I went through a horrible divorce around 4 years ago, resulting in my having to file Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Just prior to the divorce, I took what little money I had out of my checking account and opened a new account (both old and new account at Bank of America) to prevent my husband from wiping out my checking as he had our savings. I initially left the old account open with just enough money in it to cover a couple of outstanding checks. I notified all merchants that I had automatic payments set up with of the new account number, but it was near the end of the month and most of them could not get the change into the computer in time, so numerous attempts at automatic withdrawals hit my old account, resulting in over $700 in fees when all was said and done! It's important to note that there were no bounced checks here, just fees when the attempted withdrawals were refused due to "insufficient funds". I spoke to the branch manager, and he assured me that it would be "taken care of". I checked online a week or so later, and saw that the account now listed a zero balance, so I thought all had been taken care of as promised, and I officially closed the account.
A couple weeks ago, I received a letter from a collection agency, seeking to recover the $700 from me, saying that Bank of America is their "client". As I stated earlier, I filed a bankruptcy shortly after the above events occurred, but I did not include Bank of America in the list of creditors, as I did not believe I any longer had a balance with them. I feel so stupid for never having gotten anything in writing, I was just so occupied with the divorce I neglected to do this.
I am not sure what to do at this point. I live in Washington, where the debt statutes are 3 years for Oral Agreements and Open Accounts, and 6 years for Written Contracts and Promissory Notes, but I don't know which of these this particular situation falls under. Since it has been over 4 years, has the statute expired? What is the best thing to do here? I most definitely do NOT have $700 to give these people!
A couple weeks ago, I received a letter from a collection agency, seeking to recover the $700 from me, saying that Bank of America is their "client". As I stated earlier, I filed a bankruptcy shortly after the above events occurred, but I did not include Bank of America in the list of creditors, as I did not believe I any longer had a balance with them. I feel so stupid for never having gotten anything in writing, I was just so occupied with the divorce I neglected to do this.
I am not sure what to do at this point. I live in Washington, where the debt statutes are 3 years for Oral Agreements and Open Accounts, and 6 years for Written Contracts and Promissory Notes, but I don't know which of these this particular situation falls under. Since it has been over 4 years, has the statute expired? What is the best thing to do here? I most definitely do NOT have $700 to give these people!
