## How the limitation period applies

The controlling primary authority for debt-on-a-promissory-note is **A.S.C.A. § 43.0120(5)**.

> **A.S.C.A. § 43.0120(5).** actions founded on written contracts, or a judgment of a court of record, within 10 years.

## Use the calculator

DocketMath's statute-of-limitations tool can model these timelines once you identify the controlling claim type and accrual date. Use the source panel for the verified primary-source citations.

[Open the Statute of Limitations calculator](/tools/statute-of-limitations)

## Sources

- [A.S.C.A. § 43.0120(5) — A.S.C.A. § 43.0120(5) as quoted and applied in Pene v. Bank of Hawaii, High Court of American Samoa Appellate Division (1990)](https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/8513521/pene-v-bank-of-hawaii/)

All sources are official primary law published by `www.courtlistener.com`.

**Corroboration method:** government_primary_source_direct_fetch.


In American Samoa, a debt claim based on a promissory note is typically treated as an action “upon a contract” (a written promise to pay). That classifi...

Statute of Limitations for Debt on a Promissory Note in American Samoa

actions founded on unwritten contracts, or brought for injuries to property, within 3 years

General Provisions Actions may be brought within the following times after their causes accrue, and not afterward, except where otherwise especially declared: (1) actions brought to set aside a will, within 6 months from the time the will is filed in the clerk’s office for probate and notice thereof is given; (2) actions founded on injuries to the person or reputation, including injuries to relative rights, whether based on contract or tort, or for a statutory penalty, within 2 years; (3) actions founded on unwritten contracts, or brought for injuries to property, within 3 years; (4) actions to set aside a judgment or decree quieting title to real esta

Minors and insane persons shall have 1 year from the termination of such disability within which to commence any action regardless of any other applicable limitation period.

Actions may be brought within the following times after their causes accrue, and not afterward, except where otherwise especially declared: (1) actions brought to set aside a will, within 6 months from the time the will is filed in the clerk’s office for probate and notice thereof is given; (2) actions founded on injuries to the person or reputation, including injuries to relative rights, whether based on contract or tort, or for a statutory penalty, within 2 years; (3) actions founded on unwritten contracts, or brought for injuries to property, within 3 years; (4) actions to set aside a judgment or decree quieting title to real estate, within 5 years after the rendition of the judgment or decree; (5) actions founded on written contracts, or a judgment of a court of record, within 10 years; (6) actions brought for the recovery of real property, within 20 years; (7) all actions for which no limitation period is provided, 3 years.

A charge under this section shall be filed within one hundred and eighty days after the alleged unlawful employment practice occurred and notice of the charge (including the date, place and circumstances of the alleged unlawful employment practice) shall be served upon the person against whom such charge is made within ten days thereafter, except that in a case of an unlawful employment practice with respect to which the person aggrieved has initially instituted proceedings with a State or local agency with authority to grant or seek relief from such practice or to institute criminal proceedings with respect thereto upon receiving notice thereof, such charge shall be filed by or on behalf of the person aggrieved within three hundred days after the alleged unlawful employment practice occurred, or within thirty days after receiving notice that the State or local agency has terminated the proceedings under the State or local law, whichever is earlier, and a copy of such charge shall be filed by the Commission with the State or local agency.

elony may be commenced at any time. (b) Except as otherwise provided in this section, prosecutions for other offenses must be commenced within the following periods of limitation: (1) for any felony, 3 years; (2) for any misdemeanor, 1 year; (3) for any infraction, 6 months. (c) If the period prescribed in subsection (b) has expired, a prosecution may nevertheless be commenced for: (1) any offense a material element of which is either fraud or a breach of fiduciary obligation within 1 year after discovery of the offense by an aggrieved party or by a person who has a legal duty to represent an aggrieved party and who is himself not a party to the offens

ges recovered under this section, except for reasonable expenses of last illness and burial, do not constitute a part of the estate of the deceased. (d) Except as otherwise provided, every such action shall be commenced within 2 years after the death of the wronged descendent. The personal representative of the wronged decedent, if he was appointed in the Territory of American Samoa, with the consent of the court making such appointment, may, at any time before or after the commencement of the suit, settle with the defendant the amount to be paid. History: 1967, PL 10-3; 1970, PL 11-109; 1972, PL 12-53 § 1; and 1981, PL 17-26 § 1. Case Notes: Estate of deceased injured part is not a statutor

American Samoa has not adopted UCC Article 2; sale-of-goods claims are governed by the general limitation periods in A.S.C.A. § 43.0120 — an action founded on a written contract must be brought within 10 years (subsection 5), while an action on an unwritten contract must be brought within 3 years (subsection 3).

American Samoa has no construction-specific statute of limitations or repose; a construction-defect claim brought as an injury to property is governed by the 3-year period in A.S.C.A. § 43.0120(3), and a claim founded on a written construction contract by the 10-year period in subsection (5).

Statute of limitations for wrongful death in US-AS is 2 years under A.S.C.A. § 43.5001.

Statute of limitations for oral contract in US-AS is 3 years under A.S.C.A. § 43.0120.

A.S.C.A. § 43.0120(2) provides in relevant part that actions founded on injuries to the person whether based on contract or tort, or for a statutory penalty, must be brought within two years after their causes accrue.