Debts never go away
It’s a common misconception. Debts never go away, especially not after 7 years.
The 7 years time period is a report-time limit, and has nothing to do with your liability towards your debts. Most debts cannot appear more than y years on your credit report, and fall of after this time period has elapsed.
The fact that a debt does not appear on your credit report doesn’t mean that the debt is erased! You are still liable, and can expect debt collectors to call, file law suits or use any other legal action available.
Another, different time limit is called statute of limitation (S.O.L). Different states have different SOL times for various debt types. The SOL sets a time frame to bring a law suit against you. Even after the SOL has passed you are still liable for your debts, only there is nothing legal that can be done to force you to pay.
See this post for more info.