Your obligation to pay a debt does not disappear when an item is "charged
off", it simply means that the creditor has decided to write the debt off
their books. This sometimes, but not always, means you won't be bothered
anymore concerning this debt. Sometimes a creditor will charge off a debt
on their books but assign it to someone else. Some companies specialize in
buying charged off debts and trying to collect them later.

What happens after a while is that your state's Statute of Limitations will
kick in- a creditor must take legal action against you within a certain time
frame....depending on where you live, this can usually be between 4-6 years.
This clock usually starts ticking from when you made your last payment to
them...so if you paid a debt last in 1990, you probably don't have to worry
about anyone suing you over this debt anymore, as the time period has
elapsed. Of course, as with all areas of the law, there are numerous
exceptions that might apply to a particular situation.


*****

Rob Stumpf, Esq.

Stumpf and Ginter, Attorneys at Law
Practicing Bankruptcy in NY and NJ

visit us at www.online-law-firm.com
or email rob@online-law-firm.com


Disclaimer: No email or newsgroup communication is to be construed to
establish any sort of an attorney-client relationship, is not legal advice,
and is not a replacement for the advice of a competent attorney in your
jurisdiction.
"Matt" <playback24@aol.com> wrote in message
news:9f85c1ee.0308120752.361d121e@posting.google.c om... Could anyone tell me what your responsibility is to a creditor after they charge it off. I know the right thing to do is to pay it, but can they still pursue collection? What happens if I never pay it? Thanks

I filed for Ch 7 about a year ago. I checked my credit report, and one
creditor shows a charge off date after my file date. The amount charged off
is the total of all late fees and etc all the way down to my discharge date.
I disputed the info with the reporting agency. They asked for a creditor
list, and I gave them what I gave to my attny (and discharge papers). The
reporting agency still says that it is a valid credit report item. Is there
some federal form that they need to prove that it was a BR and not a charge
off? On the federal court web site, I found the mailing label list that
included the creditor, but nothing else I could really use as 'proof' to the
credit report agency. Is this worth clearing up since they are unlikely to
try and collect?

Thanks in advance...