Judgment and mortgage question

[moorman]

got a situation i need help on. gonna give the credit background so that i can get advice on how to pursue repairing my credit so i can qualify for either a conventional or fha loan down the road. current credit score is around 560.

 

1. the bad: around 2007 i had a car repossession. the finance company sued me and got a judgment of 8,000 plus 14,000 interest. i have several medical collections which i intend to pay off. the repo falls off my report this year, leaving the collections and the judgment on my report.

 

 

2. the good:since then, at another finance company, i have been able to finance and pay on time 3 small auto loans ( average 12 months each), and im current on another car ( 30 month note which will be paid off next year). i have also had two credit cards paid on time and paid off and closed. ( plan to reopen them later to increase scores).

 

 

ok, i know i have to get those collections and that judgment squared away, and get my credit score up. here is the PROBLEM. the attorney that is handling the judgment played hard ball with me before they got a summary judgment against me. they wanted to settle for 5,000 total ( included principle, interest and their attorney fee), and agreed to about 100 a month payment. the problem i had with it was they didnt want to take the repo off my credit report and wanted me to sign a consent judgment that said if i missed ANY PAYMENTS, the consent judgment would revert to me paying the original 8,000 principle plus the 14,000 interest. i didnt like those terms and let them go ahead and get the summary judgment. just got tired of dealing with them. now, moving forward, i see now that the 8,000 judgment is gonna hurt me trying to get a mortgage.

 

now, i want to go back and contact that attorney and see if we can go back to the original offer they made. i would like for them to vacate the judgment and go back to their original terms. im basically judgment proof ( they cant garnish my pension), thats the only thing in my favor. my question to the board is: if they refuse to vacate the judgment and play hardball, should i file bankruptcy just to eliminate that ONE major thing on my credit report and those collections, reaffirm my car note and just rebuild my credit for the next 2 to 4 years so that i can get a fha or conventional mortgage. i hate to file on basically that one thing, but i dont have the funds to pay that judgment. any funds i save up would have to go to the downpayment on a mortgage. i cant save up for both. advice needed on my situation...........

Edited May 3, 2013 by moorman

[Clydesmom]

You have asked this same question regarding this judgment in at least 3 threads now. The first time you were told in the BK forum not to file over one debt.

 

Your demand that they stop reporting is unreasonable. You owe it, they have a judgment and can legally report it. Why should the creditor risk giving up one of their pieces of leverage to collect? I seriously doubt they are going to agree to vacate the judgment prior to being paid, enter a payment plan since you have made no effort to pay so far, AND stop reporting.

 

You keep saying "I will just file BK" as though you can just choose. If you do not pass the means test the BK court will not allow it to go through or you could be forced into a CH 13 to pay a portion of it anyway. Then the judgment AND the BK reports.

 

You really need to stop saying you are judgment proof because clearly you are not! They have one. Even if you have a pension that is exempt from garnishment there are other ways to collect.

 

Opening new threads hoping someone will tell you what you want to hear won't make this large debt vanish either. The ONLY way to know for certain if you can even file BK or if it is the way to go is to consult a BK attorney who can look at the facts of your situation entirely and tell you your options.

[moorman]

You have asked this same question regarding this judgment in at least 3 threads now. The first time you were told in the BK forum not to file over one debt.

 

Your demand that they stop reporting is unreasonable. You owe it, they have a judgment and can legally report it. Why should the creditor risk giving up one of their pieces of leverage to collect? I seriously doubt they are going to agree to vacate the judgment prior to being paid, enter a payment plan since you have made no effort to pay so far, AND stop reporting.

 

You keep saying "I will just file BK" as though you can just choose. If you do not pass the means test the BK court will not allow it to go through or you could be forced into a CH 13 to pay a portion of it anyway. Then the judgment AND the BK reports.

 

You really need to stop saying you are judgment proof because clearly you are not! They have one. Even if you have a pension that is exempt from garnishment there are other ways to collect.

 

Opening new threads hoping someone will tell you what you want to hear won't make this large debt vanish either. The ONLY way to know for certain if you can even file BK or if it is the way to go is to consult a BK attorney who can look at the facts of your situation entirely and tell you your options.

 

 

look up securitization...........

Edited May 3, 2013 by moorman

[Clydesmom]

The definition of insanity is repeating the same thing over and over each time expecting a different result.

 

While "shotgunning" or securitization can work in auto loans (probably why you get car loans with a repo and judgment) it will not work with a mortgage and you know that or you wouldn't have posted 3 different times hoping for a different answer.

 

Scroll through any mortgage thread and you will find a dozen threads minimum of people whose lender told them to get rid of even the smallest debt before it would be approved. I don't know of any lender that will underwrite a mortgage with an unpaid judgment.

 

Shotgunning a risky consumer with healthier apps to try and force it through has NOTHING to do with whether you pay the judgment or file BK. Your issue is not that the debt is not yours, is too old, or anything else. Your issue is you do NOT want to pay it and you want to get a mortgage and prime auto rates. NOT likely to happen.

Edited May 3, 2013 by Clydesmom

[Brian B The Loan Professor]

Until the judgment is settled you cannot get a loan

[moorman]

The definition of insanity is repeating the same thing over and over each time expecting a different result.

 

While "shotgunning" or securitization can work in auto loans (probably why you get car loans with a repo and judgment) it will not work with a mortgage and you know that or you wouldn't have posted 3 different times hoping for a different answer.

 

Scroll through any mortgage thread and you will find a dozen threads minimum of people whose lender told them to get rid of even the smallest debt before it would be approved. I don't know of any lender that will underwrite a mortgage with an unpaid judgment.

 

Shotgunning a risky consumer with healthier apps to try and force it through has NOTHING to do with whether you pay the judgment or file BK. Your issue is not that the debt is not yours, is too old, or anything else. Your issue is you do NOT want to pay it and you want to get a mortgage and prime auto rates. NOT likely to happen.

 

again, look up securitization and mortgages. securitization has NOTHING to do with shotgunning, NOTHING. look up securitization........ and you are right, i am NOT judgment proof, just semantics i was using..........oh, thanx for clearing up that underwriting issue. NO debts can be allowed, thanx..........

Edited May 3, 2013 by moorman

[moorman]

Until the judgment is settled you cannot get a loan

 

thats not the issue. the issue is working out a settlement so i can PAY the judgment within my ability......i DONT wanna file bankruptcy.........

Edited May 3, 2013 by moorman

[Brian B The Loan Professor]

 

Until the judgment is settled you cannot get a loan

 

thats not the issue. the issue is working out a settlement so i can PAY the judgment within my ability......i DONT wanna file bankruptcy.........

Thanks for clearing that up it wasnt clear from your previous posts -

[Clydesmom]

 

Until the judgment is settled you cannot get a loan

 

thats not the issue. the issue is working out a settlement so i can PAY the judgment within my ability......i DONT wanna file bankruptcy.........

 

You have said over and over that if the lawyer won't "play ball I will just file bankruptcy." What you fail to understand is this lawyer has a judgment worth over $20k dollars and you want a clean credit report. THEY have all the leverage.

 

Your demands are unreasonable: you want to settle for about a fourth of what you owe, you want them to remove it from your credit report, or if you make payments you want them to vacate the judgment AND not report your payments on the debt. NO creditor in their right mind would agree to that. Not when they can hold your credit hostage and get WAY more out of you by refusing to settle for bread crumbs.

 

the attorney that is handling the judgment played hard ball with me before they got a summary judgment against me. they wanted to settle for 5,000 total ( included principle, interest and their attorney fee), and agreed to about 100 a month payment. the problem i had with it was they didnt want to take the repo off my credit report and wanted me to sign a consent judgment that said if i missed ANY PAYMENTS, the consent judgment would revert to me paying the original 8,000 principle plus the 14,000 interest. i didnt like those terms and let them go ahead and get the summary judgment. just got tired of dealing with them. now, moving forward, i see now that the 8,000 judgment is gonna hurt me trying to get a mortgage.

 

now, i want to go back and contact that attorney and see if we can go back to the original offer they made. i would like for them to vacate the judgment and go back to their original terms.

 

Just so you are aware: when a creditor agrees to take payments in lieu of going to court a consent judgment is almost always sought in large debts of several thousand or more. Especially if you are going to take more than 12 months to pay it off. Why should the creditor have to start the process all over again if you default a second time on the agreement? If you had made all your payments on time this would likely have been solved already but you turned them down being stubborn.

 

The original terms were before they went to court and got a judgment against you. There is NO WAY they are going to vacate that judgment unless you come up with at least 75-80% and even then I don't think they will vacate it but will report it as settled in full.

 

You are posting repeatedly about this here when the entity you should be contacting is the law firm that owns this judgment. Only they can negotiate with you. It matters not one bit if anyone on the forums thinks it is a fabulous idea and you should offer them five cents on the dollar. If the law firm won't take it you are back at square one.

[moorman]

 

 

Until the judgment is settled you cannot get a loan

 

thats not the issue. the issue is working out a settlement so i can PAY the judgment within my ability......i DONT wanna file bankruptcy.........

 

You have said over and over that if the lawyer won't "play ball I will just file bankruptcy." What you fail to understand is this lawyer has a judgment worth over $20k dollars and you want a clean credit report. THEY have all the leverage.

 

Your demands are unreasonable: you want to settle for about a fourth of what you owe, you want them to remove it from your credit report, or if you make payments you want them to vacate the judgment AND not report your payments on the debt. NO creditor in their right mind would agree to that. Not when they can hold your credit hostage and get WAY more out of you by refusing to settle for bread crumbs.

 

>>>the attorney that is handling the judgment played hard ball with me before they got a summary judgment against me. they wanted to settle for 5,000 total ( included principle, interest and their attorney fee), and agreed to about 100 a month payment. the problem i had with it was they didnt want to take the repo off my credit report and wanted me to sign a consent judgment that said if i missed ANY PAYMENTS, the consent judgment would revert to me paying the original 8,000 principle plus the 14,000 interest. i didnt like those terms and let them go ahead and get the summary judgment. just got tired of dealing with them. now, moving forward, i see now that the 8,000 judgment is gonna hurt me trying to get a mortgage.

 

now, i want to go back and contact that attorney and see if we can go back to the original offer they made. i would like for them to vacate the judgment and go back to their original terms.

 

Just so you are aware: when a creditor agrees to take payments in lieu of going to court a consent judgment is almost always sought in large debts of several thousand or more. Especially if you are going to take more than 12 months to pay it off. Why should the creditor have to start the process all over again if you default a second time on the agreement? If you had made all your payments on time this would likely have been solved already but you turned them down being stubborn.

 

The original terms were before they went to court and got a judgment against you. There is NO WAY they are going to vacate that judgment unless you come up with at least 75-80% and even then I don't think they will vacate it but will report it as settled in full.

 

You are posting repeatedly about this here when the entity you should be contacting is the law firm that owns this judgment. Only they can negotiate with you. It matters not one bit if anyone on the forums thinks it is a fabulous idea and you should offer them five cents on the dollar. If the law firm won't take it you are back at square one.

 

 

 

again, what is SECURITIZATION???? oh, and a little tip, as told to me by a lawyer im thinking about hiring to deal with this: its illegal for them to charge interest on that repo balance. the lawyer who got the judgment KNOWS this. thats why its only reporting as a 8,000 judgment and why they wanted to settle for 5,000 originally. the interest is put in there and if you dont object, well, thats why people need attorneys..................

Edited May 4, 2013 by moorman

[Clydesmom]

oh, and a little tip, as told to me by a lawyer im thinking about hiring to deal with this: its illegal for them to charge interest on that repo balance. the lawyer who got the judgment KNOWS this. thats why its only reporting as a 8,000 judgment and why they wanted to settle for 5,000 originally. the interest is put in there and if you dont object, well, thats why people need attorneys..................

 

 

Did you tell the lawyer they already have the judgment? While they cannot add interest on BEFORE the judgment they can AFTER they get one. Most if not all states allow for post judgment interest up to as much as 12% depending on the state. This post judgment interest is what allows the amount to balloon so quickly.

 

They offered the 5,000 BEFORE they got the judgment not after.

 

Best of luck with your attorney. Let us know how it works out.

[moorman]

oh, and a little tip, as told to me by a lawyer im thinking about hiring to deal with this: its illegal for them to charge interest on that repo balance. the lawyer who got the judgment KNOWS this. thats why its only reporting as a 8,000 judgment and why they wanted to settle for 5,000 originally. the interest is put in there and if you dont object, well, thats why people need attorneys..................

 

 

Did you tell the lawyer they already have the judgment? While they cannot add interest on BEFORE the judgment they can AFTER they get one. Most if not all states allow for post judgment interest up to as much as 12% depending on the state. This post judgment interest is what allows the amount to balloon so quickly.

 

They offered the 5,000 BEFORE they got the judgment not after.

 

Best of luck with your attorney. Let us know how it works out.

 

the FIRST thing i told my attorney was about the judgment. they were adding 14,000 interest BEFORE the judgment.....

Edited May 6, 2013 by moorman

[moorman]

my bad, looked at the judgment again, it was 6,000 in interest, for a total of about 15,000 judgment, not 22000. dont know where i got that from...

[moorman]

great news. the bank settled with me for $4,000 TOTAL principle and interest on this account...............