topic Re: Judgement Question... in Rebuilding Your Credit

Judgement Question...

Anonymous — Fri, 04 Mar 2016 13:16:29 GMT

So I had a judgement placed against me from an old credit card debt back in 6/2009 which was held by Elite Recovery until 11/2015. This judgement was NEVER placed on none of my credit reports; until this day it is still not listed. However, 11/2015 this debt was bought by Galaxy International and their attorneys have now stirred the pot. They have filed for writ of garnishment against me, which I have responded to as head of household so they could not garnish wages. They are now threatening to sue me again over this debt with the higher amount. The original judgement was for little over $2000. The amount is now over $3050 since 2009. Can they now sue me again for the higher amount; thus, starting this whole process over again? This just seems weird to me. I do have an attorney working on this and seems like it can be done!!!!!! So beware!

FYI...I just bought a house in 2015. I was pre-approved 5/2015, had the house built and closed on it 9/21/15. And this issue never came up! Such crap!!! Debt collectors are the devil! LOL.

Re: Judgement Question...

Anonymous — Tue, 19 Jan 2016 20:23:20 GMT

What I dont get is how they can sue you again for the same debt you already been sued for. I

Re: Judgement Question...

StartingOver10 — Tue, 19 Jan 2016 20:24:15 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
So I had a judgement placed against me from an old credit card debt back in 6/2009 which was held by Elite Recovery until 11/2015. This judgement was NEVER placed on none of my credit reports; until this day it is still not listed. However, 11/2015 this debt was bought by Galaxy International and their attorneys have now stirred the pot. They have filed for writ of garnishment against me, which I have responded to as head of household so they could not garnish wages. They are now threatening to sue me again over this debt with the higher amount. The original judgement was for little of $2000. The amount is now over $3050 since 2009. Can they now sue me again for the higher amount; thus, starting this whole process over again? This just seems weird to me. I do have an attorney working on this and seems like it can be done!!!!!! So beware!

FYI...I just bought a house in 2015. I was pre-approved 5/2015, had the house built and closed on it 9/21/15. And this issue never came up! Such crap!!! Debt collectors are the devil! LOL.

^^^How in the world did it not come up prior to your purchase of a house???? Were you living in a different county/jurisdiction when you received the judgment? I wonder if the judgement has attached to your home. Best to take care of it now and get the satisfaction recorded.

Re: Judgement Question...

Anonymous — Wed, 20 Jan 2016 00:40:28 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
This judgement was NEVER placed on none of my credit reports;

Debt collectors are the devil!

So it was placed on all of them

And

They only exist because debtors do not pay what they agreed to pay.

To answer your question directly, your lawyer can tell you better but If the debt already had a judjemnt awarded they cannot get another judgement. they can take you to court to collect however

Re: Judgement Question...

Anonymous — Fri, 04 Mar 2016 13:18:46 GMT

I don't understand it either. But the best I can get out of it is a judgement stands in Florida for 20 years. Just before the end of that 20 year period the judgement can be refiled if the collection agency/lawyer so chooses adding another 20 years on to it. Since I am eligible to obtain an exemption against wage garnishment I am protected until I am no longer considered head of household. At that point the case can be re-opened or refiled with the original amount plus all of the interest accrued. It kind of made sense once my attorney explained it to me. EDITED

Re: Judgement Question...

Anonymous — Wed, 20 Jan 2016 22:36:38 GMT

I have no idea how this never came up. It was never on my credit reports so I assume the lender didn't find it. However, in the state of Florida a lien cannot be placed on a property that is considered homestead if the lien is from a credit card debt etc. My attorney seems to think the lender may have found it but chose to ignore it because at the time the judgement was a closed/dead file up until now. And since they couldn't place a lien on the property it wouldn't effect them. I honestly don't know. I guess it's one of those cases that fell thru the cracks, sort of speak. Anyway, I have entered into a re-payment agreement with this collector to just get rid of it.

Re: Judgement Question...

Anonymous — Wed, 20 Jan 2016 22:44:37 GMT

For some reason this judgement has never showed up on any of the credit reports. Lucky, I guess. As I understand it a judgement can be renewed in the state of Florida prior to the 20 year judgement period if it remains unpaid. Therefore, it will just linger on for another 20 years until its paid. Crazy huh. My attorney suggested I enter into an agreed upon payment plan to pay it off and be done with it instead of filing for an exemption of garnishment (which I would have been granted). That way they aren't taking 25% of wages but instead only $50 per pay period until it's paid off.

Re: Judgement Question...

Anonymous — Wed, 20 Jan 2016 22:50:04 GMT

Yeah, I say that is a good idea to pay it off. If they can just renew it like that its going to stay with you forever then.

I wonder if after its paid if they will remove it for you?

Re: Judgement Question...

StartingOver10 — Wed, 20 Jan 2016 23:15:52 GMT

I can tell you for sure it attaches to a house in Florida. They take the money when you sell the house. I had that done. I had a $1200 judgment (this was long ago) that I did not know about - from Sears. It attached to a house I purchased. Owned the house for 3 years, when I sold it, they took $7500 out of my proceeds! I don't want you to make the same mistake I made. To me, that was a lot of money. That's when I started to learn about judgments. My home was homesteaded and I was head of household too.

Take care of it now.

In one of your other posts you said that the debtor has to renew the judgment - that is 100% wrong. The creditor renews it - without your permission. So the judgement is actually good for 20 years + renewal of 20 years. I am just trying to save you a boatload of money.

PS When you pay it, make sure you get a recorded Satisfaction of Judgment so you don't have to pay again. BTW, I would find another attorney since he is the one that told you the debtor is the one that renews the judgment - the one you have will get you into trouble. I don't understand that mixup of creditor and debtor unless you were speaking to the attorney for the creditor - then I understand as it would be a revenue generating thing to have you not pay now. If you have been speaking to the attorney for the creditor, stop it. Get an attorney that represents your own interests and not that of the creditor.

Re: Judgement Question...

StartingOver10 — Wed, 20 Jan 2016 23:23:32 GMT

One more point - will that $50 per month the attorney is suggesting even pay the interest on the judgment? The judgement continues to accrue interest at the statutory rate (check Florida statutes) the entire time the judgment is not paid. At $50 per month, depending upon the size of the judgment, you could be paying the judgment for years and still owe the entire principal amount. Like I said above, get an attorney that will represent you well.

Re: Judgement Question...

dman23 — Fri, 22 Jan 2016 20:18:38 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
This judgement was NEVER placed on none of my credit reports;

Debt collectors are the devil!
So it was placed on all of them

And

They only exist because debtors do not pay what they agreed to pay.

To answer your question directly, your lawyer can tell you better but If the debt already had a judjemnt awarded they cannot get another judgement. they can take you to court to collect however

Exactly! Why do people think it's ok to stiff creditors and then when they try to collect the collection agency's the bad guy? Pay your debts or file bankruptcy and you won't have the deal with the consequences.

Re: Judgement Question...

Anonymous — Wed, 03 Feb 2016 23:13:48 GMT

1. Was the original collection from 2009 and they filed a judgment on 11/15? Or are you saying 11/15 is when you found out about it?
2. When you say "your attorney" do you mean an attorney you are currently paying, an attorney you spoke to in a consultation, or an attorney from the collector?

If this is an older judgment from 2009, you may be able to settle for less. Maybe even less than the original amount. Just make sure you get it in writing. I know because I had a judgment filed against me in 2010 and I didn't even know about it until last year. It was $2000 from an credit card I had in college and was charged off in 2004. By the time I knew about it and interest was added it was almost $4500. I called the collection agency and worked out paying $2000 as one lump sum. I got settlement agreement in writing BEFORE I PAID ANYTHING and received a letter of to change the status of my judgment to satisfied.

But from the information you are giving, it makes me wonder if this is a new judgment or you are confusing the original collection and the judgment as being the same thing? It would make since for an old collector to sue after they saw you obtained a mortgage. Also $1050 worth of interest seem small for 6.5 years. (But every state is different)

The ball is in your court for now. I you can file for an exemption, you may want to look in to that again. The amount you owe is very low and it cost money to collect money. I AM IN NO WAY TELLING YOU NOT TO PAY THIS. This must be paid either way but don't make a bad decisions because you are freaked out. Take some time (not years) to think about your options and look up your states laws on judgments. Remember, get everything in writing.

I wish you the best of luck

Re: Judgement Question...

Anonymous — Fri, 04 Mar 2016 13:14:23 GMT

Thanks for the insight. I will definitely check it out. You are absolutely correct in regards to what I said about the debtor renewing the judgement...that was my error. My attorney did say the collection attorney is able to renew the judgement though. Thanks again. As far as I know right now the judgement has not been attached to my property. I will most definitely check into that.

Re: Judgement Question...

EmmaGolden — Fri, 04 Mar 2016 17:08:07 GMT

@dman23 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
This judgement was NEVER placed on none of my credit reports;

Debt collectors are the devil!
So it was placed on all of them

And

They only exist because debtors do not pay what they agreed to pay.

To answer your question directly, your lawyer can tell you better but If the debt already had a judjemnt awarded they cannot get another judgement. they can take you to court to collect however
Exactly! Why do people think it's ok to stiff creditors and then when they try to collect the collection agency's the bad guy? Pay your debts or file bankruptcy and you won't have the deal with the consequences.