Deadlines
The shortest deadline is the FDCPA's: one year from the violation, with no extra time for finding out late. The FCRA gives two years from discovery but never more than five, the TCPA four years, Florida's FCCPA two, and New York's GBL 349 three. The other side has clocks too: a creditor has three years to sue on most consumer credit debts in New York, six on a contract in New Jersey, and five on a written contract in Florida.
A strong claim filed a day late is no claim at all. The deadlines below are the statutes of limitations for each law on this site, and the limits on how long a creditor or collector has to sue you. They are general rules. The true deadline in your case can be earlier than what a table shows, because it depends on the date of each violation, how the court counts, and facts only a lawyer can weigh. Use the table to know which clock is closest, and the violation checker to sort which laws apply.
Your deadlines to sue them
| Law | Deadline | Clock starts | Where it applies | Authority |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FDCPA | 1 year | The date the violation occurs; no general discovery rule | NY, NJ, FL | 15 U.S.C. § 1692k(d); Rotkiske v. Klemm, 589 U.S. 8 (2019) |
| Regulation F | 1 year (sued on as FDCPA) | The date of the violation | NY, NJ, FL | 15 U.S.C. § 1692k(d) |
| FCRA | 2 years / 5 years | The earlier of 2 years after discovery or 5 years after the violation | NY, NJ, FL | 15 U.S.C. § 1681p |
| TCPA | 4 years | When the claim accrues (each call) | NY, NJ, FL | 28 U.S.C. § 1658(a) |
| FCCPA | 2 years | The date the alleged violation occurred | FL | Fla. Stat. § 559.77(4) |
| GBL 349 | 3 years | Accrual of the claim | NY | N.Y. CPLR 214(2); Gaidon v. Guardian Life Ins. Co. of America, 96 N.Y.2d 201 (2001) |
| NJ Consumer Fraud Act | Not published here | Not published here | NJ | N.J.S.A. 56:8-19 (remedy) |
The FDCPA's one year runs from each violation
The one-year period in 15 U.S.C. § 1692k(d) starts on the date the violation occurs, not the date you learn about it (Rotkiske v. Klemm, 589 U.S. 8 (2019)). Each call, letter, credit report or court filing is its own violation with its own date. A collector that called you every day last spring and is still calling has violations both inside and outside the year. The oldest ones expire first. Keep the call log and your letters so the dates can be proven.
What starts each clock
- A call. The date and time of the call. Screenshot your call history; phones delete it.
- A letter. The date on the letter, and the postmark. Keep the envelope.
- A credit report. For the FCRA, when you discovered the violation (for example, the date of the reinvestigation result), within five years of the violation.
- A lawsuit against you. The filing and service dates of the collector's complaint, for violations in the suit itself.
Their deadlines to sue you
A creditor or debt buyer also has a limited time to sue you on the debt. After it runs, the debt is time-barred. A debt collector may not sue or threaten to sue on a time-barred debt (12 C.F.R. § 1006.26(b)), and doing so is also an FDCPA violation.
| State | Debt | Limit | Payment revives it? | Authority |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York | Consumer credit transaction, you as defendant | 3 years | No: a later payment or acknowledgment does not revive or extend it | CPLR 214-i (effective April 7, 2022) |
| New Jersey | Contractual claim not under seal | 6 years | Not published here | N.J.S.A. 2A:14-1 |
| Florida | Contract founded on a written instrument | 5 years | Not published here | Fla. Stat. § 95.11(2)(b) |
| Florida | Contract not founded on a written instrument, incl. store accounts | 4 years | Not published here | Fla. Stat. § 95.11(3)(j) |
Some debts fall under other statutes, and when the clock started can be disputed, so treat the table as a starting point. In New Jersey, bills to shorten the period or to stop a payment from reviving an old consumer debt have been introduced; none had been enacted as of September 2026 so far as we found. See zombie debt.
If you have been sued
The limitations period is something you raise in your answer. If a collector has sued you, do not ignore the papers. The time to answer is short: in the Civil Court of the City of New York, 20 days after personal delivery of the summons, or 30 days after proof of other service is filed (N.Y.C. Civ. Ct. Act § 402). Elsewhere, check the summons. The sued by a debt collector page explains the answer and the defenses.
Other time limits worth knowing
- The validation period. You have 30 days after receiving the collector's validation notice to dispute in writing and make it stop until it verifies (12 C.F.R. § 1006.34(b)(5); 15 U.S.C. § 1692g(b)).
- The credit bureau's 30 days. A bureau must finish reinvestigating a dispute within 30 days, extendable by up to 15 days if you send more information (15 U.S.C. § 1681i(a)(1)).
- Identity theft block. Four business days after the bureau receives the required documents (15 U.S.C. § 1681c-2(a)).
- Seven years on your report. Most negative items, including collections and charge-offs, must come off after seven years; bankruptcies after ten (15 U.S.C. § 1681c(a)).
- New York's DFS substantiation. A covered collector must provide substantiation within 60 days of a written dispute (23 NYCRR 1.4, per DFS).
In New York, New Jersey and Florida
The federal clocks are the same in all three states. Florida adds the FCCPA's two years; New York adds GBL 349's three years and the three-year limit on consumer credit suits; New Jersey's six-year contract limit governs most suits against consumers there. See New York, New Jersey and Florida.
Common questions
The collector called me 14 months ago and again last month. Is it too late?
For the FDCPA, the old calls are probably outside the one-year limit, but last month's call is a separate violation with its own clock. Each call, letter or report starts its own period. Write down every date you can, and talk to a lawyer before the most recent violation is a year old.
When does the FCRA clock start?
The FCRA runs two years from when you discover the violation, but never more than five years from when it happened. Each failed reinvestigation after a new dispute is a new violation. Keep every dispute letter and every result with its date.
If a debt is past the limit to sue, do I still owe it?
The limitations period bars a lawsuit; it does not erase the debt. But a collector may not sue or threaten to sue on a time-barred debt under Regulation F, and in New York a later payment does not revive a consumer credit debt once the three years have run.
Can the one-year FDCPA deadline be extended?
Not by a general discovery rule. The Supreme Court held in Rotkiske v. Klemm that the period runs from the date of the violation. Whether any other doctrine could apply to unusual facts is a question for a lawyer; do not count on it.
Tell us what they did.
One conversation with an attorney, in your language. We tell you which laws the collector or the credit bureau broke, which deadline runs first, and what to save this week. If it is not a case we can take, we say so and tell you where to go.
(718) 484-7510The FDCPA and the FCRA require a company found liable to pay the consumer’s reasonable attorney’s fees and costs. Our fee arrangement is confirmed in a written retainer before we begin. English, Russian and Spanish in-house; an interpreter for any other language.