Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Maryland

Re: Car Profit loss/Write off..Do I still owe?

Yes, you still owe the money. Whether they can sue will depend on exactly what it says in the note that you originally signed when you bought the car. Normally, the statute of limitations would bar any suit after 3 years (which sounds as if it has passed in your case). However, if they put special languaged in your contract that expressly states that the contract is "under seal" and expressly states that the statute of limitations will be 12 years or words to that effect, then they MAY be able to sue even now. In either event, they can list this as a negative credit reference on your credit report for 7 years, they can report that the amount is still owed even though it was "written off" (that just means that they haven't been actively trying to collect, it doesn't mean that they forgave you the debt).

I know that it's a hard time to do it, but if you can squeeze out a couple of bucks, you may be able to settle your claim for quite a bit less than the total if the statute of limitations has passed (but only if you haven't let the car company know how badly you want to clear this up .. if they understand that your're trying to buy a house they will wise up really quickly ...and they may guess at this by running a quick credit report and seeing the inquiries on your credit history by mortgage companies). Anyway, it might be worth a shot ... just don't actually pay them anything or you will start over the statute of limitations and they can sue you again even if it has already run. You may even want to have an attorney help with that negotiation just to make sure that you don't accidentally do something to start the statute of limitations clock ticking again.

Re: Car Profit loss/Write off..Do I still owe?

You do still owe the money. A "write off" simply means that from an accounting perspective, they can no longer count the money you owe them as an asset on their financial statements. They may have given up on collecting, figuring it's not worth suing. But they may still be able to sue if they decide to (if the note was "under seal," they have 12 years in MD to sue), and they are still free to list it as owed on your credit report.