§ 9-3-114.Whom new promise by joint contractor binds

Contracts with multiple obligors raise a question this section answers directly: if one co-obligor renews a stale debt with a new promise, does that promise bind everyone on the contract, or just the person who made it? The answer is the latter. A new promise by one joint or joint-and-several contractor operates only against that promisor, not against the others.

This keeps one debtor’s individual decision to revive a debt from dragging co-obligors along without their consent. A co-signer who never renewed the promise, said nothing, and did nothing to acknowledge the debt keeps whatever limitations defense already applied, even while the promisor who did speak up remains bound.

The result is that a single debt, once time-barred against everyone, can end up alive against one obligor and dead against the rest, depending entirely on who made the new promise. Creditors dealing with multiple obligors need a new promise from each one individually if they want revival to reach the whole group.