If you have a past-due account that a creditor has charged off - which means that the creditor has written off your account as a bad debt - you may discover that a collection agency still tries to get you to pay the debt.

In fact, one collection agency and then another may pursue you for years into the future to collect on unpaid bills.

Here's why:

Every day, unpaid collection accounts are bought and sold among businesses and collection agencies. Let's say you have a past-due bill with a local business that you are not able to pay. After a few months of trying to collect, the business turns over your account to its in-house collection department - or to an outside collection agency that works on commission.

Then, if this collection agency can't collect money from you, the business simply charges off your account as a bad debt and reports this to a credit bureau within 90 days of the charge-off date...

Please see full article below for more information.