Dear Mary: About 10 years ago, my daughter co-signed on an automobile loan for a friend. The “friend” skipped out on payments and left town, so they came after my daughter for payment. All these years later, she still has not paid anything on the loan. Is there a time limit for how long they can come after her to pay? Is there anything that she can do to get out from under this problem? We live in North Carolina. Thanks. —Jeanie
Dear Jeanie: I am not an attorney, so I cannot offer any kind of legal advice. That being said, my understanding is that in North Carolina, a debt that is secured by a promissory note (like a car loan) does not have a statute of limitations, per se. Once the lender files suit and receives a judgment against the borrower (your daughter) for nonpayment, the lender has 10 years from that date to try to collect. Then the debt can be reported to the credit bureaus for up to seven years after it is “written off” as uncollectible, which is only slightly better than “bankruptcy” on the list of bad things on her credit report.
