Accounts marked "Charge Off" means an account is closed for use by the lender. The debt is still owed. Accounts which are charged off will continue reporting and continue to be collectable. paid accounts will usually be marked "Paid charge off".

Accounts marked "Written Off" means the same thing as "Charged Off".  Like the former, it denoted an account which is seriously delinquent and the lender has given up being paid for it. Given up is not a euphemism for "Fuck it, let the guy off the hook", you still owe on it. the annotation is for their record keeping only and does nothing to remove the debt.

Accounts will never be marked "Balance Chased", they simply may be Balance Chased. This happens when a bank (i.e. Lender) limits the amount of available credit on a specific card/loan. Sometimes this is seen, when a person fails to meet the obligation of a repayment on a balance. When a person renegs on a debt for whatever reason, its common to see banks do this to other accounts, even though the bank may be different from the one reporting the delinquency.

Awarded by a court, a Garnishment is basically a court order that a lender receives to obtain money from a borrower, by seeking relief from the employer of the borrower. It is not supposed to show up on a credit report (if it does, you have grounds for dispute) and is not supposed to impact the credit score either way. Garnishment can be achieved by court order and this typically happens when one is sued or otherwise issued a court appearance.

Accounts seldom show an annotation for "Time Barred" debts. It's up to each person with debt to read up on the State Statute of their particular state to see when the Statute takes effect. Time barred accounts means a debt is not enforceable any longer, because the statute of limitations for its garnishment/legal remedy has expired. Don't expect a collector to tell you about time barred debts, it isn't in their interest to do so and "obligation to inform consumer" is a term they don't understand, much like I don't understand what "No Double Parking" means. It has been suggested that some lenders consider the debt to apply to their state of incorporation, since the greivance originated in their state and not the borrowers (depending which State has a longer Statute). this is also known as a pissing competition, hire a lawyer if you need more clarity. Most consult for free.

A "Reversed Charge Off" is a wet dream, nevertheless the bloggers at Sapling, make an argument for the reversal of a charge off. The only way to get it removed is to ask nicely (a la pretty please with sugar on top version) and have the reporting agency or lender to tell one of, or all of the CRA's that the debt is no longer considered charged off. In my considered opinion there is time better spent in watching paint dry, or going deep sea fishing with a golf club and whacking random fish that swim up to say hello. The chances of this are slim to fucking none, but to each his/her own.

I've seen weirder shit.

Ever seen a file marked "delinquent" and wonder to yourself what the hell this means? Before you get riled, start mumbling to yourself and getting ready to cuss someone out, this is what you should know: don't take it personal. Delinquent on a credit report doesn't mean you're out boosting cars or vandalizing a business, it just means you've missed a payment beyond 30 days. The account is delinquent, you personally are not (I mean you may be a delinquent right, but that's not why its there. Anyway, lets move on). Accounts don't automatically get slated delinquent for being a few days late, they wont report lateness unless it generally exceeds 60 days late. That's all it means.

"Bankruptcy" is a word with its origins in Italian for "Banca rotta" literally, broken bench, on account that money lenders worked from tables with benches. When they ran out of money, the bench would be broken and he couldn't lend anymore cash.

I mean, where's the guy gonna sit? On the floor? In the broken bench with splinters up his ass? have you ever dealt with a splinter? Imagine a bunch all up and down your ass and legs and... wait I got off topic. bankruptcy is insolvency or a declaration of financial ruin, or both. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by the court after being initiated by a debtor who just can't go on paying his creditors. Bankruptcy is a big deal, huge. Once this gets slapped on a report it can stay up to 10 years. It should be noted that this is "the Alamo" as far as options are concerned. For those that don't know what about the Alamo because they didn't pay attention in history class or they showed up high or better yet were making eyes at the chick with the huge sweater puppies, it means the last resort. 

For individual debt there are two types of bankruptcies. Chapter 7 and chapter 13.

Chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code deals with the discharge of debts. Under 7 one pays or gives up property for secured debts. Its a trade off of nonexempt debt vs. exempt debt (get a lawyer to explain it, we aren't lawyers just whacky advocates) To qualify for chapter 7 (generally) one doesn't meet the criteria of sufficient income that would allow partial repayment. Chapter 13 is for the people who do have the money to cover their debts, but seek to either restructure the payment get rid of partial debts. before you go thinking it's as easy a pie, remember the judge and trustee's have to sign off on it.