Charged off debt

[ronla]

What is the name of your state?I live in Georgia. I want to know when a debt is reported on your credit report as charged off or written off by the original creditor with a zero balance but shows transferred/account charged off. What are my legal rights. The reason I ask is that I just came from a court where I was being sued by one of these outfits that buy charged off accounts for pennies on the dollars. I told the judge that with the Federal Fair Credit Act, maybe not the right name but he bought it, that there is no legal obligation to pay anyone anything. He rescheduled it for next week so just need some evidence, or a website link that I can print telling me my rights.
thank you

 

[cmorris]

I'm not sure I understand your post.

Does your credit report list 2 tradelines? One from the original creditor stating it was charged off, $0 balance, and transferred/sold? Is there another one from the collection agency? How is it reporting?

Did this company purchase your debt from the original creditor and is now suing you?

If the above is correct, you don't have many options. How old is the debt and what is it for? Georgia has a statute of limitations of 4 years (oral agreements and open accounts--like credit cards) and 6 years (written contracts and promissory notes).

Your state does not require the collection agency to be licensed or bonded.

Can you be more clear? What defense are you trying to use? Do you have a paper trail to reference in court?

 

[Ladynred]

Creditors sell off charged-off debts in huge portfolios, there is nothing in the Fair Credit Report Act or the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act that prevents that. The collection agency/junk debt buyer is then perfectly within their rights to pursue collection of that debt, including suing you. A charge-off does NOT relieve you of the obligation to pay the debt, you only have to pay the new 'owner' of the debt.

Unless you're past the Statute of Limitations on this debt, you're stuck with it and probably will wind up with a judgment against you.

 

[epic1231]

Sorry to jump in on the middle of this conversation but what is the Statute of Limitations on a debt? I have never heard of that before -

Thanks,
Bill

 

[Ladynred]

The Statute of Limitations (SOL) is the amount of time that a creditor has to pursue legal means to enforce collection of a debt. So, the SOL on credit cards in GA is 4 years (open-ended account). If the last time you paid on a debt was more than 4 years ago, and you never again paid anything on that debt, the statute of limitations has expired. A creditor CAN still try to collect, they can even sue you, BUT, the expired SOL is an affirmative defense you can use to get the lawsuit thrown out of court.

 

[epic1231]

Ok thank you i do appreciate your explanation

Have a great weekend

Regards,
Bill