Rotkiske v. Klemm

Decided December 10, 2019. Clarence Thomas delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 18-328 · 589 U.S. 8 (2019) · Cited 350 times

Holding

Absent the application of an equitable doctrine, the Federal Debt Collection Practices Act’s statute of limitations for bringing a private civil action against debt collectors who engage in certain prohibited practices, 15 U. S. C. §1692k(d), begins to run when the alleged violation occurs, not when it is discovered.

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court. Read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 8–1.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. The lineup is the syllabus’s disposition of who wrote and joined each opinion. Source: the opinion’s syllabus (supremecourt.gov).

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• TRW Inc. v. Andrews · 534 U.S. 19 (2001)
• Holmberg v. Armbrecht · 327 U.S. 392 (1946)
• Burnett v. New York Central Railroad · 380 U.S. 424 (1965)
• Bailey v. Glover · 88 U.S. 342 (1875)
• Lozano v. Montoya Alvarez · 572 U.S. 1 (2014)
• Gabelli v. Securities & Exchange Commission · 568 U.S. 442 (2013)
• Connecticut National Bank v. Germain · 503 U.S. 249 (1992)
• Merck & Co. v. Reynolds · 559 U.S. 633 (2010)
• Swierkiewicz v. Sorema N. A. · 534 U.S. 506 (2002)
• Johnson v. Railway Express Agency, Inc. · 421 U.S. 454 (1975)
• United States v. Detroit Timber & Lumber Co. · 200 U.S. 321 (1906)
• Lampf, Pleva, Lipkind, Prupis & Petigrow v. Gilbertson · 501 U.S. 350 (1991)
• Hardt v. Reliance Standard Life Insurance Co. · 560 U.S. 242 (2010)
• Rotella v. Wood · 528 U.S. 549 (2000)
• Bay Area Laundry & Dry Cleaning Pension Trust Fund v. Ferbar Corp. of California, Inc. · 522 U.S. 192 (1997)
• Klehr v. A. O. Smith Corp. · 521 U.S. 179 (1997)
• Young v. United States · 535 U.S. 43 (2002)
• Iselin v. United States · 270 U.S. 245 (1926)
• Graham County Soil & Water Conservation District v. United States Ex Rel. Wilson · 545 U.S. 409 (2005)
• Credit Suisse Securities (Usa) LLC v. Simmonds · 566 U.S. 221 (2012)
• Menominee Indian Tribe of Wis. v. United States · 577 U.S. 250 (2016)
• California Public Employees' Retirement System v. ANZ Securities, Inc. · 582 U.S. 497 (2017)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Warner Chappell Music, Inc. v. Nealy · 601 U.S. 366 (2024)
• Lackey v. Stinnie · 604 U.S. 192 (2025)

Official text

Read the official opinion (PDF, supremecourt.gov)

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2019). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-08-15. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).