Quick Answer: A statute of limitations on debt means creditors cannot sue after a certain period, but they can still attempt collection indefinitely. The debt becomes legally unenforceable in court, though making any payment or acknowledging the debt can restart the statute of limitations clock entirely.
“Dear Steve,
I was with Note World Settlement for a long time. After them not being able to settle with Discover after 7 year. They told me Discover could NOT do anything to me any more (staute of limiation law) I live in WI. Now I got a bill from Discover for the full amount do now!! what do I do??
thanks
Mary”
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Dear Mary,
It seems we are dealing with some misinformation.
Noteword is a third party escrow company and holds funds on behalf of a consumer. They do not do debt settlements. You most likely worked with a company that did sell you debt settlement services and used Noteworld as the escrow company.
The only way to know for certain if the statute of limitations has expired on a debt would be to get a specific legal opinion from an attorney licensed in Wisconsin. These are not necessarily simple deductions. Often time there are other factors which can come into play.
I would advise you to contact a local consumer attorney.
Just because a debt may have expired under the statute of limitations does not mean the debt owner can’t still pursue you. It just means they can’t sue you. They can attempt to collect on the debt until you die and if you admit you owe the debt or make a payment the statute of limitations can begin again.
Please post your responses and follow-up messages to me on this in the comments section below.
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Thank you, Steve, for clarifying what we do at Meracord,
formerly NoteWorld.
Mary, Steve is correct. NoteWorld Servicing Center, now
Meracord, is not a debt settlement company, but a third-party contractual
payment processor. We didn’t negotiate your debt with Discover. As a
third-party payment processor we collect your payments and hold the funds in a
secure trust account until a settlement is ready to be paid, as negotiated by
your debt relief service provider and outlined in your agreement, and we
disburse the funds accordingly. Please feel free to contact one of our customer
service representatives at (800) 535-9192 if you have any questions regarding
your account or would like us to provide you the name of your debt relief
service provider.