Debt collectors in North Dakota

Credit cards: N.D.C.C. 28-01-16(1) gives 6 years for any action 'upon a contract, obligation, or liability, express or implied' (subject to 28-01-15 and UCC 41-02-104). Written, oral and open-account claims, credit cards included, therefore all get 6 years. N.D.C.C. 28-01-37 sets accrual for mutual open, current accounts at the last item proved on either side.

Payments and acknowledgments: N.D.C.C. 28-01-36: an acknowledgment or new promise must be in a writing signed by the party charged, 'but this section does not alter the effect of any payment of principal or interest.' Part payment therefore keeps its general-law effect of restarting the period. The statute does not separate pre-expiry from post-expiry payment, and I found no consumer-debt or debt-buyer revival ban in N.D.C.C. ch. 13-05 (collection agencies).

Judgments: Judgments docketed on or after Aug 1, 2021: the lien lasts 20 years from docketing (28-20-13(3)) and the judgment must be cancelled of record after 20 years (28-20-35(2)). The statute provides no renewal for these. Note that 28-20-13(3) says 'after August 1, 2021' while 28-20-35(2) says 'on or after'. Judgments first docketed before Aug 1, 2021: 10-year lien, renewable once by affidavit filed within the 90 days before the 10 years expire, for another 10 years (28-20-21 to -23, themselves repealed effective Aug 1, 2031). Unrenewed old judgments are cancelled after 10 years, renewed ones after 20 (28-20-35(1)). An action upon a judgment has a 10-year limit (28-01-15(1)), and no action on an ND judgment between the same parties may be filed within 9 years of rendition without leave of court (28-01-34).

Other rules: All figures come from the official ND Century Code chapter PDFs on ndlegis.gov. The 2021 judgment-law change moved new judgments to a flat 20-year life with no renewal. The old affidavit-renewal sections are scheduled for repeal on Aug 1, 2031. Contracts in conveyances or instruments affecting title to real property get 10 years (28-01-15(2)), and sale-of-goods contracts fall under UCC 41-02-104. I checked only N.D.C.C. ch. 13-05 for time-barred rules, not the ND Administrative Code; federal Reg F (12 CFR 1006.26(b)) applies regardless. I could not cross-check against a second source because the web-search budget was exhausted.

• open account: N.D.C.C. § 28-01-16(1); § 28-01-37 (open-account accrual)
• written contract: N.D.C.C. § 28-01-16(1)
• oral contract: N.D.C.C. § 28-01-16(1)
• promissory note: N.D.C.C. § 41-03-18(1) (UCC 3-118)
• judgment: N.D.C.C. §§ 28-20-13(2)-(3), 28-20-21 to 28-20-23, 28-20-35; § 28-01-15(1); § 28-01-34
• payment restarts: N.D.C.C. § 28-01-36
• other: N.D.C.C. ch. 13-05 (collection agencies): I found no time-barred-debt provision

Sources: ndlegis.gov · ndlegis.gov · ndlegis.gov