The New York CPLR statute of limitations sets the time you have to file a civil lawsuit, and the window depends on what kind of claim you have: one year for defamation, assault, battery, false imprisonment, and malicious prosecution; two years for wrongful death; two years and six months for medical, dental, and podiatric malpractice; three years for personal injury, property damage, and most professional malpractice; four years for sale-of-goods contracts under the UCC; and six years for breach of contract and fraud. Miss the deadline and the court will dismiss the case no matter how strong the facts are.
Deadlines by Claim Type
Six Years
Breach of a written contract gets six years under CPLR 213(2), and oral contracts in New York carry the same six-year window rather than a shorter one.1New York State Senate. New York Civil Practice Law and Rules Section 2132NYCOURTS.GOV. Statute of Limitations Chart
Fraud also gets six years under CPLR 213(8), but with a built-in alternative: you have the greater of six years from the fraudulent act or two years from the date you discovered (or reasonably should have discovered) it.1New York State Senate. New York Civil Practice Law and Rules Section 213 A fraud uncovered seven years after the fact can still be timely, as long as you can show you were reasonably diligent in finding it.
Four Years
Contracts for the sale of goods fall under the Uniform Commercial Code’s four-year deadline, measured from the date of breach.3Legal Information Institute. UCC 2-725 – Statute of Limitations in Contracts for Sale The parties can agree in the contract to shorten this to as little as one year, but they cannot extend it. A warranty that explicitly covers future performance shifts the start to when the breach is or should have been discovered.
Three Years
CPLR 214 covers personal injury, property damage, and professional malpractice outside the medical field, all within three years.4New York State Senate. New York Civil Practice Law and Rules Law 214 – Actions to Be Commenced Within Three Years Car crashes, slip-and-falls, and damage to a home or vehicle fall here, as do malpractice claims against attorneys, accountants, architects, and engineers. Federal civil rights claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 brought in New York borrow the same three-year personal injury window.
Two Years and Six Months
Medical, dental, and podiatric malpractice has its own statute, CPLR 214-a, with a baseline of two years and six months from the negligent act or from the end of continuous treatment by the same provider for the same condition.5New York State Senate. New York Civil Practice Law and Rules Law 214-A – Action for Medical, Dental or Podiatric Malpractice Two exceptions matter:
- Foreign object cases (a sponge, instrument, or similar object left inside the body) give you one year from the date you discovered or should have discovered the object.
- Under Lavern’s Law, a negligent failure to diagnose cancer gives you two and a half years from the later of when you knew or should have known about the misdiagnosis, or the end of continuous treatment for the underlying condition, capped at seven years from the negligent act.
Two Years
Wrongful death claims must be filed within two years of the date of death, not the date of the underlying injury.2NYCOURTS.GOV. Statute of Limitations Chart When someone is injured in one year and dies later, the wrongful death clock runs from the death itself.
One Year
CPLR 215 sets a one-year deadline for defamation (libel and slander, measured from publication), assault, battery, false imprisonment, and malicious prosecution (measured from favorable termination of the underlying proceeding).6New York State Senate. New York Consolidated Laws, Civil Practice Law and Rules CVP Section 215 The defamation window closes faster than most plaintiffs expect, often before the harm has fully played out.
When the Clock Starts
Under CPLR 203(a), the limitations period runs from the moment a cause of action “accrues,” which usually means the date of the wrongful act or breach.7New York State Senate. New York Civil Practice Law and Rules Law 203 – Method of Computing Periods of Limitation Generally A car accident accrues on the crash date. A contract claim accrues on the breach date. Fraud can accrue on discovery, as noted above, and medical malpractice can accrue at the end of continuous treatment rather than at an isolated visit.
CPLR 201 requires filing within the specified period unless another statute sets a different one or the parties have agreed in writing to a shorter window.8New York State Senate. New York Civil Practice Law and Rules 201 – Application of Article That last point catches people: a clause in a service agreement can shorten your filing window below the statutory default. Courts cannot extend a limitations period beyond what the law provides.
When the final day falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or public holiday, General Construction Law § 25-a pushes a statutory deadline to the next business day.9New York State Senate. New York General Construction Law 25-A – Public Holiday, Saturday or Sunday in Statutes
Claims Against Cities, Counties, and the State
Suing a municipality in New York requires an extra step before you even think about the main deadline. Under General Municipal Law § 50-e, you must serve a notice of claim on the city, county, school district, or other municipal entity within 90 days of the incident. You then have to wait at least 30 days before filing suit, and the lawsuit itself must be filed within one year and 90 days of the event.10NYCourts.gov. Filing a Notice of Claim
Claims against the State of New York follow a separate track in the Court of Claims. Under Court of Claims Act § 10, personal injury and property damage negligence claims must be filed within 90 days of accrual, though filing a notice of intention within that window extends the deadline to two years from accrual for negligence or one year for intentional torts.11New York State Court of Claims. Frequently Asked Questions Missing a 90-day notice window is usually fatal. Courts can allow a late notice in limited circumstances, but the standard is high.
When the Clock Pauses
Minors and Incapacitated Plaintiffs
CPLR 208 tolls the limitations period while the person holding the claim is under 18 or legally incapacitated. If the underlying deadline is three years or longer, that person gets at least three years after the disability ends to file. If the underlying deadline is shorter than three years, the tolling period is added to whatever time remains. An overall ten-year cap applies to incapacitated adults; the cap does not apply to minors, except in medical malpractice cases.12New York State Senate. New York Code CVP Article 2 – 208 – Infancy, Insanity
Defendant Outside New York
CPLR 207 tolls the clock when the defendant is outside the state. If the defendant was out of New York when the claim accrued, the clock does not start until they enter or return. If they leave after accrual and stay away continuously for four months or more, that absence is excluded from the limitations period. The same rule covers a defendant living in New York under a false name unknown to the plaintiff. This tolling does not apply if you can reach the absent defendant through long-arm jurisdiction or another jurisdictional route.13New York State Senate. New York Civil Practice Law and Rules Law 207 – Defendants Absence From State or Residence Under False Name
Military Service
The federal Servicemembers Civil Relief Act excludes any period of active-duty military service from state limitations periods, for claims both by and against the servicemember, for the full duration of active duty.14Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 U.S. Code 3936 – Statute of Limitations
COVID-19 Tolling
Executive Order 202.8, issued March 20, 2020, tolled New York’s civil procedural filing deadlines during the pandemic emergency, and the tolling was renewed through subsequent orders until November 3, 2020.15NYCourts.gov. Executive Order 202.8 – Continuing Temporary Suspension and Modification of Laws For claims whose limitations periods were running during that stretch, those days do not count against the deadline. The point still matters in close calculations tied to 2020.
Out-of-State Claims and the Savings Provision
CPLR 202, the “borrowing statute,” applies when a nonresident sues in New York over events in another state. The court applies whichever limitations period is shorter: New York’s or the other state’s. A plaintiff cannot sidestep a shorter out-of-state deadline by filing in New York. New York residents whose claims accrued in New York are not affected.
CPLR 205(a) offers a safety net when a timely case gets knocked out on procedure. If your original filing was within the deadline but the case was dismissed for reasons other than voluntary withdrawal, failure to prosecute, lack of personal jurisdiction, or a final judgment on the merits, you have six months from dismissal to refile the same claim.16New York State Senate. New York Civil Practice Law and Rules Law 205 – Termination of Action The provision only works if the first filing was timely; it does not rescue a claim that was already late.
Filing and Serving on Time
Under CPLR 304, a New York civil action is commenced by filing the summons and complaint (or summons with notice) with the court.17New York State Senate. New York Code CVP Article 3 – 304 – Method of Commencing Action or Special Proceeding Filing stops the limitations clock. You do not have to serve the defendant first.
Service still has to happen, though. CPLR 306-b gives you 120 days after filing to serve the defendant. When the underlying limitations period is four months or less, service must be done within 15 days after that period expires. Miss the service window and the court will dismiss unless you can show good cause or that the interests of justice warrant an extension. Timely filing followed by botched service is one of the most common ways real claims die.
What Happens If You Miss the Deadline
A defendant can move to dismiss on statute-of-limitations grounds under CPLR 3211(a)(5), and if the court agrees the deadline has passed, the case is over regardless of the merits.18FindLaw. New York Consolidated Laws, Civil Practice Law and Rules CVP Rule 3211 – Motion to Dismiss Even without an early motion, a defendant can raise the limitations period as an affirmative defense later in the litigation. Settlement leverage disappears once a claim is time-barred, because the other side knows the case cannot survive a motion. In municipal cases, missing the 90-day notice of claim deadline usually ends the matter outright.
New York courts recognize equitable estoppel in narrow circumstances, where a defendant’s own concealment or deception kept the plaintiff from filing on time. The doctrine is applied sparingly and requires specific proof. It is not something to rely on as a backup.