charged off account

We live in California. I do hope I'm posting this on the right board. 10 years ago my husband filed chapter 7 BK which comes off his credit history this May. At the time, he owed Shell Oil $500 which was missed from the BK but Shell charged it off anyway. Within the past 4 months we have had several telephone calls from Capitol One (a credit card company) who has purchased the charged off debt and is now trying to collect it. We asked them not to call us. Today I got an offer from them in the mail of a credit card which would reflect the $500 debt. We are ignoring this offer.
Can anyone advise me if this is legal for them to be going after this debt after 10 years?
What is the statute of limitations on a charged off debt in CA?
Any help or advise you can offer us would be very much appreciated. Thank you.

Dear stumped,

If you did not include the debt in your bankruptcy they may continue to pursue you for the amount due; however, the statute of limitations has passed and they cannot sue you for this debt.

I suggest you fax them a copy of the bankruptcy discharge. Since the bankruptcy was filed after the date the debt was incurred you should allege that it was included in the bankruptcy. They will probably close the account. It is not worth their time to research this because they may "put back" the account to Shell due to its bankrupt status.


[email]JASON@LEGISLATOR.COM[/email]