Jena29 Posted April 4, 2013 Report Share Posted April 4, 2013 What is the best way to handle an unpaid Judgment from 2002- if we are working towards a VA home loan? This was never on my credit report, and just found it from a public records search. It is for $9000 from an old discover card. We filed BK in 2005, and this obviously got missed? I have read conflicting info- some statutes read that even though a judgment is recorded for 21 years, it is only collectible for 5 years in the state of Ohio. Not sure about that? I pulled this from Bestcredit.com Statute of Limitations page : Judgements: 5 years, renewable indefinitely so long as it isn't dormant for more than 21 years. Any advice is greatly appreciated!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrunoTheJDBkiller Posted April 4, 2013 Report Share Posted April 4, 2013 (A) An action to revive a judgment can only be brought within ten years from the time it became dormant, unless the party entitled to bring that action, at the time the judgment became dormant, was within the age of minority, of unsound mind, or imprisoned, in which cases the action may be brought within ten years after the disability is removed. In case of the death of either or both parties after judgment rendered, and before its satisfaction, his or their representatives may be made parties to the judgment, and it may be revived by an action brought for that purpose; or they may be made parties thereto in the manner prescribed for the revival of actions before judgment. Such judgment may be rendered and execution awarded as might or should have been given or awarded against the representative of such deceased party. (1) If neither execution on a judgment rendered in a court of record or certified to the clerk of the court of common pleas in the county in which the judgment was rendered is issued, nor a certificate of judgment for obtaining a lien upon lands and tenements is issued and filed, as provided in sections 2329.02 and 2329.04 of the Revised Code, within five years from the date of the judgment or within five years from the date of the issuance of the last execution thereon or the issuance and filing of the last such certificate, whichever is later, then, unless the judgment is in favor of the state, the judgment shall be dormant and shall not operate as a lien upon the estate of the judgment debtor. It looks like they have a total of fifteen years to renew this. If they are watching you as they always do, and see you just bought a house they can lien, they'll do it. The VA isn't going to like the fact that you have this against you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jena29 Posted April 4, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 4, 2013 Certainly not good news for us then.... Thank you for taking the time to reply! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrunoTheJDBkiller Posted April 4, 2013 Report Share Posted April 4, 2013 The only thing you might try is to incorporate a payoff into the mortgage. They'll see the judgment anyway, so maybe this could be done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1stStep Posted April 4, 2013 Report Share Posted April 4, 2013 Personally - I would not mix the mortgage and the judgment - then that will put you in a bad negotiation spot. If you are not in the loan process, call them up and see what they take - lay it on thick about how poor you are, how you've got $8 in the bank and you want this black cloud to go away - and see what they will take in exchange for a satisfaction - do not mention a mortgage AT ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrunoTheJDBkiller Posted April 4, 2013 Report Share Posted April 4, 2013 Then again, you said it isn't on your credit report? I don't know how much digging they do, but I imagine there must be something in the loan application that asks about stuff like this.....do you have any liens or judgments, etc., are you being sued, stuff like that. If you lie you are in violation of title 18. Bad violation, up to 30 years and a million dollar fine. Paying off the judgment is always an option. Just don't try to conceal this, because if the thing gets renewed and placed against the property, the VA is going to see it eventually. Maybe you should give us some more details about where you are in the loan process. Have you filled out an application yet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jena29 Posted April 4, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 4, 2013 No loan started yet- was hoping to in a few months or so. Have not even applied, so no inquiries yet either. We finally got our scores close to where we need to be, just trying to remove some leftover bad stuff that I know we will need to take care of. Husband's is in good shape- mine still needs tweaking. I make more money than him, so I really want to be able to put myself on the loan also. Did a public record search to find out details of our BK in 2005- unfortunately we filed under bad advice, and that attorney is no longer in business. I do have an attorney that has helped me with a couple other things, I think I will reach out and see if they will help me negotiate this off somehow. As a side note, it is from Asset Acceptance- who from what I've read, are one of the top slimeballs and have been sued themselves many times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrunoTheJDBkiller Posted April 4, 2013 Report Share Posted April 4, 2013 Yup, they are a bad outfit, but you should have fought this at the time. Were you served properly and just ignored it, or what? You only have a year to vacate a judgment in Ohio, so that's a lost cause. There may be some recourse, you'd have to see a lawyer to find out what it is, Ohio is tricky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jena29 Posted April 4, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 4, 2013 I may or may not have been served- it was a very bad time for us, as we were both out of work and had three young children, one a baby. Priority was just trying to feed them and keep us in our apartment- I remember being extremely depressed and stressed out for years, ignoring collection calls/letters- there wasn't anything I could do. Anyway, that was 10 years ago, things have turned around for us finally, and we have each have a steady job in our respective careers, making over $100,000/yr combined. From a family that at one time was almost homeless and getting food from a food bank, I feel pretty good about that. Ohio also has some of the worst statutes out of all the states...Very unfortunate for Ohioans. We do have savings, so perhaps I can satisfy the judgment and hopefully that will be okay with the VA. I am hoping so, since the judgment is 11 years old... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrunoTheJDBkiller Posted April 4, 2013 Report Share Posted April 4, 2013 I'm surprised they never went for wage garnishment or raided your bank account. See if you can get somebody to recommend a good consumer attorney. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jena29 Posted April 4, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 4, 2013 Yeah, I thought about that too- however, we both really started in our current job positions about 3 years ago- the debt would have been 8 years old then. I wonder if they tried in the beginning and gave up? I know if I ever received anything from them it would have been from 2002-2005, and I honestly don't recall anything from Asset Acceptance. And, I received nothing for sure after 2005... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willingtocope Posted April 4, 2013 Report Share Posted April 4, 2013 Check with your lawyer. You have two outs: 1,) If the judgement was from 2002, and they did not renew it in 2012...its uncollectable, which is why itts gone from your CRs., and b.) even if it wasn't specifically listed in your 2005 BK 7 (?), it was discharged, although you may need to amend the BK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrunoTheJDBkiller Posted April 4, 2013 Report Share Posted April 4, 2013 Check with your lawyer. You have two outs: 1,) If the judgement was from 2002, and they did not renew it in 2012...its uncollectable, which is why itts gone from your CRs., and b.) even if it wasn't specifically listed in your 2005 BK 7 (?), it was discharged, although you may need to amend the BK. It appears to be fifteen years. The ten year part I cited above is after it becomes dormant. The dormancy occurs if they take no action in the first five years. They then get another ten to renew it. That time frame hasn't expired yet for the poster. Can a debt be discharged in BK if it was never listed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huey Pilot Posted April 4, 2013 Report Share Posted April 4, 2013 I would run this by the BK attorney you used. It sounds like the dates correspond to the time frame. Maybe he can/has already retroactively included this in your filings. Seems very unusual that both of you would have missed this in you BK filings. The VA is fairly lenient with it's credit qualifications for veterans but this will hold you up. Asset Acceptance is very patient and can hold their breath under water a long time. Might be AA is just accruing interest knowing your credit posture will improve later and they can collect more money. HP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jena29 Posted April 4, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 4, 2013 Our BK lawyer closed shop and went AWOL... I took him everything we had on our debts and he listed them all, if it wasn't listed, it was because it wasn't on our credit reports or we had no documentation re: the debt. Anyways, it was our fault either way, for missing it, and for allowing it to happen in the first place. The question is, what to do about it now... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest usctrojanalum Posted April 4, 2013 Report Share Posted April 4, 2013 the BK wouldn't even matter, the debt might be discharged but liens survive BK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willingtocope Posted April 4, 2013 Report Share Posted April 4, 2013 the BK wouldn't even matter, the debt might be discharged but liens survive BK.No, I don't think so. ALL debts, except student loans and taxes are discharged in a BK 7 whether they are listed or not. But like I say, you may need to amend the BK filing to make it official. And...I'm pretty certain in OHIO the judgement is only enforeable for 10 years from the initial date, unless its renewed forr another 10. OP: Talk to your lawyer...I think you're off the hook here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jena29 Posted April 4, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 4, 2013 I think I will definitely get in touch with a consumer atty and figure this one out, seems we might have a couple ways out of this one. I certainly don't want this holding up a home loan when we have come so far- I appreciate all the input! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest usctrojanalum Posted April 5, 2013 Report Share Posted April 5, 2013 No, I don't think so. ALL debts, except student loans and taxes are discharged in a BK 7 whether they are listed or not. But like I say, you may need to amend the BK filing to make it official. And...I'm pretty certain in OHIO the judgement is only enforeable for 10 years from the initial date, unless its renewed forr another 10. OP: Talk to your lawyer...I think you're off the hook here. Debts are most certainly discharged after BK, however the liens that a judgment leaves behind are NOT discharged. A special motion has to be made to remove the lien. See it with homeowners all the time. Have judgments that were discharged in BK, however they failed to pay their BK attorney to avoid lien (it typically costs extra, it is not in the normal course of BK) and they end up having to pay the debt off if they want to buy a house, sell or transfer title. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willingtocope Posted April 5, 2013 Report Share Posted April 5, 2013 Does it matter that in this case the OP said "judgement" and didn't say "lein". It is possible to have one withou the other, isn't itt? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest usctrojanalum Posted April 5, 2013 Report Share Posted April 5, 2013 Does it matter that in this case the OP said "judgement" and didn't say "lein". It is possible to have one withou the other, isn't itt? Yes it is possible, but much more common to have both. I'd also be interested in what kind of public records search was done, was it done by a title company? If it was then that would be strongest indication that lien still in effect. Where I'm from where a judgment is entered against a debtor a lien is automatically created on any and all real property in the county where the judgment is docketed. I know some places you have to pay a nominal fee ($10-$25) to have a judgement lien docketed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrunoTheJDBkiller Posted April 5, 2013 Report Share Posted April 5, 2013 It isn't crystal clear, but going back through your posts it seems that you've been in an apartment since this happened. In that case, there would be nothing for them to place a lien on, since you own no property. As soon as you buy a house tho, they'll lien it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jena29 Posted April 6, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 6, 2013 Actually, it says "Certificate of Judgment Lein"... So, I am going to confer with an attorney, but it seems as though I will probably have to deal with it. If we apply for a loan, and have to pay it off before closing, we are pretty much stuck paying full balance as in we will have no negotiating power...BUT, if I contact them first, can they negotiate the amount? Even if it is a judgment? How can I be sure they remove it/update court records after paying? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willingtocope Posted April 6, 2013 Report Share Posted April 6, 2013 If we apply for a loan, and have to pay it off before closing, we are pretty much stuck paying full balance as in we will have no negotiating power...BUT, if I contact them first, can they negotiate the amount? Even if it is a judgment? How can I be sure they remove it/update court records after paying?That's why you want to get your lawyer involved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrunoTheJDBkiller Posted April 6, 2013 Report Share Posted April 6, 2013 Doubtful they'll budge much, but you can try. They already have you and sat back for 10 years, what reason can you give them to let you off the hook? You start negotiating now and they'll pull your credit reoport to see why. Then they may drag you into court with a debtor's exam, then you'll be looking at wage garnishment and a bank levy. Be careful what you ask for, you may not get what you expect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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