§ 9-3-24.Actions on simple written contracts; exceptions

Most written contracts in Georgia — promissory notes without a seal, written service agreements, IOUs — fall under a six-year limitations period measured from when the obligation becomes due and payable. O.C.G.A. § 9-3-24 sets that baseline, sitting between the 20-year period for sealed instruments and the shorter periods that apply to unwritten agreements.

The section carves out two categories that follow different rules entirely. Contracts for the sale of goods are governed by Article 2 of Title 11, Georgia's version of the Uniform Commercial Code, which sets its own limitations period for sales disputes — an exclusion dating to the 1962 enactment of Georgia's UCC. Negotiable instruments — checks, drafts, and similar instruments — fall under Article 3 of Title 11 instead, a carve-out the legislature added later, in 1996.

The practical effect is that a lawyer cannot assume six years applies just because a contract is in writing. The nature of what the contract covers determines which limitations period controls, so a written contract for the sale of goods needs a different analysis than a written contract for services or a loan.