Statute of Limitations on Debt in Arkansas: 5 Years Written, 3 Years Oral and Open Accounts

In Arkansas, a creditor generally has five years to sue on a written obligation [2] and three years on a contract that isn’t in writing [1]. Arkansas courts have applied the three-year limit to open accounts [3], but a credit card backed by a written agreement can fall under the five-year rule [3]. A partial payment or a written acknowledgment can toll the clock [2]. A court judgment is good for ten years and can be revived [4][5].

Written or not

Arkansas sorts most debts by whether there’s a written obligation behind them:

• Written obligations, duties or rights: 5 years after the cause of action accrues [2].
• Contracts and obligations not in writing: 3 years [1].
• Open accounts, meaning running dealings between the parties that haven’t been closed, settled or stated: 3 years [3].

Credit cards

Credit cards sit right on that line. In a 2009 Arkansas bankruptcy case, the debtor argued her American Express cards were open accounts with a three-year limit. The court disagreed: she had used the cards under a written cardmember agreement, so the five-year limit for written obligations applied [3].

Which rule applies to your account depends on its paperwork. If you’re sued on an old account, ask the creditor to show the written agreement it’s relying on.

What can stop the clock

Arkansas’s five-year statute says a partial payment or a written acknowledgment of default tolls the limitations period [2].

What “time-barred” means

A debt is time-barred once the deadline to sue has passed. Collectors can still ask you to pay, but they can’t sue or threaten to sue you over it [7].

If you’re sued anyway, the deadline doesn’t protect you on its own. You have to raise it in court [7]. As the court in the Arkansas credit card case noted, the statute of limitations is an affirmative defense, and the person raising it has the burden of proving it [3]. Read the court papers, respond on time, and raise it. If you don’t, the court can enter a judgment against you.

Judgments last ten years, and can be revived

Once a creditor wins in court, actions on the judgment must be brought within ten years [4]. A 2025 law, Act 986, replaced the old court process for reviving a judgment with a simpler notice [5]:

• The creditor files a notice that the judgment is still outstanding, showing the parties, the court and case number, and the current balance [5].
• A copy goes to the debtor by first-class mail at the last known address [5].
• It has to be done within ten years of the judgment, or of the previous notice if it was already revived [5].

Because a judgment can be revived again and again, it can outlast the original debt’s deadline by many years.

The credit report clock is different

How long a debt can appear on your credit report is a federal rule, separate from Arkansas’s deadline to sue. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, collection accounts and charged-off accounts generally can’t be reported once they’re more than seven years old, with the seven years starting 180 days after the delinquency began [6]. A debt can drop off your report while it’s still collectible in court, or stay on your report after the deadline to sue has passed.

Accurate information can be reported for that full period. If an account is wrong, or still listed after the reporting period ends, you can dispute it with the credit bureaus for free. For more on the federal timelines, see BestAmerica’s guide to how long negative items stay on a credit report.

Want help with it? A credit repair company can go through all three of your reports, spot old debts that are listed past the reporting period, re-aged or reported inaccurately, and file and follow up on the disputes with each bureau for you. That saves you the letters, deadlines and back-and-forth. Federal law gives you clear protections when you hire one: a written contract that spells out the services, total cost and timeline [9], the right to cancel within three business days [10], and no charge until the promised services are performed [8]. Accurate, current information can’t be removed, and results vary. See BestAmerica’s guide to how credit repair works.

Where to get help

• Legal aid: Legal Aid of Arkansas and the Center for Arkansas Legal Services help eligible people answer debt lawsuits.
• Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (consumerfinance.gov): takes complaints about debt collectors [7].
• A consumer attorney: worth a call if you’re sued on an old debt.