I live in pennsyvlania. I recently pulled a copy of each of my credit reports...or at least 2 of them. I show there is a judgement from citibank file back in 2003, however, this account is owned by a collector now. I would like to contact the creditor to have them validate the debt as the amount is also incorrect. it's stating 4000.00. This was from when I was younger and not responsible in paying off the debt as I had financial problems while in college. i would like to get this cleared up as soon as possible as I am also looking to purchase a home within the next 6 months. Is it legal for citibank to issue a civil judgement on this if they do not own it? also, back during this time frame, I had been working with Edge solutions on debt settlement and citibank was my last settlement. I was making payments, but wasn't able to finish them as I had the financial trouble. I was told by edge solutions not to respond to any of the letters or anything I would receive from collectors, which I didn't. I dont even recall getting one about a judgement, and now I have one. What do I do to get this removed? Should i find out from citibank who owns the account now. if I find out it's bought by another collector, do I write them to validate it, etc. or should I try to settle with citibank and have them remove the judgement..i forget what the term is ? Does citibank have a right to keep this judgement on file on my credit report if they do not own it? How should I proceed. Please help. also, on my transunion report, they have the civil judgement listed twice..does this double the negativity on my report or just a typo? Any help appreciated. I found this site which is great.. creditinfocenter.com/rebuild/debt_validation Thanks
I think you should sue Edge Solutions for giving you crappy advice and you should use the money you recover to pay your judgment, which at this point is something you don't really have a snowball's chance of vacating (unless service of process really was improper, and you can check the return of service in the court file to find that out), let alone validating (validation is out the window), and yes, third parties can own judgments (but they have to record something called an assignment of judgment in order to be able to give you a valid satisfaction if you pay, so don't pay anyone but the judgmentholder of record).
well what if my credit report states citibank owns the judgement but another agency bought the account from them years ago. can ciitbank still hold a judgement if they don't own the account? Also, how do I go about contacting the court to get more information? what exactly did you mean by: "(unless service of process really was improper, and you can check the return of service in the court file to find that out)" thanks
You're just going to have to pay this in order to be able to get a house. You may try disputing it first and hope to get lucky. Call the current holder if you cannot delete it and see if they'll give you a notice of satisfaction which is good enough for most lenders.
Realizing that getting a house without getting a mortgage is a practical impossibility for most people, it's still imprecise to say that the judgment must be pad in order to get a house. 1. A house could be bought for cash, no mortgage necessary. The judgment might not even constitute a lien on the home, and depending on where the home is it's possible the judgment could never become a lien on the home. 2. There may be mortgage programs that will overlook even a judgment, especially if it is old or distant enough. Or a seller may be willing to carry the note. 3. There is always the possibility that the OP can knock the judgment of his reports and that the OP is not averse to committing mortgage fraud, realizing that "fraud for land" (versus "fraud for money") is not pursued at the federal level and such pursuit is only desultory at the state level. None of these alternatives are likely more attractive than to resolve the legal stumbling block, but they nonetheless exist.
