In 1987 I purchased a car while living in British Columbia. I divorced in 1995 and my wife took the car and the payments. We did this without having anything legally set down (dumb I know). She later declared bankruptcy and disappeared with the car.

In 2005 I moved to Ontario and I went to apply for a car loan in 2008 and somehow this old loan turned up. I believe the people I applied to notified the collection agency of my SIN number. The collection agency went to court and obtained a garnishment through my employer. I had to go to court to fight it and the court said I still had to pay it. From a $5000.00 loan I was assessed at $20000 for interest. I don't understand as the statute of limitations in Ontario is supposed to be 2 years and this loan was from 1987! I did not get an answer from my lawyer who I think screwed this up somehow.

My employer at the time let it be known that they did not like having people in a security position with a garnishment. So they began to find fault with my appearance, work performance etc. They then laid me off. So I haven't made any payments since 2008 Since then I have been unable to find work and have been living with one relative or another working at odd jobs. I recently received another collection notice in the mail in Jan 2011 and have no idea how these people keep finding me. Do I declare bankruptcy or is there really a statue of limitations and they can no longer take me to court?