A statute of limitations is the time limit for starting a legal case. Once it runs out, a lawsuit can be dismissed and a prosecution can be blocked, even if every fact is on your side. Some limits are measured in days, such as the 45 days a federal employee has to contact an EEO counselor, and the most serious crimes have no limit at all.
There is no single national number. Each state sets its own deadlines for each type of claim, and federal law adds another set on top. Below are the rules that decide how long you have, the federal deadlines that run shortest, the exceptions that pause the clock, and how the rules apply to old debts.
How a Statute of Limitations Works
The legislature fixes a period, and the clock usually starts when the claim arises: the date of the accident, the broken promise or the crime. If the case is not filed or charged before the period ends, the claim is barred.
In a civil case the deadline does not enforce itself. The person being sued has to raise it as a defense, and if they never respond, the court can enter a judgment anyway. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau warns that this happens with old debts: a collector can win a default judgment on a time-barred debt when the borrower does not show up to object.
Three justifications come up again and again:
- Someone with a real claim should pursue it within a reasonable time.
- Witnesses forget, records are destroyed, and a defendant cannot fairly answer a decades-old accusation.
- Courts would clog with stale disputes if no deadline existed.
Civil vs Criminal Statute of Limitations
Civil deadlines control lawsuits between people and businesses: injury, contract, property and defamation claims. Criminal deadlines control how long the government has to file charges. The two sets of rules are separate, so one event can carry two clocks. An assault in New York gives the victim one year to sue under CPLR 215, while prosecutors have two or five years depending on the charge.
New York's Criminal Procedure Law 30.10 shows how criminal limits scale with seriousness:
- Class A felonies and first-degree rape: no limit.
- Other felonies: 5 years.
- Misdemeanors: 2 years.
- Petty offenses: 1 year.
Civil limits vary just as much from state to state. For a personal injury suit, the deadline is two years in California and Texas, three years in New York, and only one year in Kentucky for most injuries (two for car crashes). Florida moved from four years to two for negligence claims arising after March 24, 2023. Maine sits at the long end, with six years for all civil actions unless another statute says otherwise.
Contract claims usually get more time than injuries. Florida allows five years on a written contract and four on an oral one. New York allows six years on either. For the sale of goods, the Uniform Commercial Code sets four years in section 2-725, and the parties can shorten that to one year in their contract but never lengthen it. That four-year rule covers warranty disputes over cars too, alongside the state lemon law protections.
Federal Deadlines for Job, Tax and Government Claims
Some of the shortest deadlines in American law are federal. The table below lists the ones people most often run into, with the statute or agency that sets each one.
| Claim | Deadline | Set by |
|---|---|---|
| Non-capital federal crime | 5 years from the offense | 18 U.S.C. 3282 |
| Federal crime punishable by death | No limit | 18 U.S.C. 3281 |
| Bank fraud | 10 years | 18 U.S.C. 3293 |
| Job discrimination charge (EEOC) | 180 days, or 300 where a state or local agency enforces a similar law | EEOC |
| Lawsuit after an EEOC right-to-sue notice | 90 days | EEOC |
| Equal Pay Act lawsuit | 2 years from the last unequal paycheck, 3 if willful | EEOC |
| Injury claim against the U.S. government | 2 years to file with the agency, then 6 months after a denial | 28 U.S.C. 2401(b) |
| Other civil claims against the U.S. | 6 years | 28 U.S.C. 2401(a) |
| Claims under federal laws passed after Dec. 1, 1990 | 4 years unless the law sets its own | 28 U.S.C. 1658 |
| IRS collection of assessed tax | 10 years from assessment | IRS |
| Your claim for a tax refund | 3 years from filing or 2 years from paying, whichever is later | IRS |
Job discrimination is where people most often miss the window. You generally must file a charge with the EEOC within 180 calendar days, and the agency's own guide to filing time limits explains when that stretches to 300 days.
A few details from that guidance matter in practice:
- Weekends and holidays count toward the deadline, but a deadline that lands on one moves to the next business day.
- Each separate act, such as a demotion and later a firing, has its own deadline.
- For harassment, the clock runs from the last incident.
- Federal employees and job applicants must usually contact an agency EEO counselor within 45 days.
Claims against the federal government work in two stages. An injury claim must first go to the agency in writing within two years. If the agency denies it, you have six months from the mailing of the denial to sue, and if it does nothing for six months you can treat the silence as a denial.
Tolling, Repose and Other Exceptions to the Clock
Tolling stops the clock for a while. Many states toll the deadline for children: in California and Texas, the time a person spends as a minor is generally not counted, though medical malpractice and, in California, claims against public entities have their own rules. New York generally gives three years after a disability such as infancy ends; the extension stops 10 years after the claim arose for insanity, and for infancy only in medical, dental or podiatric malpractice cases.
Other common tolling rules:
- Defendant out of state: California and Texas statutes both exclude the time a defendant is away, though courts can narrow this when the defendant can still be served.
- Fugitives: federal law says no statute of limitations extends to anyone fleeing from justice.
- Late discovery: in medical malpractice, California runs one year from discovery, capped at three years from the injury except for fraud, concealment or a foreign object left in the body.
A statute of repose is the opposite of tolling. It sets a hard outer limit counted from the defendant's act, and it can expire before the injury is even noticed. Texas ends all health care liability claims 10 years after the act or omission behind the claim, and its statute calls that limit a statute of repose by name. California bars claims over hidden building defects 10 years after the work is substantially complete.
Statute of Limitations on Debt and Your Credit Report
Most states give creditors three to six years to sue on a debt, according to the CFPB, and federal student loans have no limit. After the deadline, a collector can still ask for payment in most states but cannot sue or threaten to sue.
The tricky question is what restarts the clock. States split sharply:
- California: a payment on a promissory note starts a new period, but a payment alone cannot bring an already expired claim back to life.
- New York: consumer credit suits have a three-year limit, and no later payment, promise or other activity revives or extends it.
- Texas: a debt buyer may not sue after the four-year period, and a payment or reaffirmation does not revive the debt.
Where a promise can extend the deadline, it usually has to be in writing. New York and Texas both require an acknowledgment of the debt to be signed by the debtor. Any agreement that changes a deadline deserves the same care as the original contract, and a remote online notary can witness a signature when both sides are in different places.
Judgments last far longer than the claims behind them. Once a court rules, New York and Florida both allow 20 years to enforce the judgment. Credit reports follow their own federal rule: collection accounts drop off seven years after a date set 180 days past the start of the delinquency, while lawsuits and judgments can stay for seven years or until the state limit runs, whichever is longer.
Practical Steps Before a Deadline Runs Out
Deadlines are easiest to meet when you work backward from them:
- Write down the date of the event and the date you discovered the harm.
- Identify the claim type, because injury, contract and fraud claims run on different clocks.
- Look up the statute in the state code, not a summary, and note any notice requirement for claims against a government.
- Gather receipts, messages and repair records while they still exist.
- File early. Disputes under your state's cap can go to small claims court, where the same limitation period applies.
This guide explains general rules and is not legal advice. A licensed attorney in your state can confirm a specific deadline.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which crimes have no statute of limitations?
Under federal law, any offense punishable by death, kidnapping of a minor and federal sexual abuse felonies can be charged at any time. Many states do the same for murder: California has no limit for crimes punishable by death or life in prison.
How long can the IRS collect back taxes?
Generally 10 years from the date the tax was assessed. The IRS calls this the Collection Statute Expiration Date, and each assessment can have its own.
Can a debt collector still contact me about an expired debt?
In most states, yes. Regulation F bars a collector from suing or threatening to sue on a time-barred debt, but the CFPB says calls and letters about the debt are still allowed in most states.
What is the difference between a statute of limitations and a statute of repose?
A statute of limitations usually counts from the injury or its discovery and can be paused. A statute of repose counts from the defendant's act and sets a final cutoff, even if the harm has not appeared yet.
