Ok, I've searched for a couple of days, but I all I could find was people asking the same question... Is there any law, or provision, or whatever, that says a Creditor MUST chargeoff at 180 days? Or can they wait indefinitely? all i could find for reference was this: http://www.fdic.gov/regulations/laws/rules/5000-1000.html Reason I ask: I have a Sears charge that I tried to let chargeoff years ago, because i couldnt pay and I just wanted to not have to deal with those jerks. I thought even a collection agency would be better than Sears's CSRs. I told them this, over and over. The bill went 180 days past due, but never charged off. I got a 'deal' from them to cut my payment to 40 bucks a month, and they'd bring my account current in 6 months or something. I didnt know ANYTHING at the time, so I took the deal. Later, I ran into more tough times, stopped paying again, and it went 180 days past due AGAIN. There are 2 '180 day late' notations on my CR from about 2-3 yrs ago. (btw, this account finally charged off a couple of months ago.) Can I claim that: a) this should have charged off back then, and b) the law says DOLA should be the chargeoff date, that this account's DOLA should be from the first 180 day late's date? Yes, I realize I come up with some weird questions, lol. thanks.
There is no law or regulation that requires a creditor to "charge off". A "charge off" is only for accounting purposes, when they claim the debt as "uncollectable", and claim it as an expense against taxes. As for reporting, the SOL for reporting is from the DOLA, which is 7 1/2 years from the latest time the account was current, (or they reported it as current). The FCRA stipulates this for this very reason, a creditor could theoretically keep a negative item on your report forever without this provision. Sorry, but there is no way to "force" a creditor to label an account as "charged off". What you can do is dispute, or demand accuracy on, the Date Of Last Activity. If they are misreporting this, then you have a violation of the FCRA.
Your welcome, Your "other problem" here is that the account is Sears. They have their own collections department, and will use every method available to collect. They will puposely NOT put it into a "charge off" so that they can continue collections activity. Sear's whole charge system is designed to increase interest and penalty revenues. They are the ONLY business I've seen that regularly says "$0.00" due this month! This sounds great when you get your statement, but the hidden danger is nearly 25% interest accruing!! After a careful evaluation of our Sears accounts they got paid off immediately. I am also still fighting "lates" that somehow got posted late on their on-line systems. You are up against one of the toughest systems around. Don't mean to upset you, but want you to knwo what you're up against.
Correct me if I'm not mistaken, but even before Sears card opporations were taken over by CitiBank, weren't they offered by a *BANK* ("Sears National Bank") subsidiary of Sears, and thus they would be covered by the 180 day late rule.
Re: Re: chargeoff at 180 days You have a point, however, nothing in the FDIC states that a creditor MUST label an account charged off. It states certain criteria that "generally" must be met to enter such classifications for accounting purposes. Financial institutions have a "different" set of accounting rules than general businesses. (this is done to "ensure sufficient liquidity and solvency) So, unfortunately for this case, "Sears National Bank" cannot be forced through banking regulations to label the account "charged off". You need to look at the "qualifying language" of "shoulds, "ifs, etc.
