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old, unpaid Civil judgment


CourageousOne
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I have been working on repairing credit and home searching for about five years. My credit was in complete despair after my divorce and so far I have paid off all the old debt except two things that are now judgments against me. One is for $5000 and the other is about $8000. The reason I haven't paid these is 1) I haven't had the money and 2) This was my exes debt and I felt like he should pay it. These items should be off my credit report in about a year and a half so at this point I am just playing the waiting game. I realize this makes me look bad but that is what I am doing. Everything else is paid off and I only have a student loan and a car payment now which total around $800 per month. My monthly income (with overtime which is consistent for several years) is about $4900.

 

Questions: Can I get financed for a home with these two unpaid judgements on my credit? Can I go the FHA or USDA route?

 

Any advice, information, tips and tidbits would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

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I have been working on repairing credit and home searching for about five years. My credit was in complete despair after my divorce and so far I have paid off all the old debt except two things that are now judgments against me. One is for $5000 and the other is about $8000. The reason I haven't paid these is 1) I haven't had the money and 2) This was my exes debt and I felt like he should pay it. These items should be off my credit report in about a year and a half so at this point I am just playing the waiting game. I realize this makes me look bad but that is what I am doing. Everything else is paid off and I only have a student loan and a car payment now which total around $800 per month. My monthly income (with overtime which is consistent for several years) is about $4900.

 

Questions: Can I get financed for a home with these two unpaid judgements on my credit? Can I go the FHA or USDA route?

 

Any advice, information, tips and tidbits would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

I am afraid any judgment is a deal killer for a mortgage

Those will have to be paid or settled prior to you being able to get financing

 

B

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i thought it was forever until paid.

 

doesn't matter.... title company will find them during the loan process.

 

From the horse's mouth

http://www.myfico.com/crediteducation/questions/public-records.aspx

http://www.ftc.gov/enforcement/rules/rulemaking-regulatory-reform-proceedings/fair-credit-reporting-act (page 17)

 

But yeah, it will still be found and it's a show stopper. OP would need to pay or settle if possible.

 

 

 

edit: fixed link

Edited by road2freedom
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Thank you so much for the helpful advice! I do have a couple of more questions....

 

One judgement that is on my credit report is for $8000 and the creditor/plaintiff (Quality Time of America, Inc) has never attempted to collect money from me. It has been six years since judgment was filed according to my credit report. Is it possible that this isn't a recorded judgement since I wasn't properly served notice? Is there a SOL for how long they have to serve me after the suit is filed? I live in a rural area where this information isn't available online but I plan to make a trip to the courthouse tomorrow. If not recorded, what should my next course of action be to have this taken care of?

 

The other judgement I'm sure is recorded because they have attempted twice to collect money from me by garnishing bank accounts. I am considering hiring an attorney to prepare an offer for settlement to them. How much should I offer if the judgement was for $5000?

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Not in the divorce agreement because I just wanted out of the relationship as easily as possible therefore it was a non contested divorce. My ex kept what he had possession of and I kept what I had possession of. He had possession of the collateral in both of these judgements and they were not mentioned in the divorce agreement at all. I didn't try to contact him because it was an abusive situation and I had a protection of abuse (restraining order) against him. Bad situation that I am paying the price for now because my focus at that time was the situation with him and wasn't focused on financial issues. I have waited to see if they would collect from him but now I am ready to purchase a house and my hopes of them collecting the money from him first is down the drain so I have to take care of it myself. So that's my story of how it came to be. At this point I am working on how to take care of it and if the $8000 judgement is in fact a recorded judgement and if not, what do I do next.

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based on whychats link at the top Alabama is a 20 year state. There is also 12% interest on the judgment amount which will add up very quickly. If they waited until year 19 you would be on the hook for over 30k from the original 8k. There is a pretty good chance that it will fall off of your reports at year 7 but when the loan company will probably find out that it is there and that is a deal breaker.

 

Some options:

1. work out a settlement but since they already have a judgment that is good for so long I would expect them to want a pretty large sum.

2. I assume these were both default judgments. Meaning you didn't contest them and they automatically won. If that is the case you may want to talk to a lawyer and see if there are any grounds where they can get the case reopened and have the judgment dismissed.

3. and of course the worst option. Do nothing and own nothing for the next 20 years and hope they never are able to collect from you.

 

Good luck in whatever you chose to do.

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Thank you so much for the helpful advice! I do have a couple of more questions....

 

One judgement that is on my credit report is for $8000 and the creditor/plaintiff (Quality Time of America, Inc) has never attempted to collect money from me. It has been six years since judgment was filed according to my credit report. Is it possible that this isn't a recorded judgement since I wasn't properly served notice? Is there a SOL for how long they have to serve me after the suit is filed? I live in a rural area where this information isn't available online but I plan to make a trip to the courthouse tomorrow. If not recorded, what should my next course of action be to have this taken care of?

 

The other judgement I'm sure is recorded because they have attempted twice to collect money from me by garnishing bank accounts. I am considering hiring an attorney to prepare an offer for settlement to them. How much should I offer if the judgement was for $5000?

 

what sort of collateral? was these Auto loans?

 

they could have repossessed the collateral, and all there is left is a deficeincy

 

are these deficiency judgments?

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  • 2 weeks later...

it's a stretch, and has it's risks, but do you know where your Ex currently lives and works?

 

Can you find out without him realizing you're nosing about?

 

if you do/can , send the law firm who is listed on the complaints they information; Anonymously.

 

 

Dear ____________________

 

 

your firm currently has a judgment against ______________________________, on case # _________________ filed with the courts on xx-xx-xxxx,

 

he currently works at _____________________, earning about ___________________/ year

 

his address is __________________________________

 

he currently owns ( new vehicle, house, etc. )

 

 

they can seize his bank accounts or garnish his wages , or seize personal property and sell it.

 

Every judgment becomes a lien on the judgment debtor's real property in the county in which a certificate of judgment lien is filed for a period of ten (10) years. (C.O.A. 6-9-211.) A judgment creditor may execute the judgment by levying on the real and personal property of the judgment debtor, including the garnishment of wages. Generally, the amount of earnings which may be garnished may not exceed twenty-five percent (25%) of the judgment debtor's non-exempt disposable earning. (C.O.A. 6-10-7.)

 

In Alabama, a judgment lien can be attached to the debtor's real estate -- meaning a house, condo, land, or similar kind of property interest -- or to the debtor's personal property -- things like jewelry, art, antiques, and other valuables.

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I can easily get all the information I need on him from mutual acquaintances. Employer, home address, personal information and even information on his personal property but I'm not sure any of the property is paid for. On the flipside, he could also get this information on me (small town life). Also, I'm afraid this would wake the sleeping lion so to speak before I get in to see an attorney.

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