Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Georgia
if a credit card company sold their 'wrote off' accounts to another company, does the new company have the right to sue you for the full amount?......even if it was already wrote off as a bad debt?
Also, Does the money that the new company paid for the account come off the original balance?
During the time the new company was purchasing we never received any knowledge of any of this until served by the sheriffs office. Are they within their rights to do this?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Of course they can come after you. You didn't pay.
A charge-off is simply an accounting move so they can declare you a deadbeat and get back taxes they paid on monies you wrongfully failed to pay. On a credit report it is a derrogatory message that causes your credit score to plummit and warns others for seven years to not loan you money.
The new creditor can sue you for the full amount of the debt, plus accrued interest and attorneys fees.
It sounds like you were served with a suit. You now MUST hire counsel right away (unless you plan to pay off the debt in the next 30 days). Your attorney can help you decide if you should pay off the debt, defend the case, or go bankrupt.
If you faIl to answer and lose the case, or answer and lose, as soon as 45 days after service your paycheck and bank account can be garnisheed and other bad consequences can happen.
You have some misconceptions. You owe what owe, which likely includes interest, fees and possible attorneys fees. The fact that the creditor had to report it as a "write off" is purely an accounting issue for them. It has no effect on what you owe.
In addition, of course the amount paid by the collector for the debt has no bearing on you. Why would you get credit for avoiding paying the debt because someone else paid for it?
The collector or current owner of the debt has every right to sue you for every penny you owe and you can try to defend.
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