How long does a lender have to sue on a note or guaranty in New York?

This page explains New York law under the Civil Practice Law and Rules (CPLR), the Uniform Commercial Code and the General Obligations Law. Limitations is a defense that has to be raised; it is listed among the objections in CPLR 3211(a)(5) and is waived unless raised by a pre-answer motion or in the answer (CPLR 3211(e)). KOR Law LLP's debtor and creditor practice handles these timing disputes for borrowers, guarantors and lenders.

What is the deadline for each kind of claim?

The six-year rule for contract claims has a built-in carve-out: it applies "except as provided in" section 214-i, which is the three-year consumer credit rule (CPLR 213(2)). A business loan and its guaranty fall under the six years; an action arising out of a consumer credit transaction, brought against the borrower, falls under the three. The judgment rule is a different kind of limit, explained in how long a New York judgment lasts. Limits for other business claims, such as fraud and the sale of goods, are compared in how long you have to sue for breach of contract, fraud, or a sale of goods in New York.

When does the clock start?

A limitations period runs from when the claim accrues, and for loans that depends on the instrument:

• A note with a fixed maturity date. A claim against the maker of a time instrument accrues the day after maturity (UCC 3-122(1)(a)).
• A demand note. A claim against the maker of a demand instrument accrues on its date, or on the date of issue if it is undated (UCC 3-122(1)(b)). That is earlier than many borrowers expect: the clock does not wait for the lender to make a demand.
• An installment loan. Before acceleration, the six years run separately on each missed installment. Once the lender accelerates, they run on the entire amount due from the acceleration date (Van Dyke v U.S. Bank, 2025, applying CPLR 213(4)).
• A claim that needs a demand. Outside UCC Article 3, where a demand is necessary before suit, the time is computed from when the right to make the demand was complete (CPLR 206(a)).
• A guaranty. The guaranty's own terms say when the guarantor must pay, for example on the borrower's default or on the lender's written demand; read them with the rules above.

What counts as acceleration, and how an earlier foreclosure affects it, are covered in detail in how long a lender has to foreclose in New York.

What can restart or extend the deadline?

New York sets strict formal requirements for anything that keeps an old claim alive:

• A signed written acknowledgment or new promise. Only an acknowledgment or promise "contained in a writing signed by the party to be charged" is competent evidence of a new or continuing contract that takes a claim out of the limitations period (General Obligations Law 17-101). The same section says it does not alter the effect of a payment of principal or interest.
• A written promise to waive or extend the limitations period. Made after the claim accrued, in a writing signed by the promisor, it lets the claim be brought within the period that would apply if the claim had arisen on the date of the promise, or a shorter period the promise states (General Obligations Law 17-103(1)). It cannot extend the time in any other way (17-103(3)).
• Mortgage foreclosures have their own rules. Section 17-103 does not apply to foreclosure claims (17-103(4)(c)). For those, a signed written waiver or promise to pay the mortgage debt made after the right to foreclose accrued makes the time run from that date (17-105(1)), a qualifying part payment can do the same (17-107), and no other acknowledgment or agreement can extend the time (17-105(4)).
• Consumer credit debts. Once the three years expire, a later payment, a written or oral affirmation, or other activity on the debt does not revive or extend the period (CPLR 214-i).

These are exactly the documents lenders ask for in a workout. The trade-offs are explained in what you give up when you sign a forbearance agreement in New York.

If the foreclosure is time-barred, is the note too?

Yes, for the same debt. If an action to foreclose a mortgage or to recover any part of the mortgage debt is adjudicated to be barred by the statute of limitations, any other action seeking to foreclose that mortgage or recover any part of the same mortgage debt is also barred (RPAPL 1301(4)). An owner whose property is still encumbered by a mortgage that can no longer be foreclosed can sue to cancel and discharge it of record (RPAPL 1501(4)); see what a quiet title action is in New York. How a separate suit on the note interacts with a pending foreclosure is covered in whether a New York lender can sue on the note and foreclose at the same time.

What changes the answer?

• Business or consumer debt. Six years for business loans and guaranties (CPLR 213(2)); three years for consumer credit transactions (CPLR 214-i).
• Maturity, demand or acceleration. Each sets a different accrual date (UCC 3-122(1); CPLR 206(a); Van Dyke).
• Later writings you signed. A signed acknowledgment or promise, or a signed waiver made after accrual, can restart or extend the period (General Obligations Law 17-101, 17-103).
• Payments. Their effect is preserved by 17-101, governed for mortgage foreclosures by 17-107, and cut off for expired consumer credit claims by CPLR 214-i.
• Where the claim arose. For an out-of-state claim, the shorter period generally applies unless the claim accrued in favor of a New York resident (CPLR 202).
• Whether the defense was raised. It is waived if left out of the pre-answer motion or the answer (CPLR 3211(e)).

For example: an accelerated loan and a forbearance letter

Common mistakes

• Counting from the last payment by habit. The accrual rules depend on maturity, demand or acceleration, and payments have different effects in different settings.
• Forgetting the demand-note rule. A demand note's clock starts on its date (UCC 3-122(1)(b)).
• Signing an acknowledgment in a workout without reading it. It can restart the period (General Obligations Law 17-101).
• Leaving the defense out of the answer. It is waived (CPLR 3211(e)).
• Assuming a guaranty claim is time-barred whenever the note is. The guaranty has its own terms and may have its own acknowledgments; read both. The defenses that survive are in what defenses a personal guarantor has when a New York lender sues.
• Overlooking out-of-state accrual. A shorter foreign period can apply (CPLR 202).

What to do this week

1. Find the note, its maturity or demand terms, and every amendment and extension.
2. Locate the first missed payment, any acceleration letter and any earlier lawsuit on the debt.
3. Collect everything you signed after the default: forbearance agreements, reaffirmations, payment plans and letters.
4. List every payment made after the default, with dates and amounts.
5. Note whether the loan was for business or personal purposes, and where the lender and borrower were located.
6. If you have been sued, make sure the limitations defense is raised in the first response, with a lawyer's help. For a motion served with the summons, the timetable is in what a CPLR 3213 motion is. For a foreclosure, it is in how long you have to answer a foreclosure complaint.

Frequently asked questions

Does a lender's demand letter restart the clock?

Not by itself. What restarts or extends the period is the debtor's signed writing, such as an acknowledgment, a promise to pay or a waiver (General Obligations Law 17-101, 17-103), or for mortgages the forms of waiver and payment in 17-105 and 17-107.

Can an oral promise to pay revive an old debt?

For a contract claim, the statute makes a signed writing "the only competent evidence" of a new or continuing contract (General Obligations Law 17-101). For a consumer credit debt whose period has expired, even a written affirmation does not revive it (CPLR 214-i).

Is a guaranty claim six years even if the loan was secured by a mortgage?

A claim on a guaranty is a contract claim under CPLR 213(2). If the mortgage debt itself is adjudicated time-barred, RPAPL 1301(4) bars other actions to recover any part of the same mortgage debt, and how that reaches a guaranty depends on its terms.

Can the parties agree in the loan documents to a longer period?

A promise to waive or extend the limitations period is effective only if made after the claim accrued, in a signed writing, and only to the extent section 17-103 allows (General Obligations Law 17-103(1), (3)).

What about a claim that the transfer of my assets was fraudulent?

That claim has its own deadlines, generally four years from the transfer (Debtor and Creditor Law 278); see whether a creditor can undo a property transfer as a voidable conveyance.

Once the lender has a judgment, does a new clock start?

Yes. A judgment is enforced under its own rules, including a 20-year presumption of payment (CPLR 211(b)), and its lien on real property generally lasts ten years from filing of the judgment-roll (CPLR 5203(a)).