North Dakota gives creditors six years to sue on a contract, obligation, or liability, express or implied, whether or not it is in writing. A judgment carries ten. A signed written acknowledgment can extend the deadline, a spoken one cannot, and the code deliberately leaves the effect of a payment as it was.
The deadlines, and where each one is written
| What is being collected | Deadline to file suit | Statute |
|---|---|---|
| A contract, obligation, or liability, express or implied | 6 years | N.D.C.C. § 28-01-16(1) |
| A liability created by statute, other than a penalty or forfeiture | 6 years | N.D.C.C. § 28-01-16(2) |
| Breach of a contract for the sale of goods | 4 years | N.D.C.C. § 41-02-104(1) |
| A judgment or decree of any court of the United States or of any state or territory | 10 years | N.D.C.C. § 28-01-15(1) |
Section 28-01-16 says that “[a]n action upon a contract, obligation, or liability, express or implied,” must be commenced “within six years after the claim for relief has accrued.” It is made “subject to the provisions of sections 28-01-15 and 41-02-104.” Section 28-01-15 covers judgments and contracts in instruments affecting title to real property. Section 41-02-104 is the commercial code’s rule for sales of goods: “[a]n action for breach of any contract for sale must be commenced within four years after the claim for relief has accrued.” So a debt for goods bought on credit from the seller may face a four-year argument; the code does not say how that applies to a consumer account.
Credit cards
Chapter 28-01 does not mention credit cards. A card issuer lends money rather than selling goods, which points to the six-year rule, though no North Dakota statute says so. Because the six-year rule covers contracts “express or implied” without distinguishing written from oral, the question that splits other states, whether a card agreement counts as a written contract, matters less in North Dakota.
What this means in practice: for an ordinary North Dakota card, loan, or account balance, the code points to six years from when the claim accrued.
When the clock starts, and what pauses it
Under § 28-01-37, on “a mutual open, and current account, when there have been reciprocal demands between the parties,” the claim accrues “from the time of the last item proved in the account on either side.” The code does not define accrual for an ordinary card or loan.
Under § 28-01-32, if the debtor is out of the state when the claim accrues, the period runs from the person’s return. If the person later “departs from and resides out of this state and remains continuously absent therefrom for the space of one year or more,” that absence does not count, but the section does not apply “if this state’s courts have jurisdiction over a person during the person’s absence.”
What restarts the clock in North Dakota
Section 28-01-36 is titled “New promise must be in writing in order to extend limitation – Effect of any payment”:
No acknowledgment or promise is sufficient evidence of a new or continuing contract, whereby to take the case out of the operation of this chapter, unless the same is contained in some writing signed by the party to be charged thereby, but this section does not alter the effect of any payment of principal or interest.
The writing rule is clear: an acknowledgment or promise counts only if it is in a writing you signed. The payment rule is not. The section says it “does not alter the effect” of a payment, but it does not say what that effect is, and no other section of Chapter 28-01 does either. That question is left to the courts.
Debts from other states
North Dakota has adopted the Uniform Conflict of Laws-Limitations Act. Under § 28-01.2-02, if a claim is “substantively based upon” the law of one other state, “the limitation period of that state applies,” and under § 28-01.2-04 a court applies North Dakota’s period instead if the other state’s period “has not afforded a fair opportunity to sue upon, or imposes an unfair burden in defending against, the claim.”
How often North Dakota consumers report collection problems
North Dakota consumers filed 414 debt collection complaints with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in the 12 months ending October 7, 2026, which is 0.1% of the 316,737 filed nationwide and ranks 43rd among reporting states.
Of those, 248, or 60% of the North Dakota 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
Under § 28-01-39, “[t]he objection that an action was not commenced within the time limited by law can only be taken by answer.” If you do not answer a North Dakota collection suit, the defense is lost, and a judgment carries its own ten-year period.
Two North Dakota-specific things to check: whether the creditor claims a signed writing in which you acknowledged the debt or promised to pay, and whether it says a payment restarted the clock, which is a question the statute leaves open. Court deadlines are short, so this is a point at which speaking with a North Dakota attorney or a legal aid organization is worth the call.
How North Dakota compares
The same question gets a different answer a state line away. These are the closest comparisons to North Dakota:
- Minnesota: next door, six years on consumer debt, and nothing revives it
- Montana: next door, six years written and five unwritten
- Iowa: ten years written and five unwritten
The full comparison table covers every state we have published.
Sources and verification
Statutes quoted from the North Dakota Century Code as published by the North Dakota Legislative Assembly, Chapter 28-01 (Limitations of Actions), Chapter 28-01.2, and Chapter 41-02. Provisions cited: N.D.C.C. §§ 28-01-15, 28-01-16, 28-01-32, 28-01-36, 28-01-37, 28-01-39, 28-01.2-02, 28-01.2-04, and 41-02-104; we reviewed the full text of Chapter 28-01. Text retrieved October 2, 2026. Complaint data: CFPB Consumer Complaint Database, filtered to the Debt collection product and the North Dakota 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 North Dakota statutes say. It is general information, not legal advice. It does not say what effect a payment has on the deadline, because § 28-01-36 preserves that effect without stating it.
Frequently asked questions
What is the statute of limitations on debt in North Dakota?
Six years for an action upon a contract, obligation, or liability, express or implied, under N.D.C.C. § 28-01-16(1). A contract for the sale of goods carries four years under § 41-02-104, and a judgment carries ten years under § 28-01-15(1).
Does a payment restart the statute of limitations in North Dakota?
The code does not say. Section 28-01-36 provides that it does not alter the effect of any payment of principal or interest, but no section of Chapter 28-01 states what that effect is.
Does an acknowledgment have to be in writing in North Dakota?
Yes. Under § 28-01-36, an acknowledgment or promise must be contained in some writing signed by the party to be charged to take a case out of the limitations chapter.
Do I have to raise the statute of limitations myself in North Dakota?
Yes. Under § 28-01-39, the objection that an action was not commenced in time can only be taken by answer.