A charge-off is when a lender writes off your account as a loss and closes the account for further use. You are still legally responsible for the balance that is charged off. The lender may transfer ...

Knowing the timeline between charge-offs and collections can help you take action before the issue gets worse.

Bad debt can also affect your credit. Your credit utilization, which is the percentage of your available credit that you're using, plays a major role in your credit score. High balances and maxed-out ...