Q: I credit report post Ch.7 BK -credit card charged off after has debt on CR for 2 years leading up to after the BK.

A: The Consumer Protection Bureau mostly regulates credit card issuers and the credit bureaus.

It's my understanding that an unpaid debt to a credit card issuers remains on your credit report for 7-10 years, although it is usually couched as discharged in bankruptcy. But yes, it appears to be "legal" for an unpaid debt holder to report the same to the credit bureaus for a long time (the impact slowly lessens with time).

There is a widespread misunderstanding about "charge-offs"). A lenders charge off of a debt is no more than an *internal* accounting procedure- it DOES NOT affect the legally enforceable obligation of the obligor to pay the debt. A bankruptcy discharge actually does relieve a debtor of the legal obligation to pay, however.

A: Yes. Unfortunately, it is legal.

A: If a credit card debt was discharged in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, the creditor should have updated the account status to reflect that the debt was discharged in bankruptcy. The creditor is not allowed to continue reporting the debt as delinquent or charged off after the bankruptcy discharge. However, if the account was charged off prior to the bankruptcy filing, the creditor may continue to report the charge off, but it should be reported as a $0 balance and should show that the debt was discharged in bankruptcy.

If the credit card company is continuing to report the debt as charged off and delinquent after the bankruptcy discharge, you may dispute the accuracy of the information with the credit bureaus and provide evidence of the bankruptcy discharge. The credit bureau is required to investigate and correct any inaccurate information. If the creditor is found to have violated the bankruptcy discharge order or the Fair Credit Reporting Act, you may also have legal recourse against them.