Collections

[Anonymous]

I have a CC for a catalog clothing company that went to collections. According to my credit report, it has been discharged. A CA is now contacting me for payoff and every month the amount due is increasing because of interest. I do not have the money to pay it off. Can the CA sue me? And, will this stay on my account from the date of the discharge or continue now that it has been given to a CA? I don't know where to start since I can't pay it off. ANY advice would be appreciated. .

[guiness56]

As far as I know, "discharged" is a term used for a judgment.  Never heard of it used in any other way.

What state are you in and what is the DOFD.  This should be found on the CR.

It stays on your CR 7 - 7.5 years from the DOFD.  If there is a judgment, that will make the fall off date different.

[Anonymous]

I checked my CR and this is what it states:

The CC is listed as "charged off as bad debt" and closed 2003. (My mistake, it does not say 'discharged').

The CA info on the CR states original balance of $3,611 with current balance of $5,721 and states will be removed on 5/2010.

I see no other info on my CR re this account. Thank you for your help as it is appreciated. I am in the beginning process of trying to clean up my credit and correct past mistakes.

I am nervous to contact the CA as I don't have the money to pay off the debt but also nervous about being sued. I live in CA.

I have a few other CC's but am current on them but only able to make minimum payment and get by with my financial situation at the moment.

[Anonymous]

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bluesealuvr wrote:
I have a CC for a catalog clothing company that went to collections. According to my credit report, it has been discharged. A CA is now contacting me for payoff and every month the amount due is increasing because of interest. I do not have the money to pay it off. Can the CA sue me? And, will this stay on my account from the date of the discharge or continue now that it has been given to a CA? I don't know where to start since I can't pay it off. ANY advice would be appreciated. .

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Is the OC showing a $0 balance? Not sure what you mean by discharged, unless you mean it was charged off. If that is what you mean, that is just an accounting term the business uses for tax purposes.

Check my signature for the link to check your state's SOL. This is the time from DOLA they have to sue you in and win.

As said, it will remain on your report 7-7.5 years from DOFD. Doesn't matter how many times it is sold/assigned to a CA, this date will never change.

If you haven't already, then get all three free reports from the annual credit report website.

These reports will show much more detailed information.

[Anonymous]

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bluesealuvr wrote:
I checked my CR and this is what it states:

The CC is listed as "charged off as bad debt" and closed 2003. (My mistake, it does not say 'discharged').

The CA info on the CR states original balance of $3,611 with current balance of $5,721 and states will be removed on 5/2010.

I see no other info on my CR re this account. Thank you for your help as it is appreciated. I am in the beginning process of trying to clean up my credit and correct past mistakes.

I am nervous to contact the CA as I don't have the money to pay off the debt but also nervous about being sued. I live in CA.

I have a few other CC's but am current on them but only able to make minimum payment and get by with my financial situation at the moment.

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Looks like we were posting at the same time.

What is DOLA?  SOL for California is 4 years. If you haven't made a payment in more than 4 years, then it appears you should be past SOL. If they file suit, you would use "expired SOL" as your defense.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for your help! I am looking up acronyms as I read your reply. By DOLA, do you mean the last date reported? The last updated activity by the CA is 7/2008. The CC states 3/2003 as "account closed" with $0 balance and "collateral--sold to another lender", which I assume is the CA. Thank you for your patience as I lean my way around the terminology.

[Anonymous]

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bluesealuvr wrote:
Thank you for your help! I am looking up acronyms as I read your reply. By DOLA, do you mean the last date reported? The last updated activity by the CA is 7/2008. The CC states 3/2003 as "account closed" with $0 balance and "collateral--sold to another lender", which I assume is the CA. Thank you for your patience as I lean my way around the terminology.

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DOLA would be last activity by you on the account, such as a transaction or payment.

If you made your last payment on, lets say, March 2003, but last transaction on April 2003, then DOLA would be April 2003.

SOL goes from this date, in most states it is the date of last payment, transactions don't count.

[guiness56]

DOLA, date of last activity, generally means last payment, but can mean other things.

Do not call the CA.  In some states, acknowledging the debt, making arrangements to pay or making a partial payment can restart the SOL.

It appears as the original creditor has sold the debt to the CA.

Who is the CA?

[Anonymous]

My report does not show the detail or indicate the date of last payment. However, it states the account was closed 3/2003 so I can assume sometime around that date as the DOLA?. (It states "closed by consumer"--this confuses me as I did not officially close the account). I appreciate the advice re contacting the CA. I have been nervous about being served at my place of employment if I am sued, which of course would be a large embarrassment. The CA is Midland Credit Mgt. (The information on this forum is invaluable!)

[guiness56]

Where did you get your report from? 

DOLA determines SOL and DOFD determines when it falls off your report.

Saying it was closed by consumer is much better than closed by credit grantor.

Your SOL appears to have expired.  They could still try to sue you but "expired SOL" would be your defense.

Message Edited by guiness56 on 08-09-2008 09:09 PM