Statute of Limitations on Debt Collection in Tennessee

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Governing law

Tennessee's general contract-debt deadline lives in Title 28 ("Limitation of Actions"), specifically T.C.A. § 28-3-109(a)(3), a catch-all provision covering "actions on contracts not otherwise expressly provided for." A separate statute, § 28-1-112, functions as the state's borrowing statute for debts arising elsewhere. Negotiable instruments (promissory notes, drafts, and similar paper) instead fall under Tennessee's enactment of UCC Article 3, § 47-3-118, which sets its own periods.

How long you have on a written debt

Six years from breach, under the same catch-all provision that covers oral debt: § 28-3-109(a)(3) applies to "actions on contracts not otherwise expressly provided for," language that doesn't distinguish a signed writing from an unwritten agreement. Demand obligations are the important exception. Section 28-3-109(c) gives the general demand-note category 10 years, but a negotiable demand note is governed more specifically by § 47-3-118(b): six years after demand, or a bar after ten continuous years with no principal or interest payment if no demand is made.

How long you have on an oral or unwritten debt

Also six years, the identical figure as a written debt. Tennessee is one of several states, alongside New York, Massachusetts, and others, that doesn't carve out a shorter period for a debt that was never reduced to writing.

When the clock starts

The ordinary rule is the date of breach or default. Tennessee's Court of Appeals applied this directly in Wilson v. Harris (2009), holding that the six-year period on the informal loan began when the borrowers received the money because the obligation was immediately enforceable on the facts, not when the lender later demanded repayment. For a non-negotiable demand obligation, § 28-1-102 starts the clock when the right to make the demand is complete rather than when demand is eventually made. Negotiable demand notes instead follow the more specific rule in § 47-3-118(b): six years after an actual demand, or a ten-year bar after continuous nonpayment if no demand is made.

Can a payment or promise restart the clock?

Tennessee recognizes revival by acknowledgment or new promise, but as a common-law doctrine developed through case law rather than a single, explicit statute spelling out what form it must take. In Wilson v. Harris, the Court of Appeals rejected an argument that a stale loan had been revived precisely because the complaint didn't allege any "acknowledgment or promise" made after the six-year period had otherwise run, confirming that some such acknowledgment or promise, made by the debtor, is what the doctrine requires. Older Tennessee case law recognizes that a debtor's promise to pay an existing debt can keep a claim from being barred. Unlike many other states surveyed here, Tennessee's own limitations statutes don't contain a provision expressly requiring that acknowledgment be in a signed writing, so anyone relying on this doctrine, in either direction, should not assume Tennessee tracks the signed-writing rule common elsewhere without confirming the point against current case law for the specific type of debt involved.

Is there a special rule for consumer debt?

No enacted one. Tennessee does not currently have a statute setting a separate limitations period, or special anti-revival or suit-bar rules, specifically for consumer or credit card debt. A 2017 bill, the proposed "Fair Debt Buying Practices Act" (HB 1413/SB 1419), would have added detailed requirements for debt buyers specifically, including a rule that an expired statute of limitations could never be revived by a later payment, bankruptcy discharge, or reaffirmation, and a rule barring a debt buyer from suing on a debt it knew was time-barred. That bill died in a Senate subcommittee in 2017 and was never enacted; none of its provisions are current Tennessee law.

What if the debt originated in another state?

Tennessee's borrowing statute, § 28-1-112, is framed around the defendant's residency at the time the claim arose: "[w]here the statute of limitations of another state or government has created a bar to an action ... while the party to be charged was a resident in such state or such government, the bar is equally effectual in this state." In other words, if a debt was already time-barred under the law of the state where the debtor lived when the cause of action accrued, Tennessee will respect that bar rather than letting a creditor sue here and get a fresh, longer clock.

What actually happens once the deadline passes?

The ordinary common-law default applies. Nothing in Tennessee's limitations statutes bars a creditor from filing suit on a stale claim, expiration is an affirmative defense the debtor has to raise, not an independent prohibition on suing. (The proposed 2017 debt-buyer bill would have added exactly this kind of suit-barring rule for debt buyers specifically, but as noted above, it never passed.)

What trips people up

Because Tennessee doesn't split written from oral debt, an informal loan between family or friends gets the same six years as a signed promissory note, there's no shortcut deadline for an undocumented agreement the way there is in some other states. Demand obligations are a genuine classification trap: a negotiable demand note follows the UCC rule in § 47-3-118(b), while a non-negotiable demand obligation can fall under §§ 28-3-109(c) and 28-1-102. And because Tennessee's revival doctrine isn't pinned to a specific statutory signed-writing test, someone trying to rely on (or defend against) an old acknowledgment or promise should expect a more fact-specific, case-law-driven inquiry than in states with a bright-line statutory rule.

Common questions

Does the 6-year period apply to my credit card debt? Yes, in the ordinary case. Tennessee's catch-all contract provision doesn't carve out a separate period for credit card or other consumer debt, so the same six years applies.

I made a small payment on an old debt, did that restart the clock? Possibly, depending on the facts, Tennessee courts recognize that an acknowledgment or new promise to pay can revive a claim, but there's no single bright-line statutory test (like a signed-writing requirement) the way there is in many other states. Whether a specific payment or statement counts is a fact-specific question under Tennessee case law.

Can a debt collector still sue me after the statute of limitations runs? Yes, Tennessee has no statute barring the lawsuit itself. You would need to raise the expired deadline as a defense in court.

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 expires is the creditor's ability to force payment through a lawsuit.

Statutes and sources

• T.C.A. § 28-3-109, "(a) The following actions shall be commenced within six (6) years after the cause of action accrued: ... (3) Actions on contracts not otherwise expressly provided for. ... (c) The cause of action on demand notes shall be commenced within ten (10) years...", https://law.justia.com/codes/tennessee/title-28/chapter-3/part-1/section-28-3-109/ (accessed 2026-08-23)
• T.C.A. § 28-1-112, "Where the statute of limitations of another state or government has created a bar to an action upon a cause accruing therein, while the party to be charged was a resident in such state or such government, the bar is equally effectual in this state.", https://law.justia.com/codes/tennessee/title-28/chapter-1/section-28-1-112/ (accessed 2026-08-23)
• T.C.A. § 28-1-102, "When a right exists, but a demand is necessary to entitle the party to an action, the limitation commences from the time the plaintiff's right to make the demand was completed, and not from the date of the demand.", https://unicourt.github.io/cic-code-tn/transforms/tn/octn/r76/gov.tn.tca.title.28.html (accessed 2026-08-23)
• T.C.A. § 47-3-118, a definite-time note must be enforced within six years after its stated or accelerated due date; a demand note must be enforced within six years after demand, or is barred after ten continuous years without principal or interest payment if no demand is made, https://law.justia.com/codes/tennessee/title-47/chapter-3/part-1/section-47-3-118/ (accessed 2026-08-23)