[femmknight]

Hi,
My Parntner had a loan and it was written off. Today she just got a letter from a company stating they bought her debt and she owes the money. What I was wondering what are the statue of limitations in Ontario,Canada , and should she even talk to these people?

[mr.yet]

Tell them to put it in writing, never speak to them on the phone.

[femmknight]

Thank you,
I did more research on the web and they said never admit to owing the debt because once you do the statute of limitations will be over and the debt will be renewed. Also, this certain creditor bought her debt from another so the experts said never pay the full price if you aren't within your statute of limitations cause these creditors who buy your debt from another creditor pay pennies on the dollar . Tell them you'll pay 25% and they still will make a profit. That is only for these companies whom have bought your debt after the original has signed off on you. Just for people to know.

[ScottGem]

First, there is a misconception that a written off debt removes the obligation to pay. A debt is a contract. Someone loans you money and you promise to pay it back. Nothing removes that promise except repayment of the debt.

A write off is simply a tax move where the creditor takes a loss against income to reduce tax liability. If the Statute of Limitations expires it does not remove the debt only the creditor's ability to take the debtor to court.

Canada's SOLs are fairly short, but any acknolwedgement of the debt restarts the SOL. So yes, one should never admit to the debt. But that makes negotiating a settlement kind of hard.

Its also true that companies buy debt for pennies on the dollar so most of what they recover is gravy.