Florida Student Loan Statute of Limitations: How the 5-Year Deadline Works

Florida gives private student loan lenders five years to sue after a borrower defaults — but knowing exactly when that clock starts, and what can reset it, is critical. Federal student loans are exempt, but private borrowers can use this five-year limit as a powerful defense if it’s raised properly.

For private student loans in Florida, the key statute is Fla. Stat. § 95.11(2)(b), which sets a five-year statute of limitations for actions on written contracts. A student loan promissory note is a written contract, so this rule applies.

The countdown doesn’t start when you graduate or take out the loan. It begins at the moment of breach — the first missed payment. Florida follows a bright-line rule: once a payment is due and not made, the cause of action accrues and the five-year period starts.

Here’s how that works in practice:

• First missed payment = breach. The clock begins on the due date of the first payment you skip.

• Each missed installment is separate. Every payment that comes due has its own five-year deadline unless the loan is accelerated.

• Earlier defaults may expire. A payment missed in 2020 may already be time-barred, but a 2022 default could still be within the five-year window.

This structure means a borrower’s timeline isn’t always straightforward. Lenders can sometimes rely on more recent defaults even if older ones have already expired.

Private student loans are usually installment contracts, meaning each missed payment could start its own five-year clock. But many loan agreements also include an acceleration clause. This lets the lender, after a default, demand the entire balance at once — and from that moment, the statute of limitations runs on the whole loan.

Florida courts have added a twist: if a lender accelerates and then sues, but that lawsuit is dismissed, the loan is treated as if it was decelerated. In other words, the acceleration is undone, and the loan goes back to installment status. Each new missed payment after dismissal becomes its own breach, creating a new five-year period to sue.

This principle comes from foreclosure cases (Bartram v. U.S. Bank and Grant v. Citizens Bank), but Florida courts have made clear it applies to all installment contracts, including private student loans. The bottom line:

• Even if your lender’s earlier lawsuit was dismissed, that doesn’t necessarily bar them from suing later. A newer missed payment can still reset the five-year clock and allow them to demand the full balance again.

Florida has strict rules about when the five-year clock can be paused, a concept called tolling. Unlike some states that allow broad “equitable tolling,” Florida limits tolling to a short list written into its statutes. If it’s not in the statute, it doesn’t count.

Florida Statute of Limitations …

Under Fla. Stat. § 95.051, the clock can pause in situations like:

• Absence from the state — if you leave Florida and truly cannot be served with legal papers.

• Concealment or false identity — if you hide your whereabouts or use a false name to avoid service.

• Bankruptcy — the automatic stay prevents lawsuits until the case ends.

• Minority or incapacity — if the person entitled to sue is a minor without a guardian or is legally incompetent.

• Other rare cases — arbitration proceedings, or a creditor under a legal disability.

Florida law is clear: hardship, lender delay, or forbearance agreements don’t pause the statute of limitations once it’s running. But forbearance works differently: While you’re in forbearance, no payments are due, so the statute of limitations hasn’t even started yet. The clock begins only when you miss the first payment after the forbearance ends.

Even if the five-year period is close to expiring — or has already expired — your actions can restart the clock. Florida law calls this revival, and it’s one of the most common ways borrowers accidentally lose a strong defense.

Two scenarios matter most:

• Partial payment (before the five years is up). Any payment — even a token $5 — is treated as acknowledgment of the debt. The statute of limitations restarts from the date of that payment (Fla. Stat. § 95.051).

• Written, signed promise (after the five years has expired). Once the five years has passed, a payment alone won’t revive the debt. Under Fla. Stat. § 95.04, only a new written acknowledgment or promise to pay, signed by you, gives the lender a fresh five-year window.

Collectors know this and often push borrowers to make small payments or sign “payment plan” forms. Those seemingly harmless actions can reset or revive the lawsuit window.

Florida’s five-year statute of limitations applies only to private student loans, which are treated as written contracts under Fla. Stat. § 95.11(2)(b).

Federal student loans are different. Congress eliminated any statute of limitations on its collection. Under 20 U.S.C. § 1091a, the Department of Education and its servicers can pursue federal loans indefinitely — through lawsuits, wage garnishment, tax refund offsets, or even Social Security reductions.

If you refinance a federal loan into a private loan, you lose that federal exemption. The refinanced loan is governed by state contract law, including Florida’s five-year limit.

Not every private student loan tied to a Florida borrower is automatically governed by Florida’s five-year statute. Two rules can change the outcome.

Choice-of-Law Clauses in Loan Contracts

Many loan contracts specify which state’s law will apply. Florida courts usually honor those clauses as long as the chosen state has a real connection to the loan. That means if your contract says Massachusetts law applies — and Massachusetts has a 20-year statute of limitations — a Florida court may enforce that longer deadline.

Florida’s Borrowing Statute

Florida also has a law (Fla. Stat. § 95.10) designed to prevent creditors from reviving expired debts by moving lawsuits across state lines. If the cause of action “arose” in another state and is already time-barred there, Florida courts will borrow that shorter deadline and bar the claim here too.

Florida case law, including Bates v. Cook (Fla. 1987) and Lanoue v. Rizk (Fla. 3d DCA 2008), confirms that courts may apply another jurisdiction’s shorter limitations period,
but not extend the time beyond Florida’s five years if the other state’s law is longer.

Once the five-year period runs out, a private student loan becomes time-barred. That means the lender loses the legal right to sue for repayment, but the debt itself doesn’t vanish.

Here’s what that means in practice:

• No lawsuit allowed: After five years, the lender can’t file a valid lawsuit to collect the loan.

• Collectors can still contact you: They may call or send letters, but they cannot misrepresent their rights by threatening a lawsuit they can’t bring.

• Credit reporting continues: A default can remain on your credit report for up to seven years from the first missed payment, even if the loan is time-barred under the Florida Statute of Limitations.

• You must raise the defense: The statute of limitations is an affirmative defense in Florida. Courts won’t dismiss the case on their own — you have to assert it in your written answer.

• Judgments last longer: If you ignore the lawsuit and a default judgment is entered, that judgment can be enforced for up to 20 years in Florida.

Even if a private student loan is time-barred, collectors don’t always stop trying. Florida and federal consumer protection laws give borrowers additional leverage:

• Countersue if sued on a stale debt. Collectors who knowingly file time-barred cases may face damages and attorney’s fees under the FCCPA.

• Challenge illegal threats. Even if no lawsuit is filed, threatening to sue on an expired loan can trigger liability.

• Apply to both creditors and collectors. The FCCPA covers original lenders, while the FDCPA covers outside agencies.

Florida Consumer Collection Practices Act (FCCPA)

Under Fla. Stat. § 559.72(9), it’s illegal for a creditor or collector to claim or threaten a legal right they don’t actually have — like filing or threatening to file a lawsuit on a debt that’s past the statute of limitations. The FCCPA applies to both third-party collectors and original lenders. Borrowers can sue for violations within two years.

Federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA)

The FDCPA (15 U.S.C. § 1692) covers only third-party debt collectors. Courts in the Eleventh Circuit, which includes Florida, have held that threatening or filing a lawsuit on a time-barred debt can violate this law.