In New York, the deadline to sue on consumer credit debt is three years, not the six years that applies to contracts generally. The shorter period comes from CPLR § 214-i, enacted by the Consumer Credit Fairness Act and effective April 7, 2022. The same section adds something no other state statute we have reviewed states this plainly: once the period expires, nothing you do can bring it back.
The deadlines, and where each one is written
| What is being collected | Deadline to file suit | Statute |
|---|---|---|
| Consumer credit transaction, where the borrower is the defendant | 3 years | CPLR § 214-i |
| Contractual obligation generally | 6 years | CPLR § 213(2) |
| Medical debt from a licensed hospital or health professional | 3 years from treatment | CPLR § 213-d |
| Sale of goods | 4 years | UCC § 2-725 |
| Any action with no limitation prescribed by law | 6 years | CPLR § 213(1) |
Section 213(2) sets six years for contracts “except as provided in section two hundred thirteen-a or two hundred fourteen-i of this article,” so the three-year consumer rule displaces the general period by the code’s own terms rather than by argument. A credit card balance used for personal, family, or household purposes is a consumer credit transaction as CPLR § 105(f) defines that phrase, and CPLR § 3016(j) legislates expressly for a “revolving credit account” inside consumer credit actions.
One caution for anyone comparing states: New York has not adopted the revised version of UCC Article 3, so the six-year rule for promissory notes that appears in most states’ commercial codes does not exist here. New York’s own § 3-118 is about ambiguous terms, not limitations periods.
What the deadline does, and what it does not do
The limitations period governs how long someone has to file suit. New York bars the remedy rather than the debt. Nothing in CPLR § 214-i declares the obligation void or discharged, and credit reporting runs on a separate federal clock, generally seven years for most negative account information under the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
What restarts the clock in New York, and what does not
For consumer credit debt, the answer is unusually simple. The second sentence of § 214-i provides:
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, when the applicable limitations period expires, any subsequent payment toward, written or oral affirmation of or other activity on the debt does not revive or extend the limitations period.
What this means in practice: once a New York consumer debt is past three years, a payment does not restart it, a signed written promise does not restart it, and neither does any other activity on the account. That is stricter than the state’s general rule for non-consumer debts, where General Obligations Law § 17-101 makes a signed writing the one thing that can revive a claim. If you are dealing with an expired consumer credit debt in New York, making a payment does not hand the collector back a lawsuit.
Two limits are worth stating precisely rather than glossing. Section 214-i speaks to what happens “when the applicable limitations period expires,” so it addresses revival after expiration; the effect of a payment made before the three years runs is not settled by the statute. And the Consumer Credit Fairness Act’s own effective-date section applied its “commenced on or after” language to several sections but not to the one creating § 214-i, so how the three-year period applies to older accounts is a question the statute does not answer.
New York debt collection statute of limitations: what a collector must file
New York does not prohibit filing suit on time-barred consumer debt in so many words. Instead it built procedural requirements that make an expired claim hard to push through, which matters because most consumer debt cases end in default rather than trial.
- The complaint must show its work. Under CPLR § 3016(j), the contract must be attached, or for a revolving account the charge-off statement instead, and the complaint must state the original creditor, the last four digits of the account number, an itemization of the amount claimed, the chain of ownership if the plaintiff is not the original creditor, and “the date and amount of the last payment or, if no payment was made, a statement that the purchaser, borrower or debtor made no payment on the account.” That last item is the fact a limitations defense is usually built from, and the plaintiff has to supply it.
- A default judgment requires a limitations affidavit. CPLR § 3215(j) provides that a request for a default judgment “must be accompanied by an affidavit by the plaintiff or plaintiff’s attorney stating that after reasonable inquiry, he or she has reason to believe that the statute of limitations has not expired.”
- The court mails you a second notice. Under CPLR § 306-d the clerk mails an additional plain-language notice, in English and Spanish, and no default judgment may be entered unless that was done and twenty days have passed, or if the notice comes back undeliverable.
- Summary judgment carries its own notice. CPLR § 3212(j) requires a similar mailed notice explaining how an unrepresented defendant can oppose the motion, with its own waiting period.
Section 3215(f) adds that where the plaintiff is not the original creditor, the application must include an affidavit from the original creditor about the debt and the default, an affidavit of sale for each assignment, and a chain of title.
How often New York consumers report collection problems
New York consumers filed 11,949 debt collection complaints with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in the 12 months ending August 26, 2026, which is 3.7% of the 323,584 filed nationwide and ranks 7th among reporting states.
Of those, 2,719, or 23% of the New York total, were categorized as a collector taking or threatening to take negative or legal action, the category covering threats to sue.
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
Limitations remains a defense you have to raise. CPLR § 3018(b) lists the statute of limitations among the matters a party must plead, and CPLR § 3211(a)(5) allows a pre-answer motion to dismiss on that ground. The protections described above reduce the odds that an expired claim produces a default judgment, but they do not make the defense automatic.
Answer within the time stated on the papers, raise limitations in that answer or by motion, and keep the notices the court mailed you. Because the complaint is required to state the date of the last payment, comparing that date against the three-year period is often the first thing worth doing. Court deadlines are unforgiving, so this is a point at which speaking with a New York attorney or a legal aid organization is worth the call.
How New York compares
The same question gets a different answer a state line away. These are the closest comparisons to New York:
- Minnesota: a consumer-debt statute that nothing revives
- Washington: nothing revives an expired debt
- North Carolina: three years, at the short end
The full comparison table covers every state we have published.
Sources and verification
Statutes quoted from the New York Consolidated Laws as published by the New York State Senate: CPLR §§ 105, 203, 213, 213-d, 214-i, 306-d, 3016, 3018, 3211, 3212, 3215; General Obligations Law §§ 17-101 and 17-103; UCC §§ 2-725 and 3-122. The Consumer Credit Fairness Act is L. 2021, ch. 593, signed November 8, 2021; § 214-i took effect on the one hundred fiftieth day after signing. Note that a second, unrelated CPLR § 214-i concerning toxic exposure shares the same section number. The Senate’s site publishes no overall currency statement; each section instead carries its own revision date, and the § 214-i page shows a most recent revision of April 8, 2022. Text retrieved August 26, 2026. Complaint data: CFPB Consumer Complaint Database, filtered to the Debt collection product and the New York 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 New York statutes say. It is general information, not legal advice. It does not resolve when a particular debt accrued, or how the three-year period applies to an account that predates April 2022, because the statute does not address that question.
Frequently asked questions
How long can a debt collector pursue an old debt in New York?
A collector may contact you indefinitely, but the deadline to sue on a consumer credit transaction is three years under CPLR § 214-i, rather than the six years that applies to contracts generally under CPLR § 213(2).
Does making a payment restart the statute of limitations in New York?
Not on an expired consumer debt. CPLR § 214-i states that once the limitations period expires, any subsequent payment, written or oral affirmation, or other activity on the debt does not revive or extend it. New York’s general rule for other debts is different: General Obligations Law § 17-101 makes a signed writing the only competent evidence of a new or continuing contract.
What does a debt collector have to include when suing in New York?
Under CPLR § 3016(j) the complaint must attach the contract, or the charge-off statement for a revolving account, and state the original creditor, an itemization of the amount claimed, the chain of ownership if the plaintiff bought the debt, and the date and amount of the last payment. A request for a default judgment must also include an affidavit stating that after reasonable inquiry the filer believes the statute of limitations has not expired.
Can a time-barred debt still appear on my New York credit report?
Yes. New York bars the lawsuit but does not extinguish the debt. Credit reporting runs on a separate federal clock, generally seven years for most negative account information.