§ 213.Actions to be commenced within six years: where not otherwise provided for; on contract; on sealed instrument; on bond or note, and mortgage upon real property; by state based on misappropriation of public property; based on mistake; by corporation against director, officer or stockholder; based on fraud.
Article 2. Limitations of Time · Last amended 2022 · Last verified July 21, 2026
In one sentenceThe CPLR's general six-year limitations period, covering claims with no specific deadline elsewhere, contract claims, sealed instruments, mortgage bonds and notes, state claims for misappropriated property, mistake, corporate claims against insiders, and fraud.
The following actions must be commenced within six years:
1. an action for which no limitation is specifically prescribed by law;
2. an action upon a contractual obligation or liability, express or implied, except as provided in section two hundred thirteen-a or two hundred fourteen-i of this article or article 2 of the uniform commercial code or article 36-B of the general business law;
3. an action upon a sealed instrument;
4. an action upon a bond or note, the payment of which is secured by a mortgage upon real property, or upon a bond or note and mortgage so secured, or upon a mortgage of real property, or any interest therein;
(a)In any action on an instrument described under this subdivision, if the statute of limitations is raised as a defense, and if that defense is based on a claim that the instrument at issue was accelerated prior to, or by way of commencement of a prior action, a plaintiff shall be estopped from asserting that the instrument was not validly accelerated, unless the prior action was dismissed based on an expressed judicial determination, made upon a timely interposed defense, that the instrument was not validly accelerated.
(b)In any action seeking cancellation and discharge of record of an instrument described under subdivision four of section fifteen hundred one of the real property actions and proceedings law, a defendant shall be estopped from asserting that the period allowed by the applicable statute of limitation for the commencement of an action upon the instrument has not expired because the instrument was not validly accelerated prior to, or by way of commencement of a prior action, unless the prior action was dismissed based on an expressed judicial determination, made upon a timely interposed defense, that the instrument was not validly accelerated.
5. an action by the state based upon the spoliation or other misappropriation of public property; the time within which the action must be commenced shall be computed from discovery by the state of the facts relied upon;
6. an action based upon mistake;
7. an action by or on behalf of a corporation against a present or former director, officer or stockholder for an accounting, or to procure a judgment on the ground of fraud, or to enforce a liability, penalty or forfeiture, or to recover damages for waste or for an injury to property or for an accounting in conjunction therewith. 8. an action based upon fraud; the time within which the action must be commenced shall be the greater of six years from the date the cause of action accrued or two years from the time the plaintiff or the person under whom the plaintiff claims discovered the fraud, or could with reasonable diligence have discovered it. 9. an action by the attorney general pursuant to article twenty-three-A of the general business law or subdivision twelve of section sixty-three of the executive law.
Plain-English Summary
CPLR 213 is the CPLR's default six-year period, the one that catches most civil claims that don't fall under a more specific statute. Paragraph 1 is the true catch-all: any action with no limitations period specifically prescribed elsewhere gets six years. Paragraph 2 sets the same six years for ordinary contract claims, subject to shorter periods that apply to specific transactions under other statutes. Paragraphs 3 and 4 apply that period to sealed instruments and to bonds, notes, or mortgages secured by real property, with subdivisions (a) and (b) addressing a specific dispute over mortgage acceleration — estopping a party from later denying an instrument was validly accelerated once a court has already ruled on that question in an earlier action.
Paragraph 5 gives the state six years to sue over misappropriated public property, running from the state's discovery of the facts rather than from the wrongdoing itself. Paragraph 6 applies the same six years to claims based on mistake, and paragraph 7 applies it to a corporation's claims against a present or former director, officer, or stockholder for an accounting, fraud, breach of a duty, waste, or property damage.
Paragraph 8 governs fraud claims directly, without needing to borrow from CPLR 203(g): a plaintiff gets whichever period is longer, six years from the date the fraud occurred or two years from when the plaintiff, or the person through whom the plaintiff claims, discovered the fraud or could have discovered it with reasonable diligence. Paragraph 9 rounds out the section with a period for certain Attorney General enforcement actions under the state's business and executive law.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the general statute of limitations for a breach of contract claim in New York?
CPLR 213(2) sets a six-year period for actions on a contractual obligation, whether express or implied, subject to shorter periods that apply to specific transactions under other statutes.
How long do I have to sue for fraud in New York?
CPLR 213(8) gives a plaintiff whichever is longer of six years from the fraudulent act or two years from when the fraud was discovered or reasonably should have been discovered.
Does New York have a six-year limit for suing on a promissory note secured by a mortgage?
Yes. CPLR 213(4) sets a six-year period for actions on a bond or note secured by a mortgage on real property, or on the mortgage itself.
What happens if there's no specific statute of limitations for my type of claim?
CPLR 213(1) provides a six-year residual period for any action that doesn't have a limitations period specifically prescribed elsewhere in New York law.
Can a corporation sue a former officer for fraud more than six years after it happened?
Possibly. CPLR 213(7) and (8) both apply a six-year period to claims against a director, officer, or stockholder, and the fraud-based version of that period can run from discovery under the same two-year/six-year rule that applies to fraud claims generally.
Advisory Committee Notes
Paragraph 1 is adapted from CPA § 53. Its period, sometimes referred to as a “residual period,” is generally applicable to such equity actions as an action to reform an instrument, or any other action where no period is expressly prescribed. The former ten-year period is unnecessarily long and has been reduced to six years.
Paragraph 2 is derived from subd 1 of CPA § 48. The exception relating to a judgment stated in the former section is omitted since an action on a judgment is specifically covered by new CPLR § 211(b).
Paragraph 3 contains the substance of former CPA § 47, which embodied a six-year period.
Paragraph 4 contains the substance of former CPA § 47-a, which embodied a six-year period.
Paragraph 5 is derived from CPA § 1226. Its effect is to reduce the former ten-year period to a six-year period, to commence from the date of discovery discovery of the wrong and not, as formerly, from the date of the wrong.
Paragraph 6 is adapted from CPA § 48(5), which affects only actions based on fraud. The new provision governs actions on the ground of mistake as well. In both types of action a six-year period applies.
Paragraph 7 is derived from subd 6 of CPA § 48, which embodied a six-year period. Phrase “or could with reasonable diligence have discovered it” added. In imposing a standard of reasonable diligence it expresses the same policy as § 206(c).
Paragraph 8 is derived from subd 8 of § 48 and subds 4 and 7 of § 49 of the CPA. The same period is now applicable to all actions against a director, officer, or stockholder of a corporation.
The Committee recommends that CPLR 213(8) be amended to clarify that the applicable statute of limitations for an action for fraud is not six years from the discovery of the fraud, but six years from the time of the fraud or two years from the discovery, whichever is longer. In its current form, CPLR 213(8) provides that among the actions which “must be commenced within six years” is “an action based upon fraud; the time within which the action must be commenced shall be computed from the time the plaintiff or the person under whom he claims discovered the fraud, or could with reasonable diligence have discovered it”.
Any reader of that provision would naturally assume that the statute of limitations for an action for fraud is governed by a discovery statute, and that the six year period runs from that discovery. That reader would be incorrect, although nothing in CPLR 213 (8) would give any guidance. CPLR 203(g), which us not referenced in CPLR 213(8), applies. And CPLR 203(g) provides that whenever “the time within which an action must be commenced is computed from the time when facts were discovered” or could have been discovered, “the action must be commenced within two years after such actual or imputed discovery or within the period otherwise provided, computed from the time the cause of action accrued, whichever is longer”.
Thus, the statute of limitations for an action for fraud is not six years from discovery of the fraud. It is six years from the time of the fraud, or two years from discovery, whichever is longer. See, Hammond v. Reichback, 232 A.D.2d 254 (1st Dept. 1996); Gargulio v. Garguilo, 201 A.D.2d 617 (2nd Dept. 1994).
The proposed amendments to CPLR 213 (8) is not intended to change the law. It is intended to avoid the trap for the unwary currently set by the language of the provision. With no reference to either the existence or contents of CPLR 203 (g), the current language of CPLR 213 (8) will mislead any layperson, or indeed, any lawyer not otherwise familiar with CPLR 203(g) or the relevant case law. Particularly since this is a statute of limitations, it is important that the law be clear, and easily found. No one reading current CPLR 213(8) would assume the need for continued search for a provision defining the term “shall be computed from”.
The proposed amendment, therefore, simply builds the substance of CPLR 203(g) into the language of CPLR 213(8). It thereby makes clear to the reader that the statute of limitations for a cause of action for fraud is six years from the fraudulent conduct, or two years from discovery, whichever is longer.
Amendment History
Add, L 1962, ch 308, § 1, eff Sept 1, 1963; amd, L 1963, ch 532, § 5; L 1965, ch 248, eff Sept 1, 1965; L 1966, ch 138, § 3; L 1975, ch 43, eff Sept 1, 1975; L 1983, ch 403, § 34; L 1988, ch 709, § 2, eff March 1, 1989; L 2004, ch 403, § 1, eff Aug 17, 2004; L 2019, ch 184, § 1, effective August 26, 2019; L 2021, ch 593, § 3, effective May 7, 2022; L 2022, ch 821, § 7, effective December 30, 2022.
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 statute of limitations breach of contractNew York statute of limitations fraudsix year statute of limitations New YorkCPLR six year catch-all limitations period