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A newbie's story, then a little judgement help?

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Wonderyears
New Contributor

A newbie's story, then a little judgement help?

Well, my life between the years of 02-04 were definitely not conducive with financial success. CCs maxed, car repossession, failing on rent, etc.

Thank goodness this is anonymous; the shame I feel contributing to the credit crisus wouldn't allow me to look you in the eye. Especially when my entire situation is based on recklessness and irresponsibility, not an unfortunate layoff. The next 6ish years were lived off cash, under the radar, before a woman(imagine that), put everything in perspective.

Last year, I decided to start over and file ch 7. As I was gathering documents needed I checked my scores and reports. I was at about 650 across the board, I was definitely surprised. Also, and I'm not proud of this, baddies were falling off, I assume SOL was passing.

In the meantime I had been lurking these threads, and figured to hell with BK.

I am now wanting to buy a home, and my reports show only 1 baddie on TU, not EX or EQ. BUT it is a judgement for 8k from 2010.

My scores, somehow, are 715-TU, 768-EQ, and a fako of 743-EX.

What to do about that judgement? I have funds to satisfy it. But have read possibilities of having it vacated then possibly deletion.

Is there anyway my score will decrease depending on how I attack it? I just don't want my score to decrease before I begin the mortgage process later in 2013.
Credit pros...how should I handle this?

myFico TU-715 EQ-778 (01.14.2013) WalmartTU-664 (12.12.12))

LENDER PULL EQ-766 EX-779 TU-713 (12.20.2012)
Message 1 of 15
14 REPLIES 14
Wonderyears
New Contributor

Re: A newbie's story, then a little judgement help?

I apologize, apparently I posted in wrong forum...can this be moved?
myFico TU-715 EQ-778 (01.14.2013) WalmartTU-664 (12.12.12))

LENDER PULL EQ-766 EX-779 TU-713 (12.20.2012)
Message 2 of 15
llecs
Moderator Emeritus

Re: A newbie's story, then a little judgement help?

Moved....

 

Bumping for others on the process of vacating the judgment. Just save up the $$$$ before doing anything.

Message 3 of 15
Jutz
Valued Contributor

Re: A newbie's story, then a little judgement help?

It looks like the judgement is unpaid then?

 

I'd think that will be a roadblock to a mortgage anyway, so you might as well look into how to attack it.  Not sure exactly how to attack it, but if you were able to pay it in full, I'd imagine having it vacated might be a little easier.  If your scores are where they are at even with that judgment, I can't see them dropping by satisfying it.

 

Also, bravo for putting in the work and avoiding BK.

  • Current: EQ FICO 706, TU FICO 701, EX FICO 706 | Starting Score: 525 (05/2012)
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Message 4 of 15
hdrider07
Regular Contributor

Re: A newbie's story, then a little judgement help?

For a mortgage you will at least have to have it marked as "satisfied", wont be able to get the mortgage without paying it.  It can be vacated once paid, if you have the funds to pay it off then I would contact the attorney that got the judgment against you and negotiate them filing to have it vacated once payment is made.  If you dont have the money to pay it then the process will be a little more difficult, they wont negotiate the vacating as much with a payment plan in my experience.

 

If you have the funds to pay it then first contact the court house and find out how much the filing fee is that way when you ask the attorney to vacate it you can also offer to pay extra for the filing fee.  I had 2 judgments against me, paid both of them and negotiated with the attorney to have them vacate it, I paid them the filing fee and then also paid them for 30 minutes of their time.  Each judgment ended up costing me an extra $270 but totally worth it to me.

Message 5 of 15
Wonderyears
New Contributor

Re: A newbie's story, then a little judgement help?

It is unpaid.

Fantastic news! Good to hear the possibility to vacate. I think I will follow your plan, hdrider. I'd assume approaching it in the manor would yield the best possible result.

Say I fail to get it vacated. How much of roadblock will the judgement satisfied present? Not that it matters, because it has to be done, just wondering.

Also, how many open CCs should I have? 2 or 3? What do lenders want to see?

Thanks again!


myFico TU-715 EQ-778 (01.14.2013) WalmartTU-664 (12.12.12))

LENDER PULL EQ-766 EX-779 TU-713 (12.20.2012)
Message 6 of 15
hdrider07
Regular Contributor

Re: A newbie's story, then a little judgement help?

The judgments paid or unpaid are having the same affect on your score but a paid judgment shouldnt provide to much of a roadblock for a mortgage provided your scores are decent.  You interest rate will definitely be higher but a mortgage would be doable.  Just have to make sure you have no unpaid collections and ideally GW them to get them off if you do. 

 

IME lenders want to see your responsible so 2 or 3 cards may not make a difference, it more depends on the limits and your UTL.  If you have 2 cards with 1k limit on each I would think that would look more responsible than 3 cards with 500 limits.  Just my opinion on that one.

Message 7 of 15
jandj80
Regular Contributor

Re: A newbie's story, then a little judgement help?

We have a paid judgement, and it was no hinderance to us in qualifying and we have much lower scores. And yes, they can be vacated but you need to make sure that you get it in writing before paying that the attorney will vacate it. And offer to pay for their time, as they will be far more likley to vacate it if they will make a few bucks off of the deal. Easy money for them, easy deletion for you. Win win!


Starting Score: EQ 416 TU 498 EX 468 Lender Fico's July 2012
Current Score: EQ 674 TU 679 Ex 686 EX
Goal Score: For now: 640s


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Message 8 of 15
madmann26
Valued Contributor

Re: A newbie's story, then a little judgement help?

Keep this in mind,

 

Judgements can be reaged. They can be reaged indefinitely as well. With that being said, the judegement may never fall off.

 

I'd contact the people that won the judgement against you, find how much it costs to file the given paperwork to have it vacated, then pay it adding in the additional funds for it to be vacated.

 

You may get approved for a mortgage with it on your CR but you won't get the best interest rate which is what you are after.

Current FICO 9 Scores



Message 9 of 15
Wonderyears
New Contributor

Re: A newbie's story, then a little judgement help?

Thanks everyone!

 

Now, I found the Summons. It has the plaintiff, Discover Bank, and the lawyer representing them. Should I just start the process by calling the lawyer? Or is there a method to begin in writing? I understand not to pay whatever is agreed until I have the terms in writing.

 

The original summons was for $5946.52, the 2010 judgement is for over 8k. Any chance I can resolve it for the original? Or if I hope to have it vacated, the judgement amount is all I can hope for?

 

Either way, step one? Contact the plaintiff's lawyer?

myFico TU-715 EQ-778 (01.14.2013) WalmartTU-664 (12.12.12))

LENDER PULL EQ-766 EX-779 TU-713 (12.20.2012)
Message 10 of 15
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