Washington: Statute of Limitations on Debt Collection
The short answer
Washington gives a creditor 6 years to sue on a debt backed by a signed writing, and only 3 years if the debt is purely oral or was never reduced to a writing. The clock starts on the date of default, not the date of the last payment. A payment made before the clock runs out automatically restarts it with no writing required, but a bare verbal promise to pay does not: that needs a signed writing. Once the deadline passes, most creditors can still sue and leave it to the debtor to raise as a defense, but a licensed collection agency that knows the debt is time-barred is barred by statute from suing or arbitrating it at all.
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This is the general rule in Washington. Ezel applies current Washington law to your specific facts and answers with citations to the statutes.
| Governing law | RCW 4.16.040(1) (written contracts); RCW 4.16.080(3) (oral/unwritten) |
|---|---|
| Written contract/debt deadline | 6 years from breach (RCW 4.16.040(1)); an account receivable is also 6 years (§ 4.16.040(2)) |
| Oral contract/open account deadline | 3 years from breach (RCW 4.16.080(3)) |
| When the clock starts | Date of breach/default (the missed payment), not the date of the last payment: confirmed by the WA Supreme Court in Merritt v. USAA Federal Savings Bank (2023) |
| Can a payment or promise restart the clock? | A payment made before the clock expires restarts it automatically, no writing needed (§ 4.16.270); a general acknowledgment or promise needs a signed writing (§ 4.16.280); neither can revive a claim that already expired |
| Special rule for consumer debt | None: the same 6-year/3-year periods apply to consumer and commercial debt alike |
| Out-of-state debt | Narrow: applies only when the claim arose in another state or country AND both parties were nonresidents of Washington the whole time (§ 4.16.290): doesn't reach a claim involving a current or former Washington resident |
| What expiration actually does | Ordinary affirmative defense for most creditors; but a licensed collection agency that knows or should know a claim is time-barred is barred by statute from suing or arbitrating it (§ 19.16.250(23)) |
Compare this rule across all 50 states + DC →
Requirements one by one
Governing law
Washington's contract-debt deadlines live in RCW Title 4's chapter on
limitation of actions: RCW 4.16.040 sets the period for written contracts,
RCW 4.16.080(3) sets the period for oral or unwritten contracts, RCW 4.16.270
and RCW 4.16.280 govern revival by payment or acknowledgment, RCW 4.16.290 is
the borrowing statute, and RCW 19.16.250(23), part of the Collection Agency
Act, not the limitations chapter, separately bars a licensed collector from
suing on a claim it knows is time-barred.
How long you have on a written debt
Six years, running from the date of breach. RCW 4.16.040(1) covers "an
action upon a contract in writing, or liability express or implied arising
out of a written agreement." A separate subsection, § 4.16.040(2), gives the
same six years to "an action upon an account receivable", defined broadly
as "any obligation for payment incurred in the ordinary course of the
claimant's business or profession", so a running business account gets the
full six years even before asking whether it's written.
How long you have on an oral or unwritten debt
Three years, half the written-contract period. RCW 4.16.080(3) covers "an
action upon a contract or liability, express or implied, which is not in
writing, and does not arise out of any written instrument," but it carves out
an exception for the account-receivable rule in § 4.16.040(2): an unwritten
account receivable still gets six years, not three.
When the clock starts
The date of breach or default, ordinarily the date of the first missed
payment, not the date of the last payment received, and not the date a
creditor decides to accelerate the full balance. The Washington Supreme Court
confirmed this directly for installment debt in its 2023 companion opinions
in Copper Creek (Marysville) Homeowners Association v. Kurtz and Merritt
v. USAA Federal Savings Bank: the six-year period to collect a single missed
installment starts running on the date that installment was missed, and a
separate six-year period to collect the debt in full doesn't start until the
debt is accelerated or fully matures. Many consumer-facing summaries describe
the clock as starting from "the date of the last payment," which is only
true in the narrow sense that a qualifying payment can restart the clock (see
below), the underlying accrual trigger is still the missed payment, not the
last one made.
Can a payment or promise restart the clock?
It depends on the form. RCW 4.16.270 lets a bare payment restart the clock
by itself, with no writing needed, but only if the clock hasn't run out yet:
"the limitation period shall restart from the time the most recent payment
was made", and in the same breath, "any payment on the contract made after
the limitation period has expired shall not restart, revive, or extend the
limitation period." A verbal acknowledgment or promise to pay is treated
differently and more strictly: RCW 4.16.280 requires it to be "contained in
some writing signed by the party to be charged," and explicitly preserves §
4.16.270's payment rule alongside it ("this section shall not alter the
effect of any payment of principal or interest"). Either way, the same hard
line applies: nothing, payment or writing, can revive a claim whose clock
has already fully run.
Is there a special rule for consumer debt?
No. Washington does not carve out a separate, shorter (or longer) limitations
period specifically for consumer credit transactions. The same 6-year
written / 3-year oral split applies whether the underlying debt is a personal
credit card balance or a commercial contract.
What if the debt originated in another state?
Washington's borrowing statute, RCW 4.16.290, is narrower than the shape
common in many other states. It only reaches a claim that "has arisen in
another state, territory or country between nonresidents of this state", meaning it applies solely when both parties were nonresidents of Washington
the entire time, and the foreign period had already run out. If either party
has any Washington residency connection to the claim, § 4.16.290 doesn't
apply at all, and Washington's own six-year/three-year periods control
regardless of where the debt originated.
What actually happens once the deadline passes?
For most creditors, expiration is the ordinary common-law default: an
affirmative defense the debtor has to raise, not an automatic bar. Nothing in
RCW 4.16 itself stops a creditor from filing suit on a stale claim and hoping
the debtor doesn't respond. But Washington layers a narrower, statute-based
prohibition on top of that default for licensed collection agencies
specifically: RCW 19.16.250(23) makes it unlawful for a licensee to "bring an
action or initiate an arbitration proceeding on a claim when the licensee
knows, or reasonably should know, that such suit or arbitration is barred by
the applicable statute of limitations." That reaches collection agencies and
debt buyers operating under a state license, not every original creditor.
What trips people up
A "goodwill" payment on an old account can quietly restart the clock even
without any writing, because RCW 4.16.270 doesn't require the debtor to
intend that result, it applies automatically to any payment made while the
clock is still running. On the flip side, a phone call where someone merely
admits owing the debt or promises to "take care of it" does not restart
anything by itself; RCW 4.16.280 requires a signed writing for that. And
because the borrowing statute only applies between two nonresidents, a debt
that followed someone who moved to Washington from a state with a shorter
deadline doesn't get any benefit from that shorter foreign period, once the
debtor (or the creditor) has any Washington residency tie to the claim,
Washington's own longer periods control.
Common questions
Does the 6-year or 3-year period apply to my credit card debt?
Almost always 6 years. A credit card balance backed by a signed or
electronically-accepted cardholder agreement falls under RCW 4.16.040(1)'s
written-contract period, and even an unwritten running account can qualify
for the same six years under the account-receivable rule in § 4.16.040(2).
I made a small payment on an old debt, did that restart the clock?
Yes, if the clock hadn't already run out. RCW 4.16.270 restarts the six- or
three-year period automatically from the date of that payment, with no
writing or intent required. If the clock had already expired before the
payment, the payment does nothing, it cannot revive an already-barred
claim.
Can a debt collector still sue me after the statute of limitations runs?
An original creditor generally can, and you would need to raise the expired
deadline yourself as a defense in court. A licensed Washington collection
agency or debt buyer is different: RCW 19.16.250(23) makes it a violation for
a licensee to sue (or start arbitration) on a claim it knows, or should know,
is already time-barred.
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 ability to force payment through a lawsuit.
Statutes and sources
- RCW 4.16.040, "The following actions shall be commenced within six
years: (1) An action upon a contract in writing, or liability express or
implied arising out of a written agreement... (2) An action upon an
account receivable...", https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=4.16.040 (accessed
2026-07-09) - RCW 4.16.080, "The following actions shall be commenced within three
years: ... (3) Except as provided in RCW 4.16.040(2), an action upon a
contract or liability, express or implied, which is not in writing, and
does not arise out of any written instrument", https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=4.16.080 (accessed
2026-07-09) - RCW 4.16.270, "When any payment has been or shall be made upon any
existing contract prior to its applicable limitation period having
expired ... the limitation period shall restart from the time the most
recent payment was made. Any payment on the contract made after the
limitation period has expired shall not restart, revive, or extend the
limitation period.", https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=4.16.270
(accessed 2026-07-09) - RCW 4.16.280, "No acknowledgment or promise shall be sufficient evidence
of a new or continuing contract ... unless it is contained in some
writing signed by the party to be charged thereby ... This section shall
not alter the effect of any payment of principal or interest.", https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=4.16.280 (accessed
2026-07-09) - RCW 4.16.290, "When the cause of action has arisen in another state,
territory or country between nonresidents of this state ... no action
shall be maintained thereon in this state.", https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=4.16.290 (accessed
2026-07-09) - RCW 19.16.250, "No licensee or employee of a licensee shall: ... (23)
Bring an action or initiate an arbitration proceeding on a claim when the
licensee knows, or reasonably should know, that such suit or arbitration
is barred by the applicable statute of limitations.", https://apps.leg.wa.gov/Rcw/default.aspx?cite=19.16.250 (accessed
2026-07-09)
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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