## How the limitation period applies

The controlling primary authority for US-IL state employment discrimination SOL (775 ILCS 5/7A-102(A)(1)) is **775 ILCS 5/7A-102(A)(1)**.

> **775 ILCS 5/7A-102(A)(1).** Within 2 years after the date that a civil rights violation allegedly has been committed, a charge in writing under oath or affirmation may be filed with the Department by an aggrieved party or issued by the Department itself under the signature of the Director.

## 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

- [775 ILCS 5/7A-102(A)(1) — 775 ILCS 5/7A-102(A)(1)](https://www.ilga.gov/Documents/legislation/ilcs/documents/077500050K7A-102.htm)

All sources are official primary law published by `www.ilga.gov`.

**Corroboration method:** Single primary source from www.ilga.gov.


Statute of Limitations for State Employment Discrimination in Illinois.

Statute of Limitations for State Employment Discrimination in Illinois

ANO-831 sweep 2026-04-23: all 15 claim-type citations independently verified live against ilga.gov Documents endpoint. Only top-level + sub_rules required surgery (cross-wired raw_statute_text). DEEPEN 2026-04-29: per-claim raw_statute_text added to canonical claim_types block (was missing — only research-block had it). Each statute re-fetched live from ilga.gov Documents endpoint and verbatim-substringed. legal_malpractice (735 ILCS 5/13-214.3, 2yr discovery + 6yr repose) audit confirmed CORRECT — no PI/contract anchor fabrication present; common harvester miscategorization (lumping legal-mal under PI 13-202 = 2yr) was already fixed in prior sweep. fabrications_caught: 0 new during deepen pass; carry-forward count from 2026-04-23 surgery (top-level citation/raw_statute_text mismatch + 3 sub_rule cross-wires).

Actions for damages for an injury to the person, or for false imprisonment, or malicious prosecution, or for a statutory penalty, or for abduction, or for seduction, or for criminal conversation that may proceed pursuant to subsection (a) of Section 7.1 of the Criminal Conversation Abolition Act, except damages resulting from first degree murder or the commission of a Class X felony and the perpetrator thereof is convicted of such crime, shall be commenced within 2 years next after the cause of action accrued but such an action against a defendant arising from a crime committed by the defendant in whose name an escrow account was established under the "Criminal Victims' Escrow Account Act" shall be commenced within 2 years after the establishment of such account.

Except as provided in Section 2-725 of the "Uniform Commercial Code", approved July 31, 1961, as amended, and Section 11-13 of "The Illinois Public Aid Code", approved April 11, 1967, as amended, actions on unwritten contracts, expressed or implied, or on awards of arbitration, or to recover damages for an injury done to property, real or personal, or to recover the possession of personal property or damages for the detention or conversion thereof, and all civil actions not otherwise provided for, shall be commenced within 5 years next after the cause of action accrued.

Except as provided in Section 2-725 of the "Uniform Commercial Code", actions on bonds, promissory notes, bills of exchange, written leases, written contracts, or other evidences of indebtedness in writing and actions brought under the Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act shall be commenced within 10 years next after the cause of action accrued; but if any payment or new promise to pay has been made, in writing, on any bond, note, bill, lease, contract, or other written evidence of indebtedness, within or after the period of 10 years, then an action may be commenced thereon at any time within 10 years after the time of such payment or promise to pay.

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an action for damages for personal injury based on childhood sexual abuse or a violation of Section 10-9 of the Criminal Code of 2012 in which the victim is a minor must be commenced within 20 years of the date the limitation period begins to run under subsection (d) or within 20 years of the date the person abused discovers or through the use of reasonable diligence should discover both (i) that the act of childhood sexual abuse occurred and (ii) that the injury was caused by the childhood sexual abuse or a violation of Section 10-9 of the Criminal Code of 2012 in which the victim is a minor.

Except as herein provided, no judgment shall be enforced after the expiration of 7 years from the time the same is rendered, except upon the revival of the same by a proceeding provided by Section 2-1601 of this Act; but real estate, levied upon within the 7 years, may be sold to enforce the judgment at any time within one year after the expiration of the 7 years. A judgment recovered in an action for damages for an injury described in Section 13-214.1 may be enforced at any time. Child support judgments, including those arising by operation of law, may be enforced at any time. Consumer debt judgments may be revived or enforced in accordance with subsection (a-10) of Section 2-1602.

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an action for damages based on childhood sexual abuse or a violation of Section 10-9 of the Criminal Code of 2012 in which the victim is a minor may be commenced at any time; provided, however, that the changes made by this amendatory Act of the 98th General Assembly apply to actions commenced on or after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 98th General Assembly if the action would not have been time barred under any statute of limitations or statute of repose prior to the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 98th General Assembly.

Unless the statute describing the offense provides otherwise, or the period of limitation is extended by Section 3-6, a prosecution for any offense not designated in subsection (a) or (a-5) must be commenced within 3 years after the commission of the offense if it is a felony, or within one year and 6 months after its commission if it is a misdemeanor.

(a) Actions based upon tort, contract or otherwise against any person for an act or omission of such person in the design, planning, supervision, observation or management of construction, or construction of an improvement to real property shall be commenced within 4 years from the time the person bringing an action, or his or her privity, knew or should reasonably have known of such act or omission. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, contract actions against a surety on a payment or performance bond shall be commenced, if at all, within the same time limitation applicable to the bond principal. (b) No action based upon tort, contract or otherwise may be brought against any person for an act or omission of such person in the design, planning, supervision, observation or management of construction, or construction of an improvement to real property after 10 years have elapsed from the time of such act or omission.

Any action for damages under this Section shall be forever barred unless commenced within 3 years after the cause of action accrued; provided that, whenever any action is brought by the Attorney General or a State's Attorney for a violation of this Act, the running of the foregoing statute of limitations, with respect to every private right of action for damages which is based in whole or in part on any matter complained of in said action by the Attorney General or State's Attorney, shall be suspended during the pendency thereof, and for one year thereafter.

Sec. 13-205. Five year limitation. Except as provided in Section 2-725 of the "Uniform Commercial Code", approved July 31, 1961, as amended, and Section 11-13 of the "Illinois Public Aid Code", approved April 11, 1967, as amended, actions on bonds, promissory notes, bills of exchange, written leases, written contracts, or other evidences of indebtedness in writing, shall be commenced within 10 years next after the cause of action accrued; but if any payment or new promise to pay has been made, in writing, on any bond, note, bill, lease, contract, or other written evidence of indebtedness, within or after the period of 10 years, then an action may be commenced thereon at any time within 10 years after the time of such payment or promise to pay. Actions on unwritten contracts, expressed or implied, or on awards of arbitration, or to recover damages for an injury done to property, real or personal, or to recover the possession of personal property or damages for the detention or conversion thereof, and all civil actions not otherwise provided for, shall be commenced within 5 years next after the cause of action accrued.

(a) No civil action other than an action described in subsection (b) may be commenced in any court against a local entity or any of its employees for any injury unless it is commenced within one year from the date that the injury was received or the cause of action accrued. (b) No action for damages for injury or death against any local public entity or public employee, whether based upon tort, or breach of contract, or otherwise, arising out of patient care shall be brought more than 2 years after the date on which the claimant knew, or through the use of reasonable diligence should have known, or received notice in writing of the existence of the injury or death for which damages are sought in the action, whichever of those dates occurs first, but in no event shall such an action be brought more than 4 years after the date on which occurred the act or omission or occurrence alleged in the action to have been the cause of the injury or death.

An action for damages based on tort, contract, or otherwise (i) against an attorney arising out of an act or omission in the performance of professional services or (ii) against a non-attorney employee arising out of an act or omission in the course of his or her employment by an attorney to assist the attorney in performing professional services must be commenced within 2 years from the time the person bringing the action knew or reasonably should have known of the injury for which damages are sought. Except as provided in subsection (d), an action described in subsection (b) may not be commenced in any event more than 6 years after the date on which the act or omission occurred.

Sec. 13-201. Defamation - Privacy. Actions for slander, libel or for publication of matter violating the right of privacy, shall be commenced within one year next after the cause of action accrued.

Except as provided in Section 13-215 or 13-215.1 of this Act, no action for damages for injury or death against any physician, dentist, registered nurse or hospital duly licensed under the laws of this State, whether based upon tort, or breach of contract, or otherwise, arising out of patient care shall be brought more than 2 years after the date on which the claimant knew, or through the use of reasonable diligence should have known, or received notice in writing of the existence of the injury or death for which damages are sought in the action, whichever of such date occurs first, but in no event shall such action be brought more than 4 years after the date on which occurred the act or omission or occurrence alleged in such action to have been the cause of such injury or death.

Sec. 13-206. Ten year limitation. Except as provided in Section 2-725 of the "Uniform Commercial Code", actions on bonds, promissory notes, bills of exchange, written leases, written contracts, or other evidences of indebtedness in writing and actions brought under the Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act shall be commenced within 10 years next after the cause of action accrued; but if any payment or new promise to pay has been made, in writing, on any bond, note, bill, lease, contract, or other written evidence of indebtedness, within or after the period of 10 years, then an action may be commenced thereon at any time within 10 years after the time of such payment or promise to pay. For purposes of this Section, with regard to promissory notes dated on or after the effective date of this amendatory Act of 1997, a cause of action on a promissory note payable at a definite date accrues on the due date or date stated in the promissory note or the date upon which the promissory note is accelerated. With respect to a demand promissory note dated on or after the effective date of this amendatory Act of 1997, if a demand for payment is made to the maker of the demand promissory note, an action to enforce the obligation of a party to pay the demand promissory note must be commenced within 10 years after the demand. An action to enforce a demand promissory note is barred if neither principal nor interest on the demand promissory note has been paid for a continuous period of 10 years and no demand for payment has been made to the maker during that period. (Source: P.A. 95-209, eff. 8-16-07.)

D. No action shall be brought for relief under this Section or upon or because of any of the matters for which relief is granted by this Section after 3 years from the date of sale; provided, that if the party bringing the action neither knew nor in the exercise of reasonable diligence should have known of any alleged violation of subsection E, F, G, H, I or J of Section 12 of this Act which is the basis for the action, the 3 year period provided herein shall begin to run upon the earlier of: (1) the date upon which the party bringing the action has actual knowledge of the  alleged violation of this Act; or (2) the date upon which the party bringing the action has notice of facts which in the exercise of reasonable diligence would lead to actual knowledge of the alleged violation of this Act.

Actions for slander, libel or for publication of matter violating the right of privacy, shall be commenced within one year next after the cause of action accrued.

Within 2 years after the date that a civil rights violation allegedly has been committed, a charge in writing under oath or affirmation may be filed with the Department by an aggrieved party or issued by the Department itself under the signature of the Director.

If the person entitled to bring an action, specified in Sections 13-201 through 13-210 of this Code, at the time the cause of action accrued, is under the age of 18 years or is under a legal disability, then he or she may bring the action within 2 years after the person attains the age of 18 years, or the disability is removed.

(1) 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. (2) 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.

If any employee is paid by his or her employer less than the wage to which he or she is entitled under the provisions of this Act, the employee may recover in a civil action treble the amount of any such underpayments together with costs and such reasonable attorney's fees as may be allowed by the Court, and damages of 5% of the amount of any such underpayments for each month following the date of payment during which such underpayments remain unpaid. Any agreement between the employee and the employer to work for less than such wage is no defense to such action. At the request of the employee or on motion of the Director of Labor, the Department of Labor may make an assignment of such wage claim in trust for the assigning employee and may bring any legal action necessary to collect such claim, and the employer shall be required to pay the costs incurred in collecting such claim. Every such action shall be brought within 3 years from the date of the underpayment.

Except as otherwise provided in subsection (e) of this Section, every such action shall be commenced within 2 years after the death of such person but an action against a defendant arising from a crime committed by the defendant in whose name an escrow account was established under the "Criminal Victims' Escrow Account Act" shall be commenced within 2 years after the establishment of such account.

If a person liable to an action fraudulently conceals the cause of such action from the knowledge of the person entitled thereto, the action may be commenced at any time within 5 years after the person entitled to bring the same discovers that he or she has such cause of action, and not afterwards. (735 ILCS 5/13-215, P.A. 82-280). General discovery rule extended by case law to latent injuries, fraud, and malpractice: Knox College v. Celotex Corp., 88 Ill.2d 407 (1981).

A civil action under Section 13 of the Illinois Securities Law of 1953 must be brought within 3 years from the date of sale. Where the action is based on an alleged violation of subsection E, F, G, H, I, or J of Section 12 (the anti-fraud subsections) and the plaintiff neither knew nor in the exercise of reasonable diligence should have known of the alleged violation, the same 3-year period instead begins to run from the earlier of (1) the plaintiff's actual knowledge of the alleged violation or

Under 735 ILCS 5/13-206, actions on promissory notes, written contracts, and other written evidences of indebtedness must be commenced within 10 years after the cause of action accrued (subject to the UCC Section 2-725 carve-out); for promissory notes dated on or after the 1997 amendatory Act, accrual is on the due/acceleration date for definite-date notes and on demand for demand notes. A mortgage deficiency claim is an action on the underlying written note, so the ten-year period applies by th

Under 735 ILCS 5/13-202, actions for damages for injury to the person or for false imprisonment must be commenced within 2 years after the cause of action accrued. Section 13-202 expressly lists false imprisonment; this receipt does not certify a separate case-law accrual doctrine for false arrest.

Under 735 ILCS 5/13-202, actions for damages for an injury to the person (along with false imprisonment, malicious prosecution, statutory penalty, abduction, seduction, and criminal conversation) must be commenced within 2 years after the cause of action accrued. This covers general PI, negligence, premises liability, product liability, slip-and-fall, dog bite, false imprisonment, and several intentional torts at the same 2-year limit.

Under 735 ILCS 5/13-205, actions to recover damages for an injury done to property, real or personal, must be commenced within 5 years after the cause of action accrued. Controls trespass to real property in Illinois (distinct from 2-year § 13-202 which governs personal injury).

Under 735 ILCS 5/13-214.3(b), an action for damages against an attorney (or non-attorney assistant) arising from an act or omission in the performance of professional services must be commenced within 2 years from the time the plaintiff knew or reasonably should have known of the injury. Subsection (c) imposes a 6-year outer repose: action may not be commenced more than 6 years after the act or omission.

Under 735 ILCS 5/13-214(a), construction-related actions (tort, contract, or otherwise) against persons performing design, planning, supervision, observation, management, or construction of real-property improvements must be commenced within 4 years from when the plaintiff knew or reasonably should have known of the act or omission. Subsection (b) imposes a 10-year outer repose from the act or omission. Late-discovery plaintiffs always get at least 4 years from discovery.

Under 735 ILCS 5/13-201, actions for slander, libel, or publication of matter violating right of privacy must be commenced within one year. Statute explicitly enumerates slander and libel together.

Under 810 ILCS 5/2-725(1), an action for breach of any contract for sale must be commenced within 4 years after the cause of action accrued.

Under 735 ILCS 5/13-202.2(f) (added by P.A. 100-80, eff. 2017-08-11), an action for damages based on childhood sexual abuse may be commenced at any time — no statute of limitations applies. The no-SOL rule applies to actions that would not have been time-barred under any prior SOL or repose before the effective date.

Under 735 ILCS 5/13-211(a), if the person entitled to bring an action under §§ 13-201 through 13-210 was under 18 or under a legal disability at the time the cause of action accrued, the person may bring the action within 2 years after attaining age 18 or the disability is removed. Subsection (b) addresses subsequent disabilities (stays SOL during disability, but no stay > 10 years for §§ 13-205/13-206 actions).

Under 815 ILCS 505/10a(e), an ICFA action for damages is forever barred unless commenced within 3 years after the cause of action accrued. Tolled during pendency of related AG/SA action plus 1 year.

Under 775 ILCS 5/7A-102(A)(1) (as amended by P.A. 104-425, eff. 1-1-26), a charge alleging an Illinois Human Rights Act violation must be filed with IDHR within 2 years of the date the violation allegedly occurred. Prior pre-2024 rule was 300 days.

Under 735 ILCS 5/12-108(a), child support judgments — including those arising by operation of law — may be enforced AT ANY TIME. No statute of limitations applies. (Non-CS judgments have a 7-year SOL with revival option under § 2-1601.)

Under 735 ILCS 5/13-202 (Code of Civil Procedure, Article XIII, Personal injury - Penalty), an action for damages for an injury to the person must be commenced within 2 years next after the cause of action accrued. Civil claims for assault and battery as intentional torts against an adult plaintiff are 'actions for damages for an injury to the person' within the meaning of Section 13-202 and are therefore governed by this 2-year limitations period. Section 13-202 also expressly covers false impr

Illinois common-law fraud / deceit actions are governed by the five-year residual limitations period in 735 ILCS 5/13-205. Because no more specific Illinois statute provides a separate limitations period for common-law fraud or deceit, such actions fall within the section's catch-all category of 'all civil actions not otherwise provided for,' and must be commenced within 5 years after the cause of action accrued.

Actions on promissory notes in Illinois must be commenced within 10 years after the cause of action accrued. For notes dated on or after Aug. 16, 1997: a definite-date note accrues on the due date stated in the note or the date of acceleration; a demand note accrues on the date of demand (and is barred after 10 years of no payment + no demand). A written payment or written new promise to pay restarts the 10-year period.

Under 735 ILCS 5/13-212(a), a medical malpractice action for damages for injury or death against any physician, dentist, registered nurse, or hospital duly licensed under Illinois law — whether sounding in tort, breach of contract, or otherwise, and arising out of patient care — must be brought within 2 years after the earliest of (i) the date the claimant knew of the injury or death, (ii) the date on which the claimant should have known through the use of reasonable diligence, or (iii) the date

An Illinois breach-of-fiduciary-duty claim uses the five-year limitations period in 735 ILCS 5/13-205 for civil actions not otherwise provided for.

For an Illinois Class C misdemeanor prosecution not covered by a more specific offense statute, 720 ILCS 5/3-5(b) requires prosecution within one year and six months after commission of the offense, unless Section 3-6 extends the limitation period. Illinois defines petty offenses separately from misdemeanors; this receipt does not certify the limitations period for petty offenses.

Under 740 ILCS 180/2(d), an Illinois wrongful-death action generally must be commenced within two years after the death of the person, subject to the subsection (e) exceptions and the escrow-account clause in subsection (d).

Under 735 ILCS 5/13-202, an action for damages for false imprisonment (which subsumes false arrest under the Illinois statutory text and SCOTUS's treatment in Wallace v. Kato) must be commenced within 2 years after the cause of action accrued. For § 1983 false-arrest claims arising in Illinois, the same 2-year period applies, with the federal accrual rule from Wallace v. Kato (cause of action accrues when the claimant becomes held pursuant to legal process). For Illinois common-law false-arrest 

Under Illinois law, the continuing-violation doctrine operates so that the limitations period runs from the last act in a continuing pattern of unlawful conduct, not the first. The general five-year civil SOL under 735 ILCS 5/13-205 — which covers 'all civil actions not otherwise provided for' — is the residual period that applies in continuing-violation cases where no shorter enumerated SOL governs the underlying claim type. The doctrine is most commonly invoked in employment discrimination and

Statute of limitations for personal injury in US-IL is 2 years under 735 ILCS 5/13-202.

Statute of limitations for wrongful death in US-IL is 2 years under 740 ILCS 180/2(d).

Statute of limitations for medical malpractice in US-IL is 2 years under 735 ILCS 5/13-212(a).

Statute of limitations for legal malpractice in US-IL is 2 years under 735 ILCS 5/13-214.3.

Statute of limitations for breach written contract in US-IL is 10 years under 735 ILCS 5/13-206.

Statute of limitations for ucc sale of goods in US-IL is 4 years under 810 ILCS 5/2-725(1).

Statute of limitations for fraud in US-IL is 5 years under 735 ILCS 5/13-205, as applied by Khan v. BDO Seidman, LLP, 2012 IL App (4th) 120359.

Statute of limitations for libel in US-IL is 1 years under 735 ILCS 5/13-201.

Statute of limitations for slander in US-IL is 1 years under 735 ILCS 5/13-201.

Statute of limitations for government tort claim in US-IL is 1 years under 745 ILCS 10/8-101.

Statute of limitations for false arrest false imprisonment in US-IL is 2 years under 735 ILCS 5/13-202.

Statute of limitations for construction defects in US-IL is 4 years under 735 ILCS 5/13-214(a)-(b).

Statute of limitations for tolling for minority in US-IL is 2 years under 735 ILCS 5/13-211(a).

Statute of limitations for mortgage deficiency debt in US-IL is 10 years under 735 ILCS 5/13-206.

Statute of limitations for assault and battery intentional tort in US-IL is 2 years under 735 ILCS 5/13-202.

Statute of limitations for debt on a promissory note in US-IL is 10 years under 735 ILCS 5/13-206.

Statute of limitations for breach of fiduciary duty in US-IL is 5 years under 735 ILCS 5/13-205, as applied by Hassebrock v. Ceja Corp., 2015 IL App (5th) 140037.

Statute of limitations for product liability in US-IL is 2 years under 735 ILCS 5/13-202.

Statute of limitations for premises liability in US-IL is 2 years under 735 ILCS 5/13-202.

Statute of limitations for property damage in US-IL is 5 years under 735 ILCS 5/13-205.

Statute of limitations for trespass in US-IL is 5 years under 735 ILCS 5/13-205.

Statute of limitations for breach oral contract in US-IL is 5 years under 735 ILCS 5/13-205.

Statute of limitations for childhood sexual abuse civil in US-IL is 20 years under 735 ILCS 5/13-202.2(f).

Statute of limitations for child support enforcement modification in US-IL is no statute of limitations under 735 ILCS 5/12-108(a).

Illinois actions on written contracts must be commenced within 10 years after the cause of action accrued under 735 ILCS 5/13-206.

Illinois childhood sexual abuse civil claims may be commenced at any time under 735 ILCS 5/13-202.2(f).

Credit card and open account debt in Illinois rests on unwritten contracts express or implied and must be commenced within five years under 735 ILCS 5/13-205.

Except as provided in Section 2-725 of the Uniform Commercial Code ... and Section 11-13 of The Illinois Public Aid Code ... actions on unwritten contracts, expressed or implied, or on awards of arbitration, or to recover damages for an injury done to property, real or personal, or to recover the possession of personal property or damages for the detention or conversion thereof, and all civil actions not otherwise provided for, shall be commenced within 5 years next after the cause of action accrued.

Except as provided in Section 2-725 of the Uniform Commercial Code, actions on bonds, promissory notes, bills of exchange, written leases, written contracts, or other evidences of indebtedness in writing and actions brought under the Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act shall be commenced within 10 years next after the cause of action accrued.

no action for damages for injury or death against any physician, dentist, registered nurse or hospital duly licensed under the laws of this State ... arising out of patient care shall be brought more than 2 years after the date on which the claimant knew, or through the use of reasonable diligence should have known, or received notice in writing of the existence of the injury or death for which damages are sought in the action, whichever of such date occurs first, but in no event shall such action be brought more than 4 years after the date on which occurred the act or omission or occurrence alleged in such action to have been the cause of such injury or death.

Sec. 13-205. Five year limitation. Except as provided in Section 2-725 of the "Uniform Commercial Code", approved July 31, 1961, as amended, and Section 11-13 of "The Illinois Public Aid Code", approved April 11, 1967, as amended, actions on unwritten contracts, expressed or implied, or on awards of arbitration, or to recover damages for an injury done to property, real or personal, or to recover the possession of personal property or damages for the detention or conversion thereof, and all civil actions not otherwise provided for, shall be commenced within 5 years next after the cause of action accrued.

If, when the cause of action accrues against a person, he or she is out of the state, the action may be commenced within the times herein limited, after his or her coming into or return to the state; and if, after the cause of action accrues, he or she departs from and resides out of the state, the time of his or her absence is no part of the time limited for the commencement of the action.

If a person liable to an action fraudulently conceals the cause of such action from the knowledge of the person entitled thereto, the action may be commenced at any time within 5 years after the person entitled to bring the same discovers that he or she has such cause of action, and not afterwards.