The right of any holder to enforce the lien of any street improvement bond or street improvement refunding bond by foreclosure, mandamus, refunding, or otherwise, shall be barred upon the expiration of three (3) years after the maturity date named on the face of such bond, unless the bondholder, prior to the expiration of the three-year period, shall have:

The running of the three-year period of limitation shall be an absolute bar to any action or proceeding brought thereafter, whether the same is plead as a defense or not, and the property against which the bonds represented a lien shall thereafter be, by operation of law, absolved of any lien or liability on account of the bonds.