under § 12.080(1) still accrues at breach, not at discovery. For a running
account, § 12.090 sets a different trigger: the clock runs "from the time of
the last charge or payment proved in the account." For a sale-of-goods claim,
§ 72.7250(2) starts the clock at the date of breach "regardless of the
aggrieved party's lack of knowledge of the breach," except for a warranty
that explicitly extends to the goods' future performance.

Can a payment or promise restart the clock?

Yes, through two separate routes. Section 12.230 requires a signed writing
for a general "acknowledgment or promise" to take a case out of the statute, but that same section carves out a second, broader route: "this section
shall not alter the effect of any payment of principal or interest." Section
12.240 spells that route out in full: "whenever any payment of principal or
interest is made after it has become due, upon an existing contract, whether
it is a bill of exchange, promissory note, bond, or other evidence of
indebtedness, the limitation shall commence from the time the last payment
was made." Unlike California's version of this rule, Oregon's text contains
no cap limiting it to a still-running, not-yet-expired clock, and Oregon's
own consumer-facing legal-aid guidance treats even an old, seemingly
time-barred debt as something a later payment can revive. A Washington
appellate court applying Oregon law, Umpqua Bank v. Gunzel (2021), likewise
described a payment under this statute as capable of "reviving" the
limitations period, though that case involved a payment made while the clock
was still running rather than one made after the full period had already
elapsed.

Is there a special rule for consumer debt?

No. The same 6-year period under § 12.080(1) applies whether the debt is a
business contract or a personal credit card balance; Oregon has no separate,
shorter limitations period specifically for consumer-credit-transaction debt.

What if the debt originated in another state?

Oregon doesn't use a simple "whichever period is shorter" rule. Since 1987,
Oregon has applied the Uniform Conflict of Laws-Limitations Act (§§ 12.410 to
12.480): if a claim is substantively based on another state's law, that
state's own limitations period applies instead of Oregon's, along with that
state's own tolling and accrual rules (§§ 12.430, 12.440), but Oregon's own
period applies instead if the other state's period turns out to be
"substantially different" from Oregon's and either doesn't give a fair
opportunity to sue or imposes an unfair burden defending against the claim
(§ 12.450).

What actually happens once the deadline passes?

It depends who's suing. If the original creditor sues directly, expiration is
just an ordinary affirmative defense under Oregon Rule of Civil Procedure 19
B, a debtor has to plead it or risk losing even on a genuinely time-barred
debt. But if a third-party debt collector or a debt buyer is doing the
collecting, Oregon's Unlawful Debt Collection Practices Act goes further:
§ 646.639(2)(r) and (4)(a) make it an unlawful practice for either one to
file a legal action, or even attempt to, on a debt it knows or should know is
barred by the statute of limitations. That statutory suit-ban doesn't reach
an original creditor (including a bank) collecting on its own debt directly.

What trips people up

People often assume a signed contract automatically buys a longer deadline
than an oral one, but Oregon draws no such line at all, both get 6 years.
The bigger trap is on the payment side: unlike states that cap revival to a
still-running clock, Oregon's payment-after-due rule has no such limit in its
text, so a small "goodwill" payment on what looks like an old, dead debt can
genuinely restart the clock. And the statutory suit-ban on time-barred debt
only protects against a third-party debt collector or a debt buyer, it
doesn't stop the original creditor from filing suit directly, though the
debtor can still raise the expired deadline as a defense in that case.

Common questions

Does my credit card debt get a different deadline because it's a written
agreement?
No. Oregon's 6-year period applies the same way to written and oral contract
debt, so a signed credit card agreement doesn't get more time than an
informal oral promise to pay.

I made a small payment on an old debt I thought was too old to be sued
on, did that restart the clock?
Quite possibly. Oregon's payment-after-due rule (§ 12.240) restarts the
limitations period from the date of that payment, and Oregon's own
consumer guidance treats this as able to revive even an apparently
time-barred debt.

Can a debt collector still sue me in Oregon after the 6-year deadline
passes?
If it's a third-party debt collector or a debt buyer, no, Oregon law makes
it unlawful for either one to file suit, or attempt to, on a debt they know
or should know is already time-barred. If it's the original creditor suing
directly, nothing in Oregon law stops the filing itself, but you can raise
the expired deadline as a defense.

Does moving to Oregon from a state with a shorter deadline help a creditor
sue me here?
Not automatically. Oregon doesn't use a simple shorter-of-two-periods rule;
it applies whichever state's law substantively governs the claim, with an
exception that can bring Oregon's own period back into play if the other
state's period is substantially different and unfair to one side.

Statutes and sources

• ORS 12.080, "An action upon a contract or liability, express or implied,
  ... and except as otherwise provided in ORS 72.7250 ...; shall be commenced
  within six years.", https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors012.html
  (accessed 2026-07-09)
• ORS 12.070, "An action upon a judgment or decree of any court of the
  United States, or of any state or territory within the United States; or
  ... a sealed instrument entered into before August 13, 1965, shall be
  commenced within 10 years.", https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors012.html
  (accessed 2026-07-09)
• ORS 72.7250, "An action for breach of any contract for sale must be
  commenced within four years after the cause of action has accrued. ... A
  cause of action accrues when the breach occurs, regardless of the
  aggrieved party's lack of knowledge of the breach.", https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors072.html
  (accessed 2026-07-09)
• ORS 12.090, "In an action to recover a balance due upon an account, the
  cause of action shall be deemed to have accrued from the time of the last
  charge or payment proved in the account.", https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors012.html
  (accessed 2026-07-09)
• ORS 12.230, "No acknowledgment or promise shall be sufficient evidence of
  a new or continuing contract ... unless the same is contained in some
  writing, signed by the party to be charged thereby; but this section shall
  not alter the effect of any payment of principal or interest.", https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors012.html
  (accessed 2026-07-09)
• ORS 12.240, "Whenever any payment of principal or interest is made after
  it has become due, upon an existing contract, ... the limitation shall
  commence from the time the last payment was made.", https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors012.html
  (accessed 2026-07-09)
• ORS 12.430, "Except as provided by ORS 12.450, if a claim is
  substantively based: (a) Upon the law of one other state, the limitation
  period of that state applies ...", https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors012.html
  (accessed 2026-07-09)
• ORS 12.450, "If the court determines that the limitation period of
  another state applicable under ORS 12.430 and 12.440 is substantially
  different from the limitation period of this state and has not afforded a
  fair opportunity to sue upon, or imposes an unfair burden in defending
  against the claim, the limitation period of this state applies.", https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors012.html
  (accessed 2026-07-09)
• ORS 646.639, "(2)(r) Files a legal action to collect or files a legal
  action to attempt to collect a debt if the debt collector knows, or after
  exercising reasonable diligence would know, that an applicable statute of
  limitations bars the collection or the collection attempt. ... (4)(a)
  [same bar for a debt buyer]", https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors646.html
  (accessed 2026-07-09)