What you say is true Carly. Sadly for the vermin at Portfolio, more & more people are becoming aware that what they are doing is attempting to re-validate time barred debts so that they can then pursue those people legally in a civil action. All it takes is for one of their tele-maggots to coerce a payment from a naïve individual & then the "clock starts ticking" again. That's why a person should NEVER make a payment on a time-barred debt. That persons' credit has already been "dinged" &, regardless of what some parasite from Portfolio might tell you, NOTHING is going to change that.
The SOLs on the various types of debt vary by state. The seven year report limit on CRs is basically irrelevant. Junk debt buyers can, and will, try to collect on ancient debts for as long as they think they might find a "sucker". Some will try to sue to collect a time-barred debt. The scheming SOBs are hoping for a default judgement. Currently only two states (Wisconsin & Mississippi) prohibit such under-handed practices. That's going to change as more people become more aware of what's been going on in this country for far too long.
Savvy consumers have no fear of Portfolio & even less fear of the blustering idiots that they employ. Junk debt buyers purchase exactly that. Junk! They also employ the same thing. Junk! If someone receives a summons from Portfolio they need to appear at the hearing. Retain an attorney or acquire help through a legal aid organization. Show up in that courtroom &, if that debt is time-barred, the attorney for Portfolio is going to come up with a dozen reasons why there "must have been a mistake" before anyone says a single word to the Judge. That's the point when you have your attorney mention counter-claims & a lawsuit against Portfolio to their attorney of record. He'll brush off the issue, until you file the paperwork against them. They'll settle with you at that point & they'll do it quickly. To them, it's just another cost of doing business.
It's also worth noting that generally, only legitimate, licensed collection agencies will bother to ding your credit report, as they have to provide pertinent information about who they are to the three major credit reporting agencies. Scam collectors have no desire to register themselves and create any kind of paper trail which could lead back to them. Plus, it's a crime for any collection agency to provide bogus contact information when reporting an unpaid debt. Not that criminals really care about that per se, but if the CRA's are unable to contact the creditor for validation in the event of a dispute, it's that much easier to remove a bogus report from your record. Remember....the burden of proof is always on the creditor first. They have to prove you owe the debt before you have to prove you don't.