(a) On a bond. An action to recover principal or interest upon a written instrument evidencing an indebtedness of the state of New York or of any person, association or public or private corporation, originally sold by the issuer after publication of an advertisement for bids for the issue in electronic or physical form and secured only by a pledge of the faith and credit of the issuer, regardless of whether a sinking fund is or may be established for its redemption, must be commenced within twenty years after the cause of action accrues. This subdivision does not apply to actions upon written instruments evidencing an indebtedness of any corporation, association or person under the jurisdiction of the public service commission, the commissioner of transportation, the interstate commerce commission, the federal communications commission, the civil aeronautics board, the federal power commission, or any other regulatory commission or board of a state or of the federal government. This subdivision applies to all causes of action, including those barred on April eighteenth, nineteen hundred fifty, by the provisions of the civil practice act then effective.
§ 211.Actions to be commenced within twenty years.
Article 2. Limitations of Time · Last amended 2020 · Last verified July 21, 2026
In one sentenceSets a twenty-year limitations period for certain publicly issued bonds, for enforcing a money judgment (presumed paid after twenty years absent acknowledgment), for the state's real-property claims, and for enforcing support, alimony, or maintenance arrears.
Full Text of CPLR 211
(b) On a money judgment. A money judgment is presumed to be paid and satisfied after the expiration of twenty years from the time when the party recovering it was first entitled to enforce it. This presumption is conclusive, except as against a person who within the twenty years acknowledges an indebtedness, or makes a payment, of all or part of the amount recovered by the judgment, or his heir or personal representative, or a person whom he otherwise represents. Such an acknowledgment must be in writing and signed by the person to be charged. Property acquired by an enforcement order or by levy upon an execution is a payment, unless the person to be charged shows that it did not include property claimed by him. If such an acknowledgment or payment is made, the judgment is conclusively presumed to be paid and satisfied as against any person after the expiration of twenty years after the last acknowledgment or payment made by him. The presumption created by this subdivision may be availed of under an allegation that the action was not commenced within the time limited.
(c) By state for real property. The state will not sue a person for or with respect to real property, or the rents or profits thereof, by reason of the right or title of the state to the same, unless the cause of action accrued, or the state, or those from whom it claims, have received the rents and profits of the real property or of some part thereof, within twenty years before the commencement of the action.
(d) By grantee of state for real property. An action shall not be commenced for or with respect to real property by a person claiming by virtue of letters patent or a grant from the state, unless it might have been maintained by the state, as prescribed in this section, if the patent or grant had not been issued or made.
(e) For support, alimony or maintenance. An action or proceeding to enforce any temporary order, permanent order or judgment of any court of competent jurisdiction which awards support, alimony or maintenance, regardless of whether or not arrears have been reduced to a money judgment, must be commenced within twenty years from the date of a default in payment. This section shall only apply to orders which have been entered subsequent to the date upon which this section shall become effective.
Plain-English Summary
CPLR 211 groups together the longest limitations periods the CPLR sets, twenty years, for four unrelated categories of claim. Subdivision (a) covers actions to recover principal or interest on certain bonds — instruments originally sold through a competitive public bid and secured only by the issuer's pledge of faith and credit — while excluding bonds issued by entities already regulated by specific federal or state commissions.
Subdivision (b) addresses money judgments directly: after twenty years, a judgment is conclusively presumed paid and satisfied, unless the judgment debtor acknowledged the debt in a signed writing or made a payment within that twenty-year window, in which case a fresh twenty years runs from that acknowledgment or payment. This is what ultimately limits how long a judgment creditor can wait before enforcement becomes impossible, absent some acknowledgment keeping the judgment alive.
Subdivision (c) preserves a longer period for the state itself to sue over real property — twenty years, half the forty years that applied under prior law but still double the ten-year period CPLR 212 sets for private real-property claims, a two-to-one ratio the drafters chose to carry forward. Subdivision (d) extends that same twenty-year period to anyone claiming real property through a state patent or grant. Subdivision (e), added later, gives a twenty-year period to enforce court orders or judgments awarding support, alimony, or maintenance, running from the date of a payment default.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long is a New York money judgment enforceable before it's presumed paid?
CPLR 211(b) presumes a money judgment paid and satisfied twenty years after the judgment creditor first became entitled to enforce it, unless there was a signed acknowledgment or a payment within that period.
Can a partial payment restart the twenty-year period on a money judgment?
Yes. A written, signed acknowledgment of the debt, or a payment of all or part of the judgment, restarts the twenty-year presumption from the date of that acknowledgment or payment.
How long does New York State have to sue to recover its own real property?
CPLR 211(c) gives the state twenty years, half of what applied under prior law but still twice the ten-year period CPLR 212 sets for private real-property claims.
How long can someone wait to enforce back child support or alimony under a New York court order?
CPLR 211(e) gives twenty years from the date of a payment default to enforce a support, alimony, or maintenance order, for orders entered after this provision took effect.
Are all of New York's twenty-year limitations periods listed in one place?
CPLR 211 gathers the main ones — certain bonds, money judgments, the state's real-property claims, and support or maintenance arrears — though other statutes outside the CPLR can set their own periods for specific claims.
Advisory Committee Notes
Subd (a) of this section, with minor language change, is derived from CPA § 47-b which was added in 1950. See NY Law Rev Comm’n Rep 193 (1950). The legislation was based on a study made by the Law Revision Commission on the request of the Comptroller of the state of New York. The only changes of any consequence are contained in the last sentence. The specific references to §§ 47 and 48 of the CPA contained in subdivision 3 of § 47-b are omitted and, in their place, a general reference to the CPA is substituted.
Subd (b) is adapted from CPA §§ 44 and 45 with minor changes in language for purposes of clarity.
Subd (c) provides a twenty-year statute for the state in real property actions as compared to the forty-year statute in CPA § 31. Under former practice the statute applicable to actions by private persons involving real property was twenty years and to actions by the state involving real property twice that. Under this subdivision and CPLR § 212 this ratio of two to one will be continued.
Amendment History
Add, L 1962, ch 308, § 1, eff Sept 1, 1963; amd, L 1965, ch 214, § 1, eff Sept 1, 1965; L 1970, ch 267, § 7, eff March 1, 1971; L 1987, ch 815, § 8, eff Aug 7, 1987; L 2020, ch 56, § 49 (Part JJ), effective April 3, 2020.
Source & verification. Provision text, History, and Advisory
Committee Notes are reproduced verbatim from the Consolidated Laws of New York.
Last verified July 21, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as: New York judgment enforcement statute of limitationstwenty year presumption of payment New York judgmentstatute of limitations back child support New York