608 Limitations of Actions and Laches

• Jurisdiction: Arizona

No limitation of less than two years can be provided in a bond unless permitted by statute. Where no limitation of action is provided, the six-year statute for contracts applies.

A.R.S. § 20-1115 provides that no insurance company can provide a limitation of action of less than two years within which a claim must be sued upon. In Massachusetts Bonding & Ins. Co. v. Lentz, supra, the court held that a six-month limitation violated the then applicable predecessor to A.R.S.§ 20-1115 (ch. 36, § 1800).

In general, the statute of limitations for contracts is six years (A.R.S. § 12-548), and for liability created by statute, one year (A.R.S. § 12-541). In Wells-Stewart Constr. Co. v. Martin-Marietta Corp., supra, the court had to determine whether the six-year or the one-year statute of limitations should apply to bringing an action under a bond which was provided as a statutory requirement. The court determined that the bond itself, which

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