National Retailers Mutual Ins. v. Gross

The purpose of statutes of limitation is to bar actions and not to suppress or cut off matters of defense. Therefore, it is a general rule that such statutes are not applicable to defenses which serve to lessen or liquidate an adversary claim. 34 American Jurisprudence, 57, Section 63; 25 Ohio Jurisprudence, 573, Section 230. A statute of limitation ceases to run against a setoff or counterclaim as a defense only from the date of the commencement of the action in which such setoff or counterclaim is set up. See annotations 16 A. L. R., 326, and 78 A. L. R., 1074.

But this rule applies only in…