The Texas statute of limitations for breach of contract is four years, set by Section 16.004 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code, and it applies whether the agreement was written or oral.1State of Texas. Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code Chapter 16 The clock generally starts on the date the breach happens, not the date you find out about it. If you miss the deadline and the other side raises the defense, the court will almost certainly dismiss your case.
When the Four Years Start Running
Accrual runs from the breach itself. The Texas Supreme Court made this explicit in Via Net v. TIG Insurance Co., 211 S.W.3d 310 (Tex. 2006), holding that the discovery rule does not defer accrual of a standard breach of contract claim. If a contractor quietly used substandard materials in 2022 and you did not notice until 2025, your four years still began in 2022.
Pinpointing the breach date is easy when someone misses a payment. It gets murkier with ongoing obligations. Texas courts recognize a continuing breach doctrine: when a contract requires repeated performance over time, each failure can be treated as a separate breach with its own four-year clock. That matters in installment contracts, long-term service agreements, and compensation disputes where the other party keeps falling short month after month.
Conditions precedent add another wrinkle. If a contractual obligation only kicks in after a triggering event, no breach can occur until that event happens, and the clock does not start until then. If the contract gives the breaching party a cure period, the limitations period does not begin until that window closes without a fix.
Written and Oral Contracts
Some sources suggest oral contracts carry a shorter deadline in Texas. They do not. Section 16.003, which sets a two-year deadline, covers torts like personal injury, trespass, and conversion. It does not mention oral contracts. A breach of contract claim that does not fit squarely under Section 16.004 falls under the residual four-year period in Section 16.051.1State of Texas. Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code Chapter 16
The real difference between written and oral contracts is proof, not time. A written contract comes with signed terms, dates, and clear obligations. An oral contract forces you to reconstruct the deal through witness testimony, emails, text messages, and the parties’ conduct. A timely claim can still fail because you cannot prove what the contract actually required.
Some oral agreements are unenforceable no matter when you file. Texas Business and Commerce Code Section 26.01 requires certain contracts to be in writing and signed by the party being held to the deal.2State of Texas. Texas Business and Commerce Code 26.01 – Promise or Agreement Must Be in Writing These include:
- Sales and leases of real property lasting longer than one year.
- Any contract that cannot be completed within one year of when the parties made the deal.
- Sales of goods worth $500 or more, under Texas Business and Commerce Code Section 2.201, without a signed written confirmation from the party being charged.
If your oral agreement falls into one of these categories, the four-year deadline is beside the point because the contract is not enforceable in the first place.
Sale of Goods Contracts
Disputes over the sale of goods run under a separate statute. Texas Business and Commerce Code Section 2.725, which mirrors the Uniform Commercial Code, sets its own four-year limitations period for breach of a sales contract. The clock starts when the breach occurs, not when you learn about it. One important exception: when a warranty explicitly promises future performance, the clock does not start until the breach is or should have been discovered.3Legal Information Institute. UCC 2-725 – Statute of Limitations in Contracts for Sale
Parties to a goods contract can agree to shorten the four-year period to as little as one year, but they cannot extend it. That one-year minimum differs from the two-year floor that applies to non-goods contracts under Section 16.070, so it matters which statute governs your agreement.
What Can Pause the Clock
Several circumstances can toll the four-year period.
Fraudulent Concealment
When the breaching party actively hides the breach through deception, the limitations period is tolled until you discover the breach or reasonably should have.4Supreme Court of Texas. Draughon v. Johnson This is not the discovery rule. The claim still accrues at the time of breach; the clock just freezes while the deception continues. And the protection is not automatic. You have to show you exercised reasonable diligence. If the breach was discoverable with ordinary effort and you simply were not paying attention, tolling will not apply.
Legal Disability
If the person entitled to bring the claim is under 18 or of unsound mind when the breach occurs, the time spent under that disability does not count toward the limitations period.5State of Texas. Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code 16.001 – Effect of Disability A 16-year-old who was a party to a breached contract would not see the four-year clock start until turning 18. The same rule applies to someone mentally incapacitated at the time of the breach; the full period begins only when capacity is restored.
Active Military Service
Federal law adds another layer. Under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, time spent on active military duty is excluded from the limitations period for civil actions, including breach of contract claims.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 U.S. Code 3936 – Statute of Limitations Two years of deployment do not count against the four-year deadline. The protection covers all branches, including activated National Guard and reserve members.
Shortening or Extending the Deadline by Contract
Parties can agree to shorten the statute of limitations, but not below two years. Section 16.070 voids any contractual provision that sets a limitations period shorter than two years from accrual.7State of Texas. Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code 16.070 – Contractual Limitations Period A contract clause requiring all claims to be filed within 90 days is unenforceable; you still have two full years.
Agreements to extend the window beyond four years are theoretically possible but risky. Courts scrutinize any extension to confirm it reflects genuine mutual intent and does not function as an open-ended waiver of the limitations defense. Vague language or one-sided terms can make an extension unenforceable.
Written Acknowledgment After the Deadline Passes
Once four years have passed, the claim is normally dead. Section 16.065 creates a narrow exception: if the party who owes the obligation signs a written acknowledgment that the claim is justified, that document becomes admissible to overcome a limitations defense.8State of Texas. Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code 16.065 – Acknowledgment of Claim The requirements are strict. The acknowledgment must be in writing, signed by the party being charged, and clear enough to recognize the debt. A vague statement or partial admission will not do.
This catches people off guard. A debtor who casually signs a letter saying “I know I still owe you for that project” after the deadline has passed may have just handed the creditor a way back into court. If you are on the owing side of an expired claim, watch what you put in writing.
Contracts Secured by Real Property Liens
Contracts secured by a lien on real property follow their own rules. Under Section 16.035, a lender or lienholder must bring a foreclosure action within four years of accrual. If that deadline passes, both the lien and any power of sale become void.1State of Texas. Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code Chapter 16
For loans with installment payments, the four-year period does not begin until the maturity date of the last installment, unless the lender accelerates the debt. Once acceleration occurs, the full balance becomes due and the clock starts immediately. But acceleration is not necessarily permanent. In Holy Cross Church of God in Christ v. Wolf, 44 S.W.3d 562 (Tex. 2001), the Texas Supreme Court held that a lender can abandon acceleration by continuing to accept payments without pursuing foreclosure.9GovInfo. Memorandum and Recommendation Discussing Holy Cross Church of God in Christ v. Wolf
What Happens If You File Late
Filing after the limitations period does not automatically end your case. The statute of limitations is an affirmative defense; the defendant has to raise it. Under Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 94, a defendant who fails to specifically plead the defense in the answer may waive it.10Texas Courts. Texas Rules of Civil Procedure In practice, almost every defendant raises it.
Once the defense is properly pleaded, the burden shifts to you to show that an exception or tolling provision applies. If you cannot, the court will dismiss the claim, and you will have spent money on attorney’s fees, filing costs, and service of process for nothing. Courts can also sanction parties who pursue claims they know are time-barred.