I'm getting ready to close and my mortgage company stated an "absract judgement" was place under my wifes name on our house. We have no idea what this could be unless it is a student loan from 1986 that was never paid (before marriage). The title company did not provide who put this on our deed. Does anyone know what an abstract judgement is? Why did we never receive court papers?
An abstract judgement is when you want to attach real property owned by the defendant. Before you'll ever be able to sell or re-fi the house, the mortgage co. will have to satisfy the judgement. You need to talk with the lawyer that is handling the closing and find out what happened.
Follow up.. This abstract judgement was for a student loan (1982) my wife had years before our marriage.She graduated and should of paid this in 1986. Since being married we have received no phone calls, offset of taxes or mail pertaining to this. I guess they tracked her down and placed a judgement against our house because she was on the deed in May 2001. Can they do this since I'm on the deed too and had nothing to do with the debt? The total rose to $6,318 with all the interest and legal fees. Original amt was arount $3,000. I negotiated with a US dept Attorney and settled at $4,000 to resolve completely.Must be paid w/in 30 days. I guess I answered my own question relating to "will they negotiate". I do plan on trying to vacate the judgement though but if it is not showing on any of her credit reports should I waste my time?
Yes, I would still try to get it vacated. A judgment can show up without notice in the future if a background check is done for any reason. Chances are it will be showing up because of the mortgage company finding it.
Can you get it vacated on the basis of improper service? Additionally, when you pay, are they going to delete it entirely? Dancer
My title company's lawyer stated they would handle the resolution with the US Justice Dept., removing the judgement from our deed, etc. I just checked all my wife's credit reports and nothing shows there regarding a judgement. I have to mention that the Attorney I negotiated with was surprisingly weak at arguing (lucky me). Also, the settlement letter was 4 sentences long and she misspelled two words and made 2 grammar errors. One sentence was not even a complete sentence? How did she make it through Law school? Cheat!
I like to send letters like this back to the originator with corrections in red ink. Enclose a copy of the web page printout from www.hookedonphonics.com Hopefully, this'll annoy them enough that they'll write you a scathing reply without the credit mini-Miranda. That's another violation Dancer BTW, this wasn't filed as a mechanic's lein, was it? Those usually only have a one year SOL.
My absolute favorite was the one I sent back to the car dealer with spelling and grammar corrections and a grade of D- in red ink. It was complete with the Elementary School Teacher's Stamp with the frowning face on it that said: "You've got to start trying harder". They pulled it out when we went to court and told the judge that I wasn't taking their side of the case seriously enough. The judge looked at it and burst out laughing. Things went downhill from there for their side......... Dancer
