If you are curious as to how Washington statute of limitation affects you, watch this video: Statute of Limitations Video

Washington Statutes of Limitations

What is the statute of limitations for your legal rights in Washington?


Washington Statute of Limitation

Statute of Limitation Laws in Washington

Washington State SealIn order to convict you of an offense or sue you for monetary gain, your crime, tort or contractual agreement must fall within a certain time-line allowed by law. An Washington law on statute of limitations is simply that time which is allotted by the law as written by the state of Washington within which you can be convicted or held liable for a debt.

Below is the Washington statute of limitations listings for a number of different offenses and torts. While this list is updated regularly, often-times laws in every state get modified, repealed, amended or changed by legislation. Please consult with a qualified Washington attorney in this and any other legal matter.

We have found a service where you can ask your legal question for free and get responses only from qualified Washington defense attorneys in that particular field. The form below will help you get started by simply entering your WA zip code to find a Washington state criminal defense lawyer near you.

Post Your Legal Question For Free to a Defense Lawyer
Justice Scales

Enter Your Zip Code To Find a Lawyer Near You:

WASHINGTON STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS

Type of Offense Length of Statute
Any Capital Offense:No Limit
Rape:10 Years
Drug trafficking:6 Years
Forgery | Burglary | Grand Theft (felonies):6 Years
Counterfeiting(felony):6 Years
Contracts:6 years; or 10 years if under seal
Injury to personal property:6 Years
Open accounts for debt collections:3 Years
Wrongful Death:3 Years
Oral Agreements:3 Years
Fraud:2 years from when the fraud was or reasonably should have been discovered.
Intentional Torts:2 Years
Libel | Slander | Defamation:2 Years
A medical malpractice action must be brought within three (3) years of the act or omission alleged to have caused the injury or one year after the discovery of the alleged negligent act or omission, whichever period expires later.
Code Section § 4.22.005
Personal Injury Actions:3 years from the date of injury
Rules for Minors:A 2 year limitation period begins to run on the minors 18th birthday, except in cases of medical malpractice or wrongful death
Products Liability Actions:Within 1 year of the date the injury occurred. Or if the injury is not discovered right away, the plaintiff has within 1 year the injury is, or should have been discovered, to file a law suit
Complete Washington criminal revised statute of limitations can be found on the Washington Criminal Statute of Limitations page.
Disclaimer: Statute of Limitation laws in every state get modified, repealed, amended, and/or changed by the legislature of that states jurisdiction. The authors and webmaster of StatuteofLimitation.info have made every effort to post the most current laws. Please use this site as a general reference and for comparison purposes. Do not substitute any information from this site for advice you would get from a qualified legal professional

Washington Fair Debt Collection Practices Act

In order for an Washington debt collector or debt buyer to sue you to collect a debt they have to do that within the time limits that the state of Washington law requires. This is what is known as the statute of limitations. If they sue you outside of that statute of limitations then that may violate the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Even threatening to sue you beyond the statute of limitations can also be considered a Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) violation.

If you are dealing with an unscrupulous Washington debt collector that is threatening you with a lawsuit, whether verbal or written, for an old debt, then you need to look at the Washington statute of limitations if that debt collector has a potential case against you or has potentially violated the FDCP Act.

Find Lawyer