California Code of Civil Procedure Section 340 sets a one-year deadline to file a specific group of civil claims, including libel, slander, false imprisonment, actions to collect statutory penalties, suits against a bank over forged or unauthorized checks, veterinary negligence claims, actions against officers for property seized under a forfeiture statute, and claims by good faith improvers of land. It is one of the shortest filing windows in California civil law, which means anyone with a claim that falls under it has to move quickly.
What Section 340 Covers
Section 340 is a list statute. It gathers a narrow set of claim types under a single one-year filing deadline:
- Libel and slander. Defamation claims, whether written or spoken, must be filed within one year of the defamatory statement.
- False imprisonment. If someone unlawfully restrains you, the clock starts running immediately.
- Statutory penalties and forfeitures. When a California statute lets an individual collect a penalty for a violation, you generally have one year to bring that claim unless the specific statute sets a different deadline.
- Forged or unauthorized checks. A bank depositor who discovers a forged, altered, or unauthorized check has one year to sue the bank.
- Veterinary negligence. Claims against someone who boards, feeds, or provides veterinary care for an animal and whose negligence injures or kills the animal fall inside this one-year window.
- Property seizure by officers. An action against an officer for damages from seizing property under a statutory forfeiture gets one year.
- Good faith improvers. Someone who builds improvements on land they mistakenly believed they owned has one year from discovering the mistake to seek relief.
If your claim does not fit one of these categories, Section 340 is not your statute, and a different deadline applies.1California Legislative Information. California Code CCP 340 – Actions Within One Year
When the One-Year Clock Starts
For most Section 340 claims, the one year begins on the date the harm occurs. A defamatory article is published; a false imprisonment ends; a statute is violated. That is day one.
Two entries on the list work differently. A good faith improver’s one-year deadline does not start until they realize they do not own the land they built on. A bank depositor’s one-year deadline for a forged or unauthorized check runs from discovery of the forgery or alteration. In both, the clock waits for the plaintiff to learn what happened.1California Legislative Information. California Code CCP 340 – Actions Within One Year
California courts also recognize a broader discovery rule that can delay accrual when a plaintiff could not reasonably have known about the injury. But the rule is applied strictly. “Should have known” carries real weight: if a reasonable person in your situation would have investigated and found the problem earlier, the clock started then, whether or not you actually looked into it.2California Courts. Deadlines to Sue Someone
When the One-Year Clock Pauses
A few circumstances can toll a Section 340 deadline, meaning the year effectively stops running while the condition lasts.
Minors and People Who Lack Legal Capacity
If the person with the claim is under 18 or lacks legal capacity when the claim arises, the time spent in that condition does not count against the deadline. A minor with a false imprisonment claim does not lose it simply because the year would otherwise have run before their 18th birthday. This tolling does not apply to claims against government entities, which follow their own administrative deadlines.3California Legislative Information. California Code CCP 352 – Disability of Plaintiff
The Defendant Is Out of State
Under CCP Section 351, if the person you need to sue leaves California after your claim arises, the time they spend outside the state does not count toward the deadline. The same applies if the defendant was already out of state when the claim arose; the clock does not start until they return.4California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 351
Active Military Duty
Under the federal Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, 50 U.S.C. § 3936, time spent on active military duty is excluded from any state or federal court filing deadline. The tolling applies whether the service member is the plaintiff or the defendant.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 USC 3936 – Statute of Limitations
Fraudulent Concealment
When a defendant actively hides their wrongdoing to keep a plaintiff from discovering the claim, courts have allowed the deadline to be tolled. The reasoning is that a defendant should not benefit from their own cover-up.
What Happens if You File Late
If you file after the one year has run, the defendant can ask the court to dismiss the case as time-barred, and courts grant those motions almost reflexively. The strength of your underlying claim becomes irrelevant. You could have clear evidence of the defamation, the false imprisonment, or the forged check, and none of it would matter once the deadline has passed.
The practical trap with Section 340 is that a year goes fast. Defamation plaintiffs often spend weeks or months trying to resolve a dispute privately, ask for a retraction, or wait to see whether the statement keeps circulating, and only then start thinking about a lawsuit. By that point a large share of the filing window may be gone. Track the deadline from day one.
Claims That Look Like Section 340 but Are Not
Many people who search for Section 340 actually have a claim governed by a different section with a different deadline. A few of the common ones:
Personal injury from someone’s wrongful act or negligence, including assault, battery, car accidents, and slip-and-fall incidents, is governed by CCP Section 335.1, which gives two years.6California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 335.1
Medical malpractice has its own rule under CCP Section 340.5: three years from the date of injury or one year from discovery, whichever comes first, with extensions in cases of fraud, intentional concealment, or a foreign object left in the body, and a longer window for children under six.7California Legislative Information. California Code CCP 340.5 – Medical Malpractice
Property damage, trespass, and claims based on fraud or mistake fall under CCP Section 338, which gives three years. In fraud cases the clock does not start until you discover the facts behind the fraud.8California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 338
Contract claims split by form. Breach of a written contract gets four years under CCP Section 337.9California Legislative Information. California Code CCP 337 – Actions Within Four Years Breach of an oral contract gets two years under CCP Section 339.10California Legislative Information. California Code CCP 339 – Actions Within Two Years
Claims against a California city, county, or state agency follow a separate track. Before filing a lawsuit you have to submit an administrative claim to the government entity — within six months for death, personal injury, or property damage, and within one year for other claims. Missing that administrative deadline is fatal, no matter what the Code of Civil Procedure says the underlying deadline would be.11California Legislative Information. California Government Code 911.2