Are there any options out there other than paying them off first? It would take so long plus one of them is only half mine, i don't want to pay the other person's half. Is it possible if I pay my portion to file something to get the other half off? The other one is a credit card from when i was 19.
I talked to someone who ran all my info last year and she said nothing was possible until the judgements are satisfied. My husband said he's heard of the loan carrying the judgements and paying it off that way on top of the loan. I'm just sick of renting and with a baby on the way i really want to try and purchase a townhome/condo.
I would say NO, although anything is possible. If you don't have the funds available to pay off the judgement, how is it possible that you have enough savings for a downpayment and closting costs?
Also, if there's a judgement against you feel is partially the responsibility of someone else then you need to have it legally removed. Just refusing to pay it, won't make it go away.
Please don't worry about renting. Take care of your credit first. Homeownership is very expensive. The maintenance is a bear. Something is always breaking and you can't call the super to come fix it. You have to pay property taxes and insurance. The property value may NOT go up. If your husband gets relocated, you are stuck with the house. Some people are underwater in their mortgages. You could end up that way too. Getting out of a condo can be really HARD.
Keep renting. It's so much easier. I have done both in my life and I know the score. When you have to replace stuff and pay for all kinds of incidentals, even having the mortgage interest deduction doesn't necessarily make up for it.
Dawn
Hi. My husband and I are closing on our house tomorrow. He's unemployed, so the loan is based on my (awful) credit.
The most important thing is that you have to show that you are making an effort to pay on all of your debts. That means that you have to call those creditors and start making payments. After you've made arrangements with them, and are making payments for a year or so, then you can start looking for a mortgage. So until you can show some payment history, you're going to be renting.
I would go with a local bank. Local banks are far more willing to work with you than national mortgage companies. Also, you need to save and have a big downpayment. The bank really wants to see 20% or more down, especially for someone with bad credit. It shows that you are sincere in wanting to pay your mortgage. We put down 30%. The more you are able to put down, the lower your interest rate will be.
I hope that helps!
I know your nesting instincts are probably in full swing right now, and leading you down the "I must buy a home for this new baby" road, but I strongly urge you to continue renting (for all of the reasons Dawn laid out below).
Honestly? My husband and I recently became landlords, and we won't even rent to someone with a bankruptcy on their record.
the only way to find out for sure is to pound the pavement and ask bank after bank after bank. all banks have different sources for their funding, different levels of reserves to loan to consumers, and different tolerances to risk. check out the big banks, small banks, and credit unions alike. you might get 99 no's and 1 yes. but you won't know until you've asked all of them. along the way, you might just form a relationship with a couple of them who want to help but can't, and they can help guide you to what it will take to finally become a home owner. good luck!
Under the current, strict lending standards, I don't think you have any options other than paying off the judgments unless your husband makes enough to qualify for a mortgage on his own. When my husband and I bought our first house, his credit was awful so the house was purchased in just my name.
Regarding the judgment that's half yours, my experience is that you're SOL. My brother was subject to a judgment for unpaid rent a few years ago. He was giving his roommate the rent money and his roommate started pocketing the money instead of giving it to the landlord, who wanted to receive just one payment and not deal with individual payments. It was several months before my brother knew that the payments weren't being made. His friend confessed to this in court but they were both technically responsible so he just had to suck it up and pay off both his part and he ended up paying some of the rest of the balance too so that he could move on with his life. Live and learn.
Hi if you have a baby on the way you dont want to be starting to worry about all this stuff -
eventually you will have your own home one day but it just takes time and its more expensive - at the moment you dont have to worry about things like repairs and building insurance -
to get these things signed up in court is often complicated and time consuming - im still trying to sort out my mortgages im still tied in with my ex and banks arent giving money away very easily these days like they use to
After you have baby what if you rent a house for awhile?
Nowdays more people are renting homes.
I myself have been paying on a home for eighteen years, and am refinancing again, the house has dropped way low in resale value and we are in the tiny starter home. I am seeing friends and relatives living in way more comfortable situations while I try to keep good credit. I am not sure anymore if it is really worth it.
We have lived in our home a very long time and I fought and fought to keep good credit. There are pluses and minuses. Have your baby first and then decide what you want to do.
You might be able to find a lender who would let you roll the amount of the judgments into the mortgage loan and pay them off, but I kind of doubt it. Lenders are getting much more strict and getting mortgage loans is a lot harder than it used to be.
In CA, if you are married, both people have to be on the mortgage. I work with a woman who's husband has a bankruptcy on his record. They tried to buy a home with just her name and were told that they cannot do that in CA. So, they actually got divorced so she could get a mortgage loan. Once she signed, they ran to the Justice of the Peace and got remarried.
When my hubby and I applied for our mortgage loan, there were some things on his credit report that actually belonged to his son. They were very small so rather than to try to get it taken off his credit report and put on his son's we just paid them. They weren't judgments though - just collections.
You might be better served to take the money you've saved for a down payment and pay off the judgments and then work on strengthening your credit scores. The higher your scores, the better interest rate you'll get. A good interest rate can save you thousands of dollars over the long run.
As for the judgment that's only half yours, it will stay on your credit report until the entire judgment is paid in full so you may end up having to pay all of it in order to clear your credit. The creditor is not obligated to divide the debt equally between two people. They can and will collect from whomever has the money. Then it's up to you to go after the other person for reimbursement.
