§ 214-i.[There are two § 214-i] Certain actions arising out of consumer credit transactions to be commenced within three years.

This entry addresses the consumer-debt version of CPLR 214-i. The official CPLR contains a genuine drafting collision: two entirely unrelated statutes are both printed under the section number 214-i. This one, added in 2021, governs consumer credit transaction lawsuits; a second, unrelated statute concerning toxic burn pit injury claims is indexed separately in this reference as 214-i-B to keep the two apart. Anyone searching for CPLR 214-i should confirm which subject they need before relying on either entry.

The substantive rule: an action arising out of a consumer credit transaction, where a purchaser, borrower, or debtor is the defendant, must be commenced within three years — the typical scenario being a creditor or debt buyer suing a consumer for an unpaid balance. The section carves out rent overcharge claims under CPLR 213-a, sales-of-goods claims under Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code, and claims under Article 36-B of the General Business Law, each of which follows its own rule instead.

The second sentence targets a specific collection practice: once the three-year period has expired, no subsequent payment toward the debt, and no written or oral affirmation or other activity on it, can revive or extend the limitations period. That provision closes off the strategy of inducing a small payment or acknowledgment from a consumer to restart an otherwise-dead claim — a practice sometimes described as reviving zombie debt.

CPLR 214-i works alongside CPLR 213-d, which sets a parallel three-year period specifically for medical debt, and departs from the six-year period CPLR 213 sets for ordinary contract debts generally, reflecting a deliberate legislative choice to shorten and stabilize the deadline for consumer-debt collection specifically.