A person who has a right to enforce an obligation also has a right to use his cause of action as a defense. Except as otherwise provided herein, a prescribed obligation arising under Louisiana law may be used as a defense if it is incidental to, or connected with, the obligation sought to be enforced by the plaintiff. A prescribed cause of action arising under The Federal Consumer Credit Protection Act may not be used as a defense even if it is incidental to, or connected with, the obligation sought to be enforced by the plaintiff. However, in connection with the enforcement of a negotiable instrument the defense of redhibition may not be used if it has otherwise prescribed.
Art. 424.Cause of Action As a Defense
Title II. Actions · Chapter 1. General Dispositions · Last amended 1977 · Last verified July 30, 2026
In one sentenceArticle 424 lets a person raise a stale, otherwise time-barred obligation as a defense against a connected claim, while carving out two exceptions — a prescribed federal consumer-credit claim, and a prescribed redhibition defense used against enforcement of a negotiable instrument.
Full Text of Art. 424
Amendment History
Amended by Acts 1976, No. 710, §1; Acts 1977, No. 254, §1.
Plain-English Summary
Louisiana calls the running of a deadline to sue prescription, its version of a statute of limitations. Once prescription runs, a person can no longer use a claim offensively, to start a lawsuit of their own. Article 424 recognizes a narrower, defensive use for that same stale claim.
If someone sues you on an obligation, and you have your own obligation-based claim against them that has already prescribed, you can still raise it as a defense, provided it's incidental to or connected with the claim the plaintiff is pressing. Louisiana treats a shield differently from a sword: a claim too old to start a suit can still be used to cut down or defeat one brought against you, as long as the two claims share a connection.
Two carve-outs limit that flexibility. A prescribed claim arising under the federal Consumer Credit Protection Act, the law behind truth-in-lending disclosures, cannot be used as a defense even when it's connected to the plaintiff's claim. And when someone sues to enforce a negotiable instrument, such as a promissory note or check, a prescribed redhibition defense doesn't apply. Redhibition is Louisiana's warranty against hidden defects in a thing sold; ordinarily a buyer can raise it defensively even after it has prescribed, but not against an effort to collect on the paper itself.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use a time-barred claim to defend myself in a lawsuit?
Often, yes. Article 424 allows a prescribed obligation to be raised as a defense if it is incidental to or connected with the claim the plaintiff is pursuing, even though the same claim could no longer be filed as its own lawsuit.
What is redhibition?
Louisiana's civil-law warranty against hidden defects in something sold. A buyer who discovers a serious defect can seek to undo the sale or reduce the price, and can ordinarily raise that claim defensively even after it has otherwise prescribed.
Why can't a prescribed redhibition claim defeat a note or check?
Article 424 singles out negotiable instruments for special treatment: when someone sues to collect on a note or check, a prescribed redhibition defense cannot be used to resist payment.
Why exclude Consumer Credit Protection Act claims?
The article treats a prescribed federal truth-in-lending claim differently from ordinary prescribed obligations, barring it from defensive use even when connected to the obligation the plaintiff seeks to enforce.
Source & verification. Article text is reproduced verbatim from
the vLex (Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure, 2026 Edition). Enacted by the Louisiana Legislature.
Last verified July 30, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as: prescribed claim as a defense Louisianarecoupment Louisiana civil lawredhibition defensenegotiable instrument defense