Does anyone know if I can be legally held responsible for a charged off account?

Question

I got a phone call from Asset Acceptance and I want to know what recourse I have to deal with them. They make me feel bad because of this.

Answer 1

Asset Acceptance is a predatory collection agency....be careful....See more info at the link below.

If the debt is outside the statue of limitations, which is the time period allowed to take legal action, then they cannot take any legal action against you. You can find the statue of limitations for your state by clicking on the first link below and looking in the last column, entitled "open" accounts.

Understand that you have federal rights under the Fair Debt Collection Act. Under this federal act you have the right to request validation of any alleged debt that a collection agency is trying to collect from you.

Mail a letter to Asset (it’s best to send Registered Mail with Return Receipt) with the following request:

Per the Fair Credit Reporting Act I am officially requesting that this alleged debt be validated.”

DO NOT allow yourself to be bullied by their collection agents. You have rights under the Fair Debt Collection Act. Debt collectors cannot take your firstborn child and they cannot send the sheriff to your residence to have you arrested for not making a payment...although they like to make you believe that they can.

Answer 2

The poster above is correct. A debt charged off by a creditor and sold to a collection agency is not automatically canceled. The chargeoff is an accounting action by the lender, not cancellation of the debt.

Answer 3

charged off does not mean you do not owe -- it means the creditor wrote the debt off as a loss, or a partial loss.

probably, they sold the account for pennies on the pound to this collection outfit and you now owe them, plus the usual fees, etc.