Anne
Greenville,#2Consumer Comment
Fri, May 19, 2006
Hello, In response to your other customer suggestion, I have some info that might explain this in more detail. It's a common misconception that "Charge-Off" means you don't owe the debt or it simply doesn't exist anymore. Not so. Here are actual definitions of "Charge-Off" and some tid bits from the Fair debt Collection and reporting law. A Charge-Off is a loan or credit card that is written off by a lender. It remains valid and subject to collection. Another definition: An item taken off inventory that cannot be recovered due to a skip, theft or damaged goods. The book value is deducted as an expense item. Basically, it is an Accounting term used to indicate that the creditor does not expect to collect the balance owed on an account and has removed it from their balance sheet as a loss because they don't expect to be able to collect. In this case the courts decided that no money is owed, therefore HNB cannot collect or report a debt that the courts ruled not owing, if the debt is not owed it's not valid which means it's not a charge-off. They can't report it. However, getting it removed is antoher matter. Plus, the fair credit reporting act say's they can't report false info on your report. As for the other consumer, your attorney should have contacted the collection agency and notified them of the pending lawsuits, the collection agencies would have held off reporting on your record until the outcome of the lawsuit. I'm sorry that happened to you and if you can still get a lawyer I hope it works out for you. By the way, flaming bags was funny. I would not recommend that though.
John
Akron,#3Consumer Comment
Fri, May 19, 2006
I had some extensive medical bills that should have been covered by insurance, but the insurance company found some bizarre technicality to consider the expenses a result of "pre-existing conditions." While in the process of filing a lawsuit, the collector decided to Charge Off nearly $100,000 in medical bills. Why? Because they sensed a malpractice suit might be coming and that they probably would lose. The Charge Off was simply a way to take a vindictive shot at me....just as I suspect Huntington Bank did to you. I got about half of my losses back, but the Charge Offs have destroyed my credit-- at least for 7 years anyway. Since the term "Charge Off" doesn't directly imply any legal debt is demanded, the credit reporting agencies accept it as simply account information. It's a sick little conspiracy they have going with the credit industry. I hope I'm wrong, but I don't think anything can be done about it. The good news is, though, I live only a few miles from the Huntington Bank branch that did this to you and I'll be happy to drop off a few flaming bags of dog crap on their porch for you!