Legal Question in Business Law in California

There is a statute of limitation for civil fraud in California. California Civ. Proc. �338(d).

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3 years

Not true

It is not true and there are no situations where it would be true.

What you may be thinking of is the rule that the limitations period does not start to run until the fraud is discovered OR through the exercise of reasonable diligence should have been discovered. So the better a person hides the lie underlying the fraud, the longer it will take for the limitations period to run, but once it is discovered or should have been discovered, the three-year clock starts ticking.

Although all the answers are essentially correct, Mr. McCormick's answer is the most detailed and enlightening. Understanding and applying statutes of limitations and other related rules limiting the time within which a lawsuit may be brought is a somewhat complex subject. It is an area where there are numerous exceptions and special rules that sometimes, although rarely, act to extend (or perhaps shorten) the time within which a suit may be brought. For example, in addition to the statutes of limitations, already discussed in the prior answers, there is a principle called "laches." Laches is an equitable defense under which a defendant says to the court, "The suit against me isn't fair, the plaintiff waited too long, the witnesses are gone, my evidence is stale, etc."