Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Virginia

Re: charge-off

There is no legal meaning to an account being "charged off." All that means is that the business is not counting it as an asset, that is they have doubts about whether they will successfully collect. Under accounting rules, they cannot count as a real asset, for accounting purposes, what they might not really be able to collect.

However, this has no effect on their ability to collect legally. That is an accounting concept, not a legal concept.

It might mean they will give up on trying to get the money, but they have the legal right to try (assuming they are not filing a frivolous lawsuit where they know that it is false).

But, still, they have to PROVE in court that you owe the money. They cannot just say you do. Yes, I know that companies do this all the time and you just have to ignore them until they get around to filing a lawsuit. Then if they cannot prove that you owe the money, you win, and they have to stop.