How will settling old judgement affect my scores

[Blushroom]

  I have an old (2004) judgement that no longer shows on my credit reports.   Its a fairly large judgement around 16K and the creditor is willing to settle for less than 20%.  I am wondering if settling this will bring this back up onto my credit reports and knock my score back down or if settling it after this long won't have any affect on my scores.  I would like to settle it either way, but if it's gonna bring it back up onto my reports for another 7 years I think I'll just forget about it again.

[guiness56]

No, settling it will not put it back on your credit report.  It is too old.

You are still probably within your states SOL on collections of the judgment which means they could garnish your wages if the state allows that.

[ezdoesit]

I give you credit for wanting to settle a debt that's SOL is probably over.  I think it shows good character on your part kudos.

[Blushroom]

    Thank you for your reply.  That's what I was hoping

[ezdoesit]

What state are you in?

[Blushroom]

  I am in Iowa.

[ezdoesit]

SOL is 6 yrs on judgement max. 10.875% interest.  After a creditor wins a lawsuit against a debtor and is awarded a judgment by the court, there is a time limit for collecting that judgment. However, many states allow judgments to be renewed one or more times, which could substantially extend the enforceability of a judgment, if the creditor is vigilant about the renewals. This can potentially result in a permanent legal obligation until it is paid.

[drkaje]

If it's past SOL, you're probably just paying off someone who purchased junk debt for pennies on the dollar.

If you're actually paying the original creditor, it makes sense. If they've already sold the debt and taken a loss, even sending in a token payment might cause them accounting issues. By accounting issues, I mean they would have written off the debt as uncollectable and have to do something tax-wise to correctly accept the funds.

Personally, I would not pay junk debt that is essentially uncollectable. I'd check the state SOL before doing anything.

[ezdoesit]

Pesonally if you have the money I would take the settlement so you don't have to look over you back again.  Get everything in writing.

[Blushroom]

   Yes, I am wanting to get a new house this fall and know this will come up during the mortagage process so I figure I better get it taken care of soon rather than later if I can.