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District Court (Minn.) Says Charged-Off Debt Remains Owing, and It’s Not Inaccurate to Report It

by Scott J. Hyman |

In Towle v. TD Bank USA, N.A., No. 22-CV-0624 (PJS/TNL), 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 146898, at *1-3 (D. Minn. Aug. 17, 2022), Judge Schiltz dismissed a credit reporting claim premised on the grounds that reporting charged off debt is inaccurate because, allegedly, it's not owing anymore.  Judge Schiltz found the allegation to be frivolous. Towle filed his original complaint on… Read More

Two District Courts (Cal.) Find FCRA Claims Adequately Pleaded Arising out of Post-Bankruptcy Credit Reporting

by Scott J. Hyman |

In Grantham v. Bank of America, N.A., 2012 WL 5904729 (N.D.Cal. 2012), Judge James held that a Plaintiff stated a claim against a Bank for post-bankruptcy discharge credit reporting. In February 2011, Grantham sent a dispute letter to Experian requesting an investigation of the 1051 Account, disputing the alleged delinquencies reported in her credit report while her bankruptcy petition was… Read More

Court of Appeals (Az.) Finds Repossession of Vehicle, Not Internal “Charge-off”, Constituted Affirmative Act to Commence Statute of Limitations on Automobile Finance Debt

by Scott J. Hyman |

In Baseline Financial Services v. Madison, --- P.3d ----, 2012 WL 1999690 (Ariz. App. 2012), the Arizona Court of Appeals held that an automobile finance company’s internal ‘charge off’ of the obligation for non-payment did not commence the statute of limitations on the debt.  Rather, based on a survey of out-of-state cases, the Court of Appeals held that repossession is… Read More

What is a “charged-off” account, anyway?

by Scott J. Hyman |

In Kelly v. Wolpoff & Abramson, LLP, 2008 WL 2397689 (D.Colo. 2008), District Judge Nottingham rejected a consumer's claim that a debt collector violated the FDCPA by collecing on a "charged off" account.  Judge Nottingham rejected the misperception some consumers have that "charging off" an account equates to debt extinguishment. According to generally accepted accounting principles codified into federal regulations and… Read More