Bank card chargeoff after 11 years, is this possible?

Where do I start? I had a bank card with Bank of America which was settled with a debt collector. This was around 1997 or so. I have not applied for credit, used credit, etc. since before 2000.

I decided to look at my credit report today and found out that Bank of America just closed this bank card (in 2011). They said that no payments have been made since 1999 and no charges have been made since 1998.

First of all, I paid the debt collector to close the account (it has been so long I don't know if I can find the record of this, and I am extremely worried about that payment), but how can a company have an account for more than 11 years and just now close it?

I have two checking accounts with this bank. They send me statements and I have access to my accounts online. During this time they have never sent me a statement, nor mentioned on the online accounts that this credit card account will still open. The credit card division didn't even have my correct address. The address is one that I used briefly 11 years ago.

Since I was late more than 11 years ago, isn't there a law which says that it needs to be taken off my credit report? I thought after 7 1/2 years following the first problem, the bad credit needs to be cleared. How can the company go 11 years before closing this account, without any correspondence, and then report it to Transunion?

What would I need to do to take care of this?

 

I should also mention that with Experian I had a credit rating of 745, but no record at all with Equifax. Transunion showed three account review inquiries. The free report did not show my Transunion score.

Why the sudden interest? I thought that I had weathered the storm and might finally be able to buy a house. However, now I am wondering if that can be possible.

 

I just noticed that on Tranunion's credit report, it lists the Bank of America information under "Account Review Inquiries", and also states that "The companies listed below obtained information from your consumer report for the purose of an account reviw or other business transaction with you.Thesee inquireies are not displayed to anyone but you and will not affect any creditor's decision or any credit score."

It also lists one regular inquiry, one promotional inquiry, and one employment entry (from 1988)

It shows my current address as one I've never had (it shows 2001), and nothing more than that.

 

One more point...according to the bank, they kept carrying the account, and might have been charging fees, etc. Because of the long time period after I thought it was settled and there was no communication with them, is this past the statue of limitations to sue me (I live in Florida), and because they just stopped charging the account in 2010, can they still add this to my credit report (or could they only do this seven years after it first had problems?)

Even with all this, I am worried about the fact that I settled with a debt collection agency for the original amount (but am extremely worried that I can't prove this now).

 

Thanks for your response. Yes, I am guilty of not following up and being totally irresponsible. After all this time I decided to start working on my financial situation.

I had proof that I paid the debt, but I've moved so many times now and it has been so long ago, I don't know where the proof is. I hope I can locate some paperwork.

I understand that I was irresponsible for this happening, but I also can't understand how Bank of America would not have attempted to collect money from me during the past 11 years. I have two checking accounts with them and somehow they never attempted to garnish my account to pay for my card, or at least try to collect. It is almost like it was totally forgotten until this year. I can't understand it at all.

Is it true that since I had the problem more than seven years ago, there is a law which says it needs to be taken off my record? Or since BOA kept it open all this time, did the seven year clock start when they closed the account this year?