What Is the Statute of Limitations on Debt in Florida?

The statute of limitations on debt in Florida is four or five years, depending on the type of obligation. Written contracts, promissory notes, and other debts backed by a signed document carry a five-year deadline. Oral agreements and open accounts carry four years. Once the window closes, the debt is time-barred and a collector who files suit anyway violates federal law. But small actions on either side can pause the clock or restart it, and the deadline only works as a defense if you raise it.

Deadlines by Type of Debt

Florida Statute 95.11 sets the filing deadlines creditors must follow. The clock runs differently depending on how the debt was created:¹

Written contracts: five years. This covers any obligation backed by a signed document, including personal loans, auto financing agreements, and mortgages.
Promissory notes: five years. A written promise to repay a specific amount by a set date is treated as a written instrument.
Oral contracts: four years. Verbal agreements with no written documentation get a shorter deadline, reflecting the difficulty of proving what was actually promised.
Open accounts: four years. Store accounts and similar arrangements with no signed written agreement fall under the four-year category for obligations not founded on a written instrument.

These deadlines apply to when the creditor files the lawsuit, not when the case resolves. A creditor who files on the last day of the limitation period is still within bounds, even if the trial happens months later.

When the Clock Starts

Under Florida Statute 95.031, a cause of action accrues “when the last element constituting the cause of action occurs.” For most debts, that means the clock starts on the date you breach the agreement, typically the date of the first missed payment you never cure.²

Promissory notes with no specific maturity date work differently. For demand notes, the limitation period begins when the lender makes the first written demand for payment, not when the note was signed.²

Getting the accrual date right matters. A creditor who miscalculates and files one day late loses the right to sue, while a debtor who wrongly assumes the deadline has passed may skip filing an answer and end up with a default judgment.

Credit Card Debt: Four Years or Five?

Credit card debt is the most common type Florida residents deal with in collections, and it sits in a gray area. Creditors argue that a credit card account is governed by a written cardholder agreement, which would put it under the five-year deadline for written instruments. Debtors counter that a revolving credit account is an open account subject to the shorter four-year limit.

The distinction often comes down to whether the creditor can produce the actual signed agreement. Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.130 requires that a lawsuit based on a written contract attach a copy of that contract to the complaint. When a credit card company can’t produce the original signed agreement, the defense has a strong argument that only the four-year open-account deadline applies. This is a real vulnerability for debt buyers who purchase portfolios in bulk and may not receive the underlying cardholder agreements.

If you’re being sued over credit card debt, the classification question is one of the first things worth raising. The difference between four and five years is often the difference between a viable case and a time-barred one.

What Pauses the Clock

Florida Statute 95.051 lists specific circumstances that “toll” the limitation period, meaning the clock pauses and resumes later.³ The tolling triggers most relevant to debt cases include:

Leaving Florida. If you move out of state, the limitation period stops running during your absence.
Hiding from service within Florida so a process server can’t find you.
Using a name unknown to the creditor so that process can’t be served.
Partial payment on a written instrument. Paying any portion of the principal or interest on a debt founded on a written instrument tolls the limitation period.
Pending arbitration. If the dispute goes to arbitration, the clock pauses while that proceeding is active.

The absence-from-state and concealment provisions don’t apply if the creditor can still achieve service of process through another method, such as service by publication.³

Bankruptcy also affects the timeline. Florida law explicitly preserves a creditor’s ability to file suit within 30 days after a bankruptcy automatic stay is lifted, even if the limitation period would otherwise have expired during the bankruptcy.³

Active-duty military members get separate federal protection under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. The period of military service cannot be counted when calculating any statute of limitations, which effectively pauses the clock for the entire duration of active duty.⁴

How a Payment or Written Promise Can Restart the Clock

This is where most people trip up. Making even a small payment toward the principal or interest on a debt founded on a written instrument tolls the statute of limitations under Florida Statute 95.051.³ A $25 “good faith” payment on a credit card debt about to become time-barred can hand the creditor additional time to sue you.

Florida also allows a creditor to revive a debt that has already expired. Under Florida Statute 95.04, an acknowledgment of, or promise to pay, a debt already barred by the statute of limitations must be in writing and signed by the person being charged.⁵ A verbal promise over the phone is not enough. But signing a payment plan, a settlement letter, or any document that admits you owe the money can restart the clock entirely.

Debt collectors know this, and some will push hard for even a token payment or a written statement acknowledging the balance. If a collector contacts you about an old debt, be careful what you say and especially what you sign. Agreeing to “just send $20 to show good faith” can undo years of waiting.

What Happens After the Deadline Passes

Once the limitation period expires, the debt is time-barred. A debt collector who sues or threatens to sue on a time-barred debt violates the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has confirmed this is a strict-liability standard, meaning the violation occurs even if the collector didn’t know the debt was time-barred.⁶

Here’s the catch. The statute of limitations is an affirmative defense. If a creditor files suit on a time-barred debt, you must raise the defense in your written answer to the court. The judge will not dismiss the case on their own. Ignoring the lawsuit because you believe the debt is time-barred is one of the costliest mistakes Florida debtors make. If you don’t respond, the creditor gets a default judgment, and that judgment is enforceable for 20 years under Florida Statute 95.11(1).¹

Collectors can still contact you about time-barred debts by phone or mail. They just can’t sue or threaten to sue. The usual FDCPA rules still apply to those contacts: collectors must identify themselves, cannot misrepresent the legal status of the debt, and cannot use harassing or deceptive tactics.⁷

Force the Collector to Validate the Debt

Whether or not the debt is time-barred, federal Regulation F requires every debt collector to send you a written validation notice within five days of first contacting you. The notice must include the creditor’s name, the amount owed, an itemized breakdown of how the current balance was calculated, and instructions for disputing the debt.⁸

If you send a written dispute within the validation period stated in the notice, the collector must stop all collection activity until it sends you verification. This is a powerful tool. Debt buyers often lack basic documentation, and forcing them to verify can end the collection effort entirely. The validation notice also locks in the amount and the identity of the creditor, which helps you evaluate whether the statute of limitations has run. Errors in validation notices are FDCPA violations that may give you a counterclaim.

Always dispute in writing, not over the phone. A phone call doesn’t trigger the collector’s obligation to pause and verify.

Credit Reporting Runs on a Separate Clock

The statute of limitations and the credit-reporting timeline are two different things. Even after a debt becomes time-barred, it can remain on your credit report for up to seven years from the date of the original delinquency. Bankruptcies can remain for up to ten years.⁹

Making a payment on an old debt does not restart the seven-year credit-reporting clock. The Fair Credit Reporting Act ties the reporting period to the original delinquency date, not the date of most recent activity. Some collectors may re-report the account as a new collection, which is a violation you can dispute directly with the credit bureau.

1
Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes Section 95.11 – Limitations Other Than for the Recovery of Real Property
2
Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes Section 95.031 – Computation of Time
3
Florida Senate. Florida Statutes Section 95.051 – When Limitations Tolled
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 US Code 3936 – Statute of Limitations
5
Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes Section 95.04 – Promise to Pay Barred Debt
6
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Advisory Opinion on Regulation F Time-Barred Debt
7
eCFR. 12 CFR Part 1006 – Debt Collection Practices (Regulation F)
8
eCFR. 12 CFR 1006.34 – Notice for Validation of Debts
9
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. A Summary of Your Rights Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act