In Ohio, the statute of limitations on debt is four years for oral agreements and six years for written contracts, credit card accounts, and most promissory notes. The clock runs from the date you defaulted, not from the date you signed the paperwork or last used the account. Once the deadline passes, a creditor can no longer win a lawsuit against you, but only if you raise the expired deadline as a defense. A single payment or signed acknowledgment can restart the entire period from zero.
Deadlines by Debt Type
Ohio sets different limitation periods based on how the debt was created. Each deadline runs from the date your cause of action accrued, which is usually the date you first stopped making payments.
- Written contracts: six years. This covers personal loans, auto financing, and medical bills where you signed paperwork.1Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 2305.06 – Contract in Writing
- Oral contracts: four years. Verbal agreements with no signed document fall under a shorter window.2Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 2305.07 – Contract Not in Writing
- Credit cards and other open-ended accounts: six years, because the cardholder agreement is a written contract.1Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 2305.06 – Contract in Writing
- Promissory notes payable at a fixed date: six years from the due date. For demand notes, the six years run from the date a demand is made. If no demand is ever made and no principal or interest has been paid for ten continuous years, the note becomes unenforceable.3Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 1303.16 – Statute of Limitations UCC 3-118
Older guides may still list eight years for written contracts. That figure is outdated. Ohio shortened the written-contract period from eight to six years effective June 16, 2021. Check the current statute before relying on anything else.
When the Clock Starts
The limitation period begins on the date the cause of action accrued. For practical purposes, that means the date of your first uncured default. On an installment loan, that’s the missed payment. On a credit card, it’s the point the issuer treated your account as in default.
The clock does not start on the date you signed the contract, opened the account, or last charged something. The trigger is the breach, because that’s when the creditor first had the right to sue.
What Restarts or Pauses the Clock
Actions That Restart the Deadline
Three things reset the full limitation period under Ohio law: making a payment on the debt, giving a written acknowledgment that you owe it, or signing a written promise to pay. Any of these starts the four- or six-year clock over from the date of the action.4Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 2305.08 – Partial Payment
Note the word “written.” Saying “yes, I owe this” during a phone call does not restart the clock under Ohio’s statute. The acknowledgment or promise has to be written and signed by you. A payment is different, though. Even a token payment of a few dollars resets the full period. Debt collectors sometimes push hard for a small payment on old accounts precisely for this reason. If a collector contacts you about a debt that may be close to the deadline, think carefully before sending any money or signing anything.
Situations That Pause the Clock
Ohio tolls the statute of limitations when a debtor leaves the state. Time spent living outside Ohio after the debt accrued does not count toward the limitation period, and the clock resumes only when you return.5Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 2305.15 – Tolling During Defendants Absence Someone who defaults on a written contract, then moves out of state for three years, still faces roughly six full years of Ohio residency before the deadline runs.
Bankruptcy also pauses the clock. Filing a petition triggers an automatic stay that stops creditors from suing you.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 362 – Automatic Stay After the case closes or is dismissed, a creditor whose claim survived the bankruptcy gets at least 30 additional days to sue if the original deadline would otherwise have expired during the case.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 108 – Extension of Time
How to Use an Expired Deadline If You’re Sued
Here is the part that catches people off guard. The statute of limitations does not automatically block a lawsuit. A creditor can file suit on a debt that is years past the deadline, and if you ignore the summons, the court will enter a default judgment. The judge is under no obligation to check whether the deadline has run.
You have to raise the expired statute of limitations yourself as an affirmative defense in your written answer. Under the rules of civil procedure, a defendant who does not assert the defense in the answer waives it. In Ohio, you have 28 days from service of the summons and complaint to file that answer.8Supreme Court of Ohio. Ohio Rules of Civil Procedure Miss the deadline, and the age of the debt stops mattering.
If you’re served with a lawsuit over a debt you think is time-barred, respond within 28 days and state explicitly that the statute of limitations has expired. The consequences of botching an answer are serious enough that paying for an hour of a consumer attorney’s time is usually worthwhile.
What Collectors Can and Can’t Do After the Deadline
An expired statute of limitations does not stop collection calls, letters, or emails. Contacting you about an old debt is not illegal by itself. What federal law prohibits is suing or threatening to sue.
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act bars debt collectors from threatening any action they cannot legally take.9Federal Trade Commission. Fair Debt Collection Practices Act The CFPB’s Regulation F makes the application concrete: a debt collector who files or threatens to file a lawsuit on a time-barred debt violates federal law, even if the collector did not know the deadline had passed.10eCFR. 12 CFR Part 1006 – Debt Collection Practices Regulation F The CFPB reaffirmed this strict-liability reading in a 2023 advisory opinion.11Federal Register. Fair Debt Collection Practices Act Regulation F Time-Barred Debt
These rules apply to third-party debt collectors. Original creditors collecting their own accounts are not covered by the FDCPA. If the lender you originally borrowed from sues on a time-barred debt, your remedy is the affirmative defense in your answer, not a federal claim.
Once a Creditor Has a Judgment, Different Rules Apply
The statute of limitations controls whether a creditor can sue in the first place. Once a creditor sues within the deadline and wins, the resulting judgment operates on a separate timeline. An Ohio judgment goes dormant after five years unless the creditor takes an enforcement action to renew it, such as issuing an execution, filing a garnishment, or recording a certificate of judgment against your property.12Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 2329.07 – Judgment May Become Dormant Each enforcement action restarts the five-year window, so an active creditor can keep a judgment alive indefinitely.
Credit Reporting Runs on Its Own Clock
The statute of limitations and credit reporting are separate countdowns. A debt can be legally unenforceable in court and still appear on your credit report. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, most negative items stay on your report for seven years from the date of first delinquency, and bankruptcies for ten years.13Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. A Summary of Your Rights Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act The expiration of Ohio’s limitation period does not erase the entry. Treat the two deadlines as unrelated, because they are.