I have a repo dated 9/97 that was charged off on 9/99. This was a joint account with my estranged husband. It is my understanding that the creditor actually got a judgement against my estranged husband. I am trying to buy a house and the lender is telling me that I have to settle with this creditor. Do I have any other choice? I tried to dispute, was verified. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks
If the lender is requiring it to be settled prior to approval, that is their terms. You could try another lender, but most likely it will need to be taken care of no matter who you use (from what I've read here). Even if they got a judgment against him, the bill remains unpaid unless they have collected on the judgment so the bill is still owed by BOTH of you. You can try validating with the company vs disputing with the CRA and see what you get from them, if anything. Send validation via certified mail. Someone else with more knowledge will answer this I'm sure
When I was house-hunting, my mortgage broker only required that I have payment arrangements on debts and have it in writing; they did not have to be paid off in order to close. Maybe you can find similar terms. But I also was told later that they were predatory...
I would definately validate with the creditor as a first step. I would then send the results of my validation requests (if they have not been validated) to the CRA for deletion of the tradeline. In absence of that, you can always send a procedure request to the CRA, which might prompt a full reinvestigation, resulting in your deletion. Don't give up you still have options. To expedite the process, I would use FedEx. You still get the signature confirmation and the ability to track delivery.
