Ex- Spouse's debt and Buying a house

[Anonymous]

Hi everyone!

My fiance and I are fairly new to cleaning up our credit.  Mine will take much longer to repair than his.  His mid-line as pulled by a lender is 646.  Not great- we are well aware, but it is enough to qualify for a loan.  Our problem however was that when we pulled his report- there is over $24000!!!! in un-paid collections from accounts that went to his ex-wife in their divorce in 2008.  There are some derogatories form things that he quit paying in order to keep the house in good standing (it is reported as paid current) as are the auto loan he had (his new car was paid in cash).  Basically the ex-wife had terrible credit and all the cards were in his name with her being an AU.  Then in the divorce he was issued a hold harmless that he "assumed" took care of everything.  Our LO had us dispute to the credit bureaus and a few things have been removed- but a vast majority is still there and is seriously effecting our ability to purchase a home.  I'm just looking for advice on what our next step should be (or if there even is one).  Details of the debt:

Chase Bank/Asset Acceptance ($8278 past due >120 high balance $5984)

Comenity Bank/Chadwicks ($825 settlement paid for thess than the full balance)

Chase ($4578.00 high balance past due 180 days- charged off as bad debt)

Midland Funding ($2612 at least 120 or more than 4 payments past due)

GECRB/Care Credit ($3600 charge off- transferred to another lender or claim purchased)

GECRB/Paypal ($506 charged off as bad debt purchased by another lender)

HSBC/Roomstore ($4200 charged off as bad debt)

Any help or ideas would be greatly appreciated (even if it's just to say so sorry you're SOL until 2016).

[guiness56]

Unfortunately, creditors do not care about divorce decrees.  If his name was on the CC, loans, etc, he is still responsible for payment.

Depending on what it is he wants will determine the advice you get.  Meaning, does he have the money to pay them, can he settle?

Also would need to know who owns the debt.  Is there a CA reporting for the ones that have been transferred/sold?

[bettercreditguy1]

A divorce decree does not alter or supercede any legal contract. All terms of the original contract are binding. Thus, whenever there is a separation/divorce, the best thing is to close all joint accounts. He would be wise to close them or at least see if he freeze them so no more charges could be incurred. Late fees and late reporting will continue on a suspended or closed account until it is paid in full or the debt is satisfied. Charge Offs will remain for seven years plus 180 days on your report, closed and paid with the lates seven years.