§ 218. Transitional provisions. (a) Actions barred at effective date. Nothing in this article shall authorize any action to be commenced which is barred when this article becomes effective, except insofar as the right to commence the action may be revived by an acknowledgment or payment.
(b) Cause of action accrued and not barred at effective date. Where a cause of action accrued before, and is not barred when this article becomes effective, the time within which an action must be commenced shall be the time which would have been applicable apart from the provisions of this article, or the time which would have been applicable if the provisions of this article had been in effect when the cause of action accrued, whichever is longer.
(a) Nothing here revives an action already barred when the article took effect (except by acknowledgment/payment). (b) For a claim accrued-but-not-yet-barred at the effective date, use the longer of the old time or the new time.
★ Exam hits:
§ 201: the statute of limitations is jurisdictional-ish in effect — no court may extend the time to commence; parties can only shorten it by written agreement.
Article 78 = 4 months (§ 217). Suing the government = 1 year + 90 days plus a § 50-e notice of claim (§ 217-a).
Med-mal foreign object = 1 year from discovery (§ 214-a). Fraud = 6 yrs or 2 yrs from discovery, whichever is longer (§ 213(8)).
§ 205 savings statute: 6 months to re-file after a non-merits, non-jurisdiction, non-neglect termination (and serve within that 6 months).
Tolls: infancy/insanity (§ 208, 10-yr cap), defendant absent 4+ months (§ 207), death of claimant (1 yr) / death of defendant (18 months) (§ 210), stay/arbitration (§ 204, arb cap 1 yr after final determination).
Discovery rule default (§ 203(g)): 2 years after discovery or the normal period, whichever is longer.
Revival windows (know they exist): CVA child sex abuse § 214-g (6 mo–2½ yr), ASA adult sex abuse § 214-j (6 mo–1½ yr).
Verbatim statute: CPLR - Article 2
Marked in the text: penalties, time limits, sums of money. Editorial emphasis added by this edition; it does not appear in the statute as enacted.
In print
This provision appears in Volume 2 — The JG-22 CPLR and in Volume 1 — The JG-22 in Plain English.