Maryland gives creditors three years to sue on most debts, and for consumer debt it goes further than most states: once those three years are up, a creditor or collector may not file suit at all, and nothing you do afterward revives the debt. Not a payment, not a written promise, not a phone call. That rule is in § 5-1202 of the Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article.
The deadlines, and where each one is written
| What is being collected | Deadline to file suit | Statute |
|---|---|---|
| A civil action at law, unless another provision sets a different period | 3 years | Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 5-101 |
| A promissory note or other instrument under seal, or a contract under seal (a “specialty”) | 12 years | Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 5-102(a) |
| A judgment | 12 years | Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 5-102(a)(3) |
| Note payable at a definite time (commercial code) | 6 years | Com. Law § 3-118(a) |
| Contract for the sale of goods | 4 years | Com. Law § 2-725(1) |
Section 5-101 is the general rule: “A civil action at law shall be filed within three years from the date it accrues unless another provision of the Code provides a different period of time.” Maryland does not set separate periods for written and oral contracts, which is why so many consumer debts land on three years.
The twelve-year period for specialties is the exception to watch. It covers a contract or note “under seal.” Section 5-102(c)(3) carves out consumer debt owed to a hospital for hospital services, which stays out of the twelve-year rule even if the paperwork is sealed. Section 5-102(c)(2) also excludes a sealed deed of trust, mortgage, or note secured by owner-occupied residential property. Other consumer contracts are not carved out, so a creditor holding a document signed under seal may argue for twelve years.
Credit cards: the code does not name them in the deadline sections
Neither § 5-101 nor § 5-102 mentions credit cards. Because Maryland uses one three-year period for ordinary contracts whether written or not, that silence matters less here than in most states. The open question is narrower: whether any particular card agreement was executed under seal, which would bring it within § 5-102.
What this means in practice: for an ordinary credit card, personal loan, or medical bill in Maryland, the deadline in the code is three years. A collector claiming twelve should be able to point to a document under seal.
When the clock starts
Section 5-101 runs the three years “from the date it accrues,” and the code does not define accrual for a card or loan. One related rule is worth knowing. Under § 5-205(b), a person who is absent from the state when a claim accrues “may not benefit from a statute of limitation if the plaintiff files the action within the normal limitations period after the defendant returns to the State.” And § 5-201(c) says imprisonment, absence from the state, and marriage are not disabilities that extend the deadline.
Why a payment cannot restart an expired Maryland consumer debt
Section 5-1202 applies to any “consumer debt collection action,” which § 5-1201 defines as a judicial action or arbitration proceeding to collect a debt arising from a transaction for personal, family, or household purposes. It says:
(a) A creditor or a collector may not initiate a consumer debt collection action after the expiration of the statute of limitations applicable to the consumer debt collection action.
(b)(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any payment toward, written or oral affirmation of, or any other activity on the debt that occurs after the expiration of the statute of limitations applicable to the consumer debt collection action does not revive or extend the limitations period.
Parsed out: subsection (a) is a prohibition on filing, not just a defense. Subsection (b)(1) means that after the period has run, a payment, a signed acknowledgment, a spoken promise, or “any other activity on the debt” does not restart it. Subsection (b)(2) adds one limit: it does not affect a separate written agreement or payment plan entered into before the period expired.
What the section does not address is a payment made while the period is still running. Section 5-102(b) gives one answer for specialties, where a payment “suspends the operation of this section as to the specialty for three years after the date of payment,” but there is no equivalent sentence for the ordinary three-year rule in § 5-101.
What a debt buyer has to prove
Section 5-1203 sets document requirements for debt buyers and the collectors working for them. A debt buyer may not even file a consumer debt collection action unless it possesses the documents listed in § 5-1203(b)(3), and unless the case is resolved by judgment on affidavit, a court may not enter judgment for the debt buyer unless those documents are introduced into evidence. The list includes proof the debt exists, an itemization of what is claimed, and “the date of the last payment on the consumer debt or the last transaction giving rise to the consumer debt,” the facts that decide whether the three years have run. It also requires a list of every Maryland collection agency license the debt buyer or collector holds.
How often Maryland consumers report collection problems
Maryland consumers filed 6,292 debt collection complaints with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in the 12 months ending October 7, 2026, which is 2.0% of the 316,737 filed nationwide and ranks 17th among reporting states.
Of those, 1,430, or 23% of the Maryland total, were categorized as a collector taking or threatening to take negative or legal action, against 25% nationally.
These are raw complaint counts, not rates. They are not adjusted for population, and a complaint is an allegation the CFPB has published, not a finding that a company broke the law. The figures refresh weekly from the CFPB’s public database.
If you are sued on a debt you believe is too old
Even with § 5-1202, you have to respond. A lawsuit filed in violation of the statute can still end in a default judgment if no one answers it. Raise the limitations period in your response, and if the plaintiff is a debt buyer, ask whether it has produced the documents § 5-1203 requires.
Two Maryland-specific things to check: the date of the last payment or last transaction, which a debt buyer must document under § 5-1203; and whether the creditor is claiming a sealed instrument to reach the twelve-year period. Court deadlines are short, so this is a point at which speaking with a Maryland attorney or a legal aid organization is worth the call.
How Maryland compares
The same question gets a different answer a state line away. These are the closest comparisons to Maryland:
- New York: the other state where nothing revives an expired consumer debt
- Virginia: next door, five years on a signed writing and three otherwise
- Pennsylvania: next door, four years and no statute on payments at all
The full comparison table covers every state we have published.
Sources and verification
Statutes quoted from the Annotated Code of Maryland as published by the Maryland General Assembly. Provisions cited: Courts and Judicial Proceedings §§ 5-101, 5-102, 5-201, 5-205, 5-1201, 5-1202, 5-1203, and 5-1204; Commercial Law §§ 2-725 and 3-118. The General Assembly’s statute pages do not display amendment histories or a currency date, so we identify each provision by section and give the date we retrieved the text: October 2, 2026. Complaint data: CFPB Consumer Complaint Database, filtered to the Debt collection product and the Maryland state field over a rolling 12-month window, re-queried weekly by this site. Our data sources and update policy lists every figure on this site that refreshes automatically and how often.
This page explains what the Maryland statutes say. It is general information, not legal advice. It does not resolve what a payment made before the three years run does to an ordinary debt, because § 5-101 does not address it, and it cannot establish when a particular debt accrued.
Frequently asked questions
What is the statute of limitations on debt in Maryland?
Three years for most debts under Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 5-101, which applies to written and oral contracts alike. A contract or note under seal is a specialty with twelve years under § 5-102, except for hospital consumer debt and sealed instruments secured by owner-occupied homes.
Can a collector sue me in Maryland after the statute of limitations runs out?
No. Under § 5-1202(a), a creditor or collector may not initiate a consumer debt collection action after the limitations period has expired. You still need to respond if you are sued anyway, because an unanswered suit can end in a default judgment.
Does a payment restart the statute of limitations in Maryland?
Not after the period has expired. Section 5-1202(b)(1) says any payment, written or oral affirmation, or other activity on a consumer debt after the deadline does not revive or extend it. A separate written payment plan made before the deadline is treated separately under § 5-1202(b)(2).
Is Maryland credit card debt three years?
For an ordinary card agreement, the code points to three years under § 5-101, because Maryland does not split written and oral contracts. The code does not name credit cards, and a creditor claiming the twelve-year specialty period would need an instrument under seal.