Settling a judgment

[sharriel]

Hi all!

I have a judgment against me for $1738 for an old Amex card .  Amex has told me that I need to pay a law firm who is handling it.  I called them to make payment arrangements and they are telling me that it is now up to $2200 but that Amex will settle for $1100.  SO I am willing to give them $200 a month up to $1100 to make this marked as "satisfied".

I am trying to buy a house in 1 year so I am hoping this will raise my Fico.  Any input on how paying this will affect me?  Thanks!

[DaBears]

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@sharriel wrote:

Hi all!

I have a judgment against me for $1738 for an old Amex card .  Amex has told me that I need to pay a law firm who is handling it.  I called them to make payment arrangements and they are telling me that it is now up to $2200 but that Amex will settle for $1100.  SO I am willing to give them $200 a month up to $1100 to make this marked as "satisfied".

I am trying to buy a house in 1 year so I am hoping this will raise my Fico.  Any input on how paying this will affect me?  Thanks!

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Hi sharriel,

Is amex saying they will settle in full or settle for less? If they mark it satisfied you would need to have the judgement removed to see a score bump.

[PrettyPeacock]

From everything I have read you want to get it in writing before you pay that they will get the judgement withdrawn from your credit report.  Otherwise it will still be on there for up to 7 years.  Good luck

[sharriel]

They are only saying that it will show as Satisfied.  Not settled or PIF, just satisfied.

They will not have it deleted so I think I will pay it and than do a motion to vacate.

I know it will be there for 7 years but it has already been 4 and if I want to buy a house in a year, I would rather have a paid judgment than non paid, right?

[DaBears]

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@sharriel wrote:

They are only saying that it will show as Satisfied.  Not settled or PIF, just satisfied.

They will not have it deleted so I think I will pay it and than do a motion to vacate.

I know it will be there for 7 years but it has already been 4 and if I want to buy a house in a year, I would rather have a paid judgment than non paid, right?

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See if you state allows for judgements to be vacated. It will look better under a manual review to the LO/underwriter of the mortgage lender.

[sharriel]

Thanks, yes, I believe that NC allows motion to vacate.

[DaBears]

You can see a nice bump is they remove it!! Keep us posted!!!

[PrettyPeacock]

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@sharriel wrote:

I know it will be there for 7 years but it has already been 4 and if I want to buy a house in a year, I would rather have a paid judgment than non paid, right?

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Yes, even if you get it paid and it isn't vacated you should still see some sort of increase.  I did.  But I also know that when I applied for a Discover card I was told the reason I didn't get it is because I have the judgement and that if I could get rid of it they would approve me.  So, I don't know how a mortgage broker will look at it.

Good luck and keep us posted.