Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Massachusetts

Just because a debt was "charged off" does not mean that it went away. A charge-off is lingo for internal accounting of banks, but they are still able to collect the debt, sell it, sue for it, etc. A company like Portfolio is only required to stop collection efforts if it does not respond to a debt verification request. Whoever is the current holder of the debt is still within their rights to retain an attorney or to file a lawsuit for the full amount with interests and costs. The fact that they paid pennies on the dollar is irrelevant. As far as how to deal with them, you can make an arrangement with the attorney to repay for a lesser amount or in installments, you can wait to be sued and see if the current holder has the proper documentation to pass muster in court, or you can file bankruptcy and erase this and other unsecured debts.

Your FDCPA rights may have been violated and you may be entitled to up to $1,000 plus costs and attorney's fees. I focus my practice in this area and have dealt with both PRA and HLS before. I would strongly suggest you contact my firm for a free and no obligation review of the specifics of your case.

If you'd like, you can email or fax your documentation for review to 888.912.1497.