text: i need to sue someday.  i sold my friend my car on a written contract. he hasnt paid me.  can i sue him now? we signed a contract when we both lived in washington state. he paid me $1000 down and was supposed to make $200 per month payments for 3 years.  i signed the title over to him b/c we were good friends and i trusted him. well, the deadbeat made the 1st $200 payment and then stopped.  he moved out of state and i havent seen or heard from him in over 7 years.  he just moved back to my area in washington and i know where he lives. i want to sue him for the money he owes me.  can i still sue him? i feel bad for you because i have read your other questions and answers.  you sound like a very nice person.  let me tell you what i know....  for washington state, the statute of limitations (sol) to enforce a written contract is 6 years.   you are too late to sue him.  your best shot would be if he had made any payments on the contract anytime during the 7 years.  each payment makes the 6 year sol start over.  so if he made a payment during the 4th year, you have 6 years from that point to sue him.  in that case, you have a good, enforceable case.  or, if he didnt make a payment but at least acknowledged the debt in some form of writing to you, that may also trigger the 6 year sol to start over from the date he made written acknowledgement of the debt.    lastly, you could just sue him anyway even with no payments or written acknowledment of the debt from him. once you sue and state your case in your court papers (dont mention anything about the sol in your papers) the burden woulb be on him to raise the defense of the 6 year sol applying to teh case.  if he did, you'd lose.  if he is not aware of the 6 year sol, you can just act like it doesnt exist and move forward to slam dunk him in court. good luck!!!