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A1415
ASSEMBLY, No. 1415
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
222nd LEGISLATURE
�
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman ELLEN J. PARK
District 37 (Bergen)
Assemblyman BALVIR SINGH
District 7 (Burlington)
SYNOPSIS
���� Prohibits revival of certain time-barred consumer
debt litigation claims.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
���� Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative
Counsel.
��
An Act
concerning statutes of limitations and amending
N.J.S.2A:14-1.
����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:
���� 1. N.J.S.2A:14-1 is amended to
read as follows:
���� 2A:14-1.� a.� Every action at
law for trespass to real property, for any tortious injury to real or personal
property, for taking, detaining, or converting personal property, for replevin
of goods or chattels, for any tortious injury to the rights of another not
stated in N.J.S.2A:14-2 and N.J.S.2A:14-3, or for recovery upon a contractual
claim or liability, express or implied, not under seal, or upon an account
other than one which concerns the trade or merchandise between merchant and
merchant, their factors, agents and servants, shall be commenced within six
years next after the cause of any such action shall have accrued.
���� b.��� This section shall not
apply to any action for breach of any contract for sale governed by
N.J.S.12A:2-725.
���� c.���� The period of time for
the filing of a claim by a condominium association, cooperative corporation, or
other planned real estate development association against a developer or any
person acting through, on behalf of or at the behest of the developer under
subsection a. of this section, shall be tolled until an election is held and
the owners comprise a majority of the board pursuant to paragraph (3) of
subsection a. of section 5 of P.L.1993, c.30 (C.45:22A-47), or subsection d. of
section 2 of P.L.1979, c.157 (C.46:8B-12.1).� Any cause of action involving a
condominium, cooperative, or other planned real estate development under the
provisions of subsection a. of this section that has not been subject to a
final judgment dismissing the claim as of the effective date of P.L.2021, c.379
shall be subject to the terms of this subsection.
����
d.��� Notwithstanding the
provisions of any law, rule, regulation or order to the contrary, the period of
time for filing of a claim for any cause of action for any contractual
obligation to collect on a consumer debt shall not be tolled by any subsequent
payment of debt, acknowledgement of the debt, or promise to pay such debt, if
such payment, acknowledgement, or promise to pay was made after the period of
time for filing a claim, pursuant to subsection a. of this section, has
expired.
����
As used in this section,
�consumer debt� means debt incurred by an individual primarily for a personal,
family, or household purpose. Consumer debt shall also include consumer credit,
as that term is defined in section 1 of P.L.1974, c.146 (C.56:11-1), and
medical debt, as that term is defined in section 2 of P.L.2024, c.48
(C.56:11-57).���
(cf: P.L.2021, c.379, s.1).
���� 2.� This act shall take effect
immediately, and shall apply to any cause of action filed on or after the
effective date.
STATEMENT
���� This bill prohibits the
revival of time-barred claims for causes of actions for consumer debt.
���� Under the bill, the period of
time for filing of a claim for any cause of action for any contractual
obligation to collect on a consumer debt cannot be paused by any subsequent
payment of the debt, acknowledgement of the debt, or promise to pay the debt,
if the subsequent payment, acknowledgement, or promise to pay was made after
the statute of limitations for filing a claim, which is six years under current
law, has expired. The bill defines �consumer debt� to mean debt incurred by an
individual primarily for a personal, family, or household purpose, and also
includes consumer credit and medical debt as those terms are defined under
current law.
���� Under State case law, consumer
debt claims are subject to revival even after the statute of limitations has
expired, including when a debtor makes a subsequent payment toward the debt,
explicitly acknowledges the debt, or expresses a new promise to pay the full
debt. See Burlington County Country Club v. Midlantic Nat. Bank South, 223
N.J.Super. 227 (Ch.Div.1987) (stating that �a statute of limitations which
applies to a presently existing contractual debt or obligation may be tolled by
an acknowledgment or a promise to pay� and �if such acknowledgment or promise
to pay is made after the statute has run, it will act to revive the debt for
the statutory period�). This bill would eliminate the revival of consumer debt
claims based on those circumstances.
���� This bill is based on
Benchmark 10 by the National Center for Access to Justice, in the 2024
�Consumer Debt Litigation Index.�