You’re owed $80,000. The invoice went unpaid four years ago. You finally decide to sue — and find out the courthouse door closed while you were still sending reminders.
Here’s the short answer: in Texas a creditor generally has four years from the date a claim accrued to file suit on a commercial debt (Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.004). After that the debt still exists and can still be paid voluntarily, but the ability to enforce it in court is gone.
That four-year figure is also the longest clock on most files. If you have lien rights, they expire in months, not years — and they expire while the four-year clock is still running.
This guide covers what the limitations period actually is, when it starts, what does and does not restart it, and the shorter deadlines that usually bite first.
What is a Statute of Limitations?
Statute of limitations = The deadline to file a lawsuit to collect a debt.
After the deadline expires:
- You can still ask the debtor to pay (not illegal)
- You can still negotiate and accept payment
- But you cannot sue to force payment
- Debt becomes “time-barred” (legally unenforceable)
Why it exists:
- Prevents creditors from waiting indefinitely to sue
- Protects debtors from “stale claims” (old debt, lost records)
- Encourages prompt collection efforts
Key insight: The clock starts ticking the moment the debt becomes due. Every day you wait, you lose time.
How Statute of Limitations Works
When the Clock Starts
For written contracts:
- Clock generally starts on the due date (date payment was supposed to be made)
- Example: Invoice due February 1, 2023 → clock starts February 1, 2023
For oral agreements:
- Clock starts when payment was expected (may be disputed)
For open accounts (ongoing business relationship):
- Clock generally runs from the last charge or payment on the account
Example:
- Last invoice: June 1, 2023
- Last payment: August 1, 2023
- Clock runs from: August 1, 2023 (most recent activity)
Accrual is litigated more often than people expect. If the date is close, have counsel fix it before you rely on it.
What Resets the Clock
Actions that can restart the statute of limitations, in states that recognize revival:
✅ Debtor makes a payment (even partial)
- Acknowledges the debt exists
- Can restart the clock from the date of payment
✅ Debtor signs written agreement to pay
- Payment plan agreement
- Settlement agreement
- Promissory note
✅ Debtor acknowledges debt in writing
- Email: “I owe you this money, I’ll pay soon”
- Letter admitting debt
- Text message acknowledging debt
Important: Verbal acknowledgment generally doesn’t reset the clock — most states require a writing, and several require specific language. This is a state-by-state question for counsel, not a rule to apply from a blog post.
What Doesn’t Reset the Clock
❌ You send demand letters (doesn’t affect statute) ❌ You call or email debtor (doesn’t affect statute) ❌ Debtor says “I’ll pay eventually” (verbal generally doesn’t count) ❌ You report to a business credit bureau (doesn’t affect statute) ❌ You hire a collection agency (doesn’t affect statute)
Only the debtor’s own payment or written acknowledgment can affect the clock.
The deadlines that actually govern a Texas commercial debt
Texas: four years
Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.004 gives a creditor four years from the date the claim accrued to bring suit on most commercial debt — written contracts, oral agreements, and open accounts alike. This is the figure ASA has verified against the statute text, and the only one on this page.
| Claim type | Texas deadline | Authority |
|---|---|---|
| Written contract | 4 years from accrual | Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.004 |
| Oral agreement | 4 years from accrual | § 16.004 |
| Open account | 4 years from the date the parties' dealings ceased | § 16.004 |
Two Texas-specific deadlines run much shorter, and they expire while the four-year clock is still running:
- Mechanic's and materialman's liens — notice and affidavit deadlines land on the 15th of a specific month, and suit to foreclose must be brought within 1 year (Tex. Prop. Code § 53.158). See the deadline reference and what to do when a GC won't pay.
- Mineral liens — the affidavit is due within 6 months of the day the indebtedness accrues (Tex. Prop. Code § 56.021). See when an operator won't pay.
For the full Texas picture — how accrual is determined, what does and does not restart the clock, and the industry exceptions that run shorter — see our Texas commercial debt statute of limitations reference.
Other states
We do not publish a state-by-state table, and we would treat any that we found with caution.
An earlier version of this page carried limitation periods for all fifty states across four claim types. We removed it. Those figures were not verified against primary statute text, several of the categories are drawn from case law rather than a clean statute, legislatures amend them, and courts — not tables — decide when a claim accrued and whose law applies. A deadline that is wrong by a year is not a small error in this context; it can time-bar a claim.
Everything else on this site is checked against the statute before it ships. That table was not, so it does not belong here.
If your debtor is outside Texas, ASA still pursues the account nationwide through a network of licensed collection attorneys — and the deadline that governs it is a question for counsel in that state, answered on your specific facts.
Common Questions About Statute of Limitations
Q: Can I still contact the debtor after the statute expires?
A: Yes. The statute bars the lawsuit, not the request for payment.
What you can do:
- Send letters requesting payment
- Call and ask for payment
- Negotiate settlement
- Accept voluntary payment
What you can’t do:
- Sue to force payment
- Threaten a lawsuit you cannot legally bring
- Misrepresent the account’s legal status — saying “we’ll take you to court” on a claim that can’t be brought is a deceptive statement about the debt, and that’s a problem whether or not the consumer rules apply
Q: If I sue before the statute expires, can the case continue after?
A: Yes. As long as the lawsuit is filed before the deadline, the case proceeds on the court’s schedule.
Example:
- Statute expires: February 1, 2027
- Suit filed: January 28, 2027 (timely)
- Trial date: June 2027 (fine — the suit was timely filed)
Key: The filing date is what the deadline measures.
Q: What if the debtor moved to another state?
A: Often the governing law is the state where the contract was made — or where your contract says it is, if it has a choice-of-law clause.
Example:
- Contract signed in Texas (4-year statute)
- Debtor moved to California (4-year statute for written contracts)
- Texas law would typically govern
If the statute is shorter in the new state: some courts apply the forum’s shorter period. Choice-of-law is genuinely complicated and it is decided case by case — get counsel on it early, because the answer determines your deadline.
Q: Can the statute be extended or paused?
A: Sometimes, in certain circumstances:
Tolling (pausing the clock):
- Debtor left the state (the clock pauses in some states, on specific terms)
- Debtor filed bankruptcy (collection is stayed and deadlines are affected)
- Debtor was in military service (SCRA protections)
- Debtor was a minor when the claim arose
Revival:
- Debtor makes a payment (can restart the clock where state law allows)
- Debtor signs a written acknowledgment (same)
None of these are self-executing, and none should be planned around. They are arguments made in court by counsel, after the fact.
Q: What if I didn’t know about the debt until recently?
A: Generally it doesn’t matter. The period usually runs from when the claim accrued, not from when you noticed.
Exception: Some claim types, such as fraud, follow different accrual rules.
Time-Barred Debt, and Why the Clock Cuts Both Ways
What “time-barred” means
Time-barred debt = a debt the creditor can no longer sue to enforce, because the limitations period has run. The obligation still exists. The courthouse remedy is gone.
Why the distinction is more than semantics:
- Asking a business to pay an old, legitimate invoice isn’t barred — only the suit is
- Threatening or implying suit on a claim that can’t be brought misrepresents the account, and that exposure exists independently of the consumer statutes
- In many states, the debtor’s own written acknowledgment or voluntary payment can affect whether a barred claim becomes enforceable again — the rules and the required wording vary, so this is a counsel question, never a script
What it means for you as the creditor: the only reliable protection is never needing the doctrine. Place accounts while the period still has room, and put every payment arrangement in writing while the claim is plainly enforceable.
Best Practices for Creditors
How to Protect Your Right to Sue
1. Act Fast
- Don’t wait years to collect
- Decide about suit well before the period runs, not in its final weeks
2. Track Statute Deadlines
- Calendar a deadline for every past-due account
- Set a reminder 6 months before expiration
- Review all old accounts quarterly
3. Get Written Acknowledgments
- After every payment: send a confirmation
- Negotiate payment plans in writing
- Whether an email acknowledgment matters legally depends on your state and its wording — collect them anyway; they’re evidence either way
4. Document Everything
- Keep copies of contracts, invoices, and correspondence
- Track all payments received
- Note any acknowledgments or promises to pay
5. Know Which State’s Law Applies
- Where was the contract made?
- Does the contract have a choice-of-law or venue clause?
- Where is the debtor, and where would suit actually be brought?
6. Don’t Cut It Close
- Courthouse schedules, defective service, and paperwork problems all cost days
- Build a real buffer, and involve counsel before the last month
When Statute Runs Out: Your Options
What to Do If Deadline Passed
Option 1: Keep Collecting
- Documented demand and negotiation are still available — you simply can’t sue
- Plenty of businesses pay an old, valid invoice because it’s valid
Option 2: Get a Written Acknowledgment
- Where state law allows revival, a debtor’s written acknowledgment can matter
- Be careful not to misstate the account’s legal status while asking for one
Option 3: Accept Partial Payment
- A voluntary payment can restart the clock in states that recognize it
- Whether it does in yours is a question for counsel
Option 4: Write It Off
- Bad-debt treatment is a question for your CPA
- Cut your losses and focus on collectable accounts
Option 5: Sell the Debt
- Debt buyers purchase aged and time-barred portfolios at a steep discount
- Whoever buys it can’t sue on it either, and pricing reflects that
What Collecting a Time-Barred Account Looks Like
Illustrative hypothetical — not a real ASA file, not a client, and not a prediction about any account.
A manufacturer places a five-year-old receivable. The limitations period has run, so nobody is filing suit on it. What’s left is the part of collections that has nothing to do with a courthouse:
- The demand is documented, not bluffed. No reference to litigation that can’t be brought, and no misstatement of the account’s legal status. A demand that overstates what a creditor can do is a problem in its own right.
- The conversation is about the balance, not the calendar. Businesses do pay old, legitimate invoices — because they’re legitimate, and because a clean paper trail with a supplier, a surety, or a lender is worth something.
- Anything agreed goes in writing. A signed payment schedule beats a verbal promise on a stale account for evidentiary reasons alone. And in states that recognize revival, a debtor’s own written acknowledgment or voluntary payment can affect whether the claim becomes enforceable again — whether that’s true where you are, and what wording it takes, is a question for counsel before anything goes out.
The honest summary: a time-barred account is a weaker account, not automatically a worthless one. Some get paid. Many don’t. Nobody can tell you in advance which one you’re holding.
The Bottom Line
Limitations deadlines are absolute. Miss one, and your legal right to sue is gone.
Key takeaways:
- Know your state’s period — and verify it, because a table is a starting point
- Track deadlines (calendar every account’s expiration date)
- Decide early, not in the final weeks of the period
- Get written acknowledgments — they’re evidence, and sometimes more
- Involve counsel before the deadline, because filing takes lead time
Most common mistake: waiting so long to decide about suit that the decision gets made for you.
Texas Statute of Limitations: 4 Years
For Texas businesses:
- Most commercial contract claims: 4 years from accrual (Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.004)
- Open accounts and sworn-account claims: generally the same 4 years
- Clock generally starts: the date of default — when payment came due and didn’t arrive
What can affect the clock:
- Partial payment
- Written acknowledgment of the debt
- A signed payment plan
Example timeline:
- Invoice due: February 1, 2023
- Last payment: April 1, 2023
- Period runs out: April 1, 2027 (assuming no later activity)
- Decide about suit by: early 2027, not the last week
Four years sounds generous until you subtract the year you spent being patient, the months of unanswered emails, and the lead time counsel needs. For the full breakdown, see the Texas commercial debt statute of limitations reference — and note that construction lien and bond deadlines run on a far shorter calendar, measured in months (see the Texas lien deadline reference).
Alexander, Strauss & Associates: Beat the Clock
We help Texas businesses collect while the claim is still enforceable:
- Commercial collection on aged receivables, defaulted contracts, and broken payment plans
- Documented demand, negotiation, skip tracing, and asset investigation
- Legal escalation through counsel. ASA is a collection agency, not a law firm — suits, liens, and judgment enforcement are handled by licensed collection attorneys in the debtor’s jurisdiction, and we never engage in the unauthorized practice of law
- Post-judgment work when a judgment already exists, because a judgment is permission to look for money, not money
- 25+ years of commercial collection experience across Texas and nationwide
We’ve recovered over $250 million for clients, with a 70%+ recovery rate on the accounts we accept. That’s a track record, not a forecast about your file — some accounts aren’t collectable, and we’d rather tell you that early than let a deadline run while we find out.
The earlier an account is placed, the more of the clock is left to work with.
FAQs: Statute of Limitations
Q: Can I sue after the statute expires? A: Practically, no. Limitations is a defense the debtor raises, and when it’s raised on a stale claim the case generally ends there.
Q: What if I didn’t know the deadline had passed? A: It doesn’t help. The period runs whether or not anyone was watching it.
Q: Can I reset the clock by sending a demand letter? A: No. Only the debtor’s own payment or written acknowledgment can affect it, and only where state law allows.
Q: Does hiring a collection agency extend the deadline to sue? A: No. And the agency doesn’t file the suit itself — ASA is a collection agency, not a law firm, so a file that needs to be sued goes to licensed counsel. That handoff takes time, which is another reason not to place an account with weeks left on the clock.
Q: What if the period is different in the debtor’s new state? A: Often the state where the contract was made governs, but forum rules and choice-of-law clauses complicate it. Get counsel on it — the answer sets your deadline.
Q: Can I still report a time-barred business debt to a credit bureau? A: Commercial trade-line reporting to business bureaus isn’t governed by the consumer credit-reporting rules, so the familiar seven-year consumer figure isn’t the right frame for a B2B account. Check the reporting agency’s own requirements, and confirm the account is accurately described before anything is furnished.
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General information for commercial creditors, not legal advice. Laws and deadlines change and depend on the facts — confirm specifics with qualified counsel.