Tennessee: Statute of Limitations on Debt Collection

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. A demand note is the one clear exception,
getting 10 years under § 28-3-109(c), and Tennessee courts have held that
period runs from the date the note was executed, not from whenever a
creditor eventually gets around to making a demand for payment.

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 an informal loan began running "when the borrowers
received the money from the lender", the date the obligation arose, not
any later demand. For a demand note specifically, the clock starts at the
date the note is signed, since the right to make a demand is treated as
complete at that moment (Jenkins v. Dewar, 1904).

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 notes are a genuine trap in the
opposite direction: because the clock on a demand note starts at signing,
not at the moment someone actually demands payment, a note that sits
unenforced for years can quietly run past its 10-year deadline even though
the holder never got around to asking for the money. 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 2026-07-09)
• 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 2026-07-09)
• 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/r74/gov.tn.tca.title.28.html
  (accessed 2026-07-09)
• T.C.A. § 47-3-118, "An action to enforce the obligation of a party to
  pay a note payable at a definite time must be commenced within six (6)
  years after the due date or dates stated in the note or, if a due date is
  accelerated, within six (6) years after the accelerated due date.", https://law.justia.com/codes/tennessee/title-47/chapter-3/part-1/section-47-3-118/
  (accessed 2026-07-09)