Pay it off or settle. Does it matter??

[bandlp08]

Ok guys I got a question.  The husband and I filed for chapter 7 bankruptcy back in 11/2009. Now here we are in 06/2012 and I dont know if either it slipped through the cracks or it  just wasnt added but my husband has a collection that came today saying  he owed 1809.00.  Which he did and we wont lie about that. We have not heard anything in a long time from them so   thoguht it was included in bankruptcy. Either way it wasnt. So my Question is  do we settle for a lower amount as we dont have 1809.00 to hand over or do we make payments to pay in full?  We still have 7 years until the bankruptcy comes off so does it really matter if it shows  settle  not paid in full?  I know its always great to pay in full but  will it make much of a difference?

[RobertEG]

The dates for expiration of either SOL on the debt, or the period for continued inclusion in his CR, are separate from the BK issue.

What is the DOFD on the OC account that led up to the collection?  How to proceed is dependent upon that date, as you should know whether it is still within SOL, and when it is scheduled to be excluded from his CR based on its age (i.e., 7 years plus 180 days from DOFD).

Settled for less will satisfy the debt, but they can also report a "paid for less" special comment to his CR.

Best is to attempt a PFD deletion, but if that wont work, at least get their agreement not to report that additional special comment, and it will appear in his CR the same as if paid in full.

[Anonymous]

If your creditors got nothing in your Chapter 7 bankruptcy (a no-asset case), then court decisions hold that creditors that were omitted by mistake can not enforce their claims against you. The main reasoning behind those decisions is that those creditors wouldn't have received anything even if they had been listed. But if some of your assets were distributed to creditors, then you have no such protection.  Send them a copy of your discharge papers.