Yes it can. Once an agreement to re-pay is made that re-starts the SOL. And unfortunately for you, you put this in writing. If this is the case then there really isn't much that you can do except wait another 7 years. Or work out a re-payment plan and negotiate that as part of the plan they clear you credit report. They will tell you that they can't but they can, or they may say yes but not do it. So get it in writing.There is also the chance that what happened here is that they sought to illegally "re-age" your debt. This occurs when a collection agency tradeline on your credit report is reporting a newer one than your actual original creditor tradeline. This allows that negative information to remain on your credit report for longer than permitted by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). However, since this all happened right after your settlement offer I would surmise that that is what triggered things.