How long does our counterparty have to sue on this contract in Maine, and can the contract change it?
Six years from the breach for most contracts; four for a sale of goods; twenty under seal. 14 M.R.S. § 752: "All civil actions shall be commenced within 6 years after the cause of action accrues and not afterwards ... and except as otherwise specially provided." Estate of Sprague v. Bankers Life & Casualty Co. confirms both halves: "[i]n Maine, unless another statute of limitations applies to a particular action, civil actions must commence within six years", and "[g]enerally, a cause of action for breach of contract accrues at the time of breach". The clock runs from breach, not from discovery. For a sale of goods 11 M.R.S. § 2-725(1) gives four years and expressly lets "the original agreement" reduce the period "to not less than one year but may not extend it". Subsection (2) runs it from breach "regardless of the aggrieved party's lack of knowledge of the breach", and from tender of delivery for a warranty claim, "except that where a warranty explicitly extends to future performance of the goods and discovery of the breach must await the time of such performance the cause of action accrues when the breach is or should have been discovered", which is the one place the Code gives a buyer a discovery rule. Under seal, 14 M.R.S. § 751 gives twenty years for "personal actions on contracts or liabilities under seal", but it opens "[e]xcept as provided in Title 11, sections 2-725 and 3-1118, subsection (1)", so the four-year goods period wins even over a sealed instrument.
The trap
The contractual-shortening answer differs by contract type, and that is where statements of the Maine rule go wrong. For goods, § 2-725(1) says in terms that the parties may cut the period to no less than one year. For everything else, no Maine decision was found enforcing a contractual shortening of § 752. What Estate of Sprague does hold is adjacent and often confused with it: "parties are free to contract for conditions precedent to action and even, in certain circumstances, for a limitations period to commence before a cause of action accrues". That is a rule about when the clock STARTS, and in that case a mandatory internal appeal was a condition precedent that delayed accrual, so that a 2020 complaint on a 2014 denial was timely and the judgment against the estate was vacated. Do not turn it into authority that a Maine contract may shorten the six-year period. Three more things the sections themselves do. § 752's closing words, "except as otherwise specially provided", are not decoration: Title 14 carries a run of special periods that displace the six years for particular defendants, and they are not all the same length, four years from discovery for architects and engineers (§ 752-A), four from discovery for land surveyors (§ 752-D), and only TWO years for a ski area or tramway owner or operator, "whether based on tort or breach of contract or otherwise" (§ 752-B). § 2-725(2) sends a personal-injury warranty claim back to § 752 and starts it "when the injury takes place". And § 2-725(3) is a savings provision worth knowing before conceding that a re-filed claim is late: where a timely action is terminated so as to leave another remedy available, the second action may be brought "within 6 months after the termination of the first action" unless it was voluntarily discontinued or dismissed for failure to prosecute; § 2-725(4) adds that the section "does not alter the law on tolling".
14 authorities
- statute14 M.R.S. § 752enactment date not established
The words that state the rule
All civil actions shall be commenced within 6 years after the cause of action accrues and not afterwards, except actions on a judgment or decree of any court of record of the United States, or of any state, or of a justice of the peace in this State, and except as otherwise specially provided.
- statute14 M.R.S. § 752-Benactment date not established
The words that state the rule
All civil actions for property damage, bodily injury or death against a ski area owner or operator or tramway owner or operator or its employees, as defined under Title 32, chapter 133 , whether based on tort or breach of contract or otherwise, arising out of participation in skiing or hang gliding or the use of a tramway associated with skiing or hang gliding must be commenced within 2 years after the cause of action accrues.
- statute14 M.R.S. § 751enactment date not established
The words that state the rule
Except as provided in Title 11, sections 2‑725 and 3‑1118, subsection (1) , personal actions on contracts or liabilities under seal, promissory notes signed in the presence of an attesting witness, or on the bills, notes or other evidences of debt issued by a bank must be commenced within 20 years after the cause of action accrues.
- statute11 M.R.S. § 2-725enactment date not established
The words that state the rule
An action for breach of any contract for sale must be commenced within 4 years after the cause of action has accrued. By the original agreement the parties may reduce the period of limitation to not less than one year but may not extend it.
- statute11 M.R.S. § 2-725enactment date not established
The words that state the rule
A cause of action accrues when the breach occurs, regardless of the aggrieved party's lack of knowledge of the breach. A breach of warranty occurs when tender of delivery is made, except that where a warranty explicitly extends to future performance of the goods and discovery of the breach must await the time of such performance the cause of action accrues when the breach is or should have been discovered.
- statute11 M.R.S. § 2-725enactment date not established
The words that state the rule
A cause of action for personal injuries arising under this Article for breach of warranty occurs when the injury takes place and is governed by the limitation of action period under Title 14, section 752 .
- statute11 M.R.S. § 2-725enactment date not established
The words that state the rule
Where an action commenced within the time limited by subsection (1) is so terminated as to leave available a remedy by another action for the same breach such other action may be commenced after the expiration of the time limited and within 6 months after the termination of the first action unless the termination resulted from voluntary discontinuance or from dismissal for failure or neglect to prosecute.
- statute11 M.R.S. § 2-725enactment date not established
The words that state the rule
This section does not alter the law on tolling of the statute of limitations nor does it apply to causes of action which have accrued before this Title becomes effective.
- case2021 ME 64Estate of Sprague v. Bankers Life & Casualty Co.Me.decided 2021read it at the source ↗
The words that state the rule
In Maine, unless another statute of limitations applies to a particular action, civil actions must commence within six years “after the cause of action accrues.” 14 M.R.S. § 752.
- case2021 ME 64Estate of Sprague v. Bankers Life & Casualty Co.Me.decided 2021read it at the source ↗
The words that state the rule
Generally, a cause of action for breach of contract accrues at the time of breach.
- case2021 ME 64Estate of Sprague v. Bankers Life & Casualty Co.Me.decided 2021read it at the source ↗
The words that state the rule
But parties are free to contract for conditions precedent to action and even, in certain circumstances, for a limitations period to commence before a cause of action accrues.
- case2021 ME 64Estate of Sprague v. Bankers Life & Casualty Co.me-medecided 2021read it at the source ↗
The words that state the rule
In conclusion, under the terms of the contract, the Estate’s cause of action accrued at the earliest on September 25, 2014, when Bankers Life denied the Estate’s internal appeal. The Estate then timely filed its complaint on September 4, 2020, within the six-year limitations period. The entry is: Judgment vacated. Case remanded to the trial court to proceed on the complaint.
- statute14 M.R.S. § 752-Aenactment date not established
The words that state the rule
All civil actions for malpractice or professional negligence against architects or engineers duly licensed or registered under Title 32 shall be commenced within 4 years after such malpractice or negligence is discovered
- statute14 M.R.S. § 752-Denactment date not established
The words that state the rule
All civil actions for professional negligence against a professional land surveyor duly licensed or registered under Title 32 must be commenced within 4 years after the negligence is discovered
“Defective” means that reading found something to correct. What you are reading is the rule as it stands after that reading.