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Understanding Judgments: When The Court Has To Decide

May 25

Posted by admin in Credit, Debt Relief

Over the next several articles I\’ll be covering judgments and how they affect your credit and your ability to obtain a home mortgage loan. What is a judgment? What is a default judgment? To answer these questions we have to start with how two parties get to this point.

When two parties disagree on a debt, the creditor goes through the court system and files a complaint. This complaint is the notice to the court there is a disagreement. The complaint includes the reason for the creditor\’s actions to seek court adjudication (award them the money). At this point the entire scenario has become a lawsuit.

Now comes the awful part of this whole mess. Here comes the sheriff\’s car up the street, or worse yet some seedy looking character right out of a bad detective novel. These people are trying to serve you a summons. They don\’t care if they serve it to you at home or work. Do not try to hide as it will only do more harm. There can be a brigh side as now is your chance to go to the courts and tell your side of the story.

What has happened to bring on this summons? The court examined the documents and proceeded to order a process server to give you a copy of the lawsuit. Because most of us are deathly afraid of what is in the lawsuit, we don\’t want to read it. Remember how we got to this point? We failed to respond to all those nasty phone calls and letters. If we had embarked on an aggressive \”debt negotiation\” from the beginning we most likely would have never reached the judgment stage.

In my next article I\’ll go over what to do now the papers have been served.

Chuck Lunsford is the owner and developer of EasyFloridaHomeLoans.com He offers advice on how to get your credit in order and working for you. Visit his website and learn more about how to obtain a florida home loan with bad or no credit.

Writen By : Chuck Lunsford

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Understanding Judgments: What To Do Now You\’ve Been Served A Summons To Appear

May 25

Posted by admin in Credit, Debt Relief

Let\’s assume the Sheriff or that seedy character has caught up with you and now you have this formidable stack of legal papers in front of you. What are you going to do now? Who do you call? You\’re only human and probably too embarrassed to talk to anyone so you put the stack of papers on the dresser and forget about them. That is a big no-no. Why is this? When you finally read the stack of papers you need to take note of the very first sentences. Here the court is informing you and the person suing you there is a pre-trial conference scheduleded.

This simply means there is no trial date set yet. There is a way for the court to bring both parties together to try and negotiate a settlement. Now isn\’t that strange? Here I am trying to teach you how to negotiate your debts and here\’s the court system ORDERING both parties to try and negotiate the debt. My, isn\’t this ironic in that you have waitied for the legal system to order you to do that which I am trying to teach you.

I will say this one time. It is very important to understand that you finally have an opportunity to talk to someone about your past debt, whether or not you owe the amount being sued for or not. Remember when the moron called you on the phone, berating you for not paying your debts? You were very honest and wanted to talk to someone about how much you owed and whether or not you could make a payment arrangement. But you got stuck with the village idiot who wasn\’t in the least interested in your plight. This why I don\’t want you to talk on the phone with, or heaven forbid, call a bill collector.

If you do not have any money to pay the bill, you can always negotiate a settlement. Be prepared. Bring a copy of your paycheck, car payment, rent payment, phone bill and all other bills. the meidator will figure out how much you can afford to pay on a bill and in most cases the suing party will accept the mediator\’s award. If you are not prepared, how can anyone determine your ability to pay?

REMEMBER THIS! If you do not how up to mediation you will automatically lose. The judge will not have even seen the case. Just because you failed to show up the opposing party automatically gets awarded whatever they asked for. Whether or not you owed anything, they will get it. So is it worth it to show up and defend yourself? Absolutely. Even if you do not have any money, the courts will always work out something that is fair.

In my next article we\’ll finish up mediation settlements and move on to the actual court appearance.

Chuck Lunsford is the owner and developer of EasyFloridaHomeLoans.com He offers advice on how to get your credit in order and working for you. Visit his website and learn more about how to obtain a florida mortgage lender with bad or no credit.

Writen By : Chuck Lunsford

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Understanding Judgments: Finally You Have Your Day In Court

May 25

Posted by admin in Credit, Debt Relief

In this final article on judgments we\’ll assume you showed up for mediation but no settlement was reached. The system works this way. On the day of your court appearance, you most probably will be asked to report to the Small Claims Court at 8:30 AM.

Now when you\’re in the courtroom and you see the judge walk in you might think he has jurisdiction. Ths is not the case. The judge only has jurisdiction over the \”contents of the case\”. When any important document in the case is missing, then the judge does NOT have jurisdiction. This is a very important point to remember. The important things to know is that fo a case to have all the requirements for jurisdiction the following are required:

1. Complaint

2. Proof of Service (you must have been served with the summons)

3. Affidavit from the person that approved your original loan or contract or their personal appearance in court

4. Certified copy of your original contract evidencing your signature contracting for goods or services.

If any of these documents are lacking then a judgment can be voided in its entirety. Many times when a default judgment is awarded, the attorney is basically lazy and hopes the opposing party won\’t show up in court.

Remember, when you do enter into a mediation agreement, this does not enter into your credit files. You and the opposing party have simply agreed to settle your differences. The mediator will write a letter to the court advising the court of his decision. This mediation agreement MUST be followed up. You MUST do what you promised. If you fail to follow the directives of the mediation agreement, the entire judgment now reappears and you are now the loser. So there is both pro and con to agreeing to mediation. REMEMBER. Do not hit yourself in the thumb making this decision. If you want to clean up your credit to the point where you qualify for a home mortgage loan in Florida, South Carolina, or Alaska you have to follow up.

Chuck Lunsford is the owner and developer of EasyFloridaHomeLoans.com He offers advice on how to get your credit in order and working for you. Visit his website and learn more about how to obtain a florida mortgage loan with bad or no credit.

Writen By : Chuck Lunsford

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Your Home Buying Plan – Part 2

May 22

Posted by admin in Debt Relief

The government, after being in the people business for decades, has taken a realistic attitude towards average people with credit issues. You are not the only one to have lost a job, gone through a divorce or had medical trauma in your life. When these things happen something has to give.

I can understand when average people take their paycheck home and try to figure out what bills to pay. Most people that have credit issues were in pretty good shape at one time in their lives. As I stated before things happen, bills accumulated and priorities such as putting food on the table came first. So after putting food on the table and paying the rent or mortgage, you became delinquent in other debts.

Remember when you buy a home, you have to pay the closing costs and down payment. This where the US Government in the form of the FHA can help. How does this happen? Well, the FHA has taken the position that a new home buyer can accept gift funds towards a down payment. The only catch is those funds must come from an approved source. Your family, for instance, can give you the money for the down payment. It CANNOT be a loan. That would impact your ability to make mortgage payments in the eyes of the FHA. The down payment can also come from an approved non-profit organization.

Approved non-profits must first be 501C organizations. Now that we know we can get down apyment assistance, let\’s cover the requirements to get approved for a loan.

Under government guidelines you must have at least one (1) year of on time bill payments. This means paying every bill that is reported on your credit report. NO EXCEPTIONS! If you cannot do this, you most certainly are going to have a difficult time convincing an underwriter that you have the habit of paying your bills on time. The second requirement is evidence of paying your rent on time for two (2) years.

Unlike a conventional bank that won\’t even talk to consumers with credit issues, the government\’s program may be your only opportunity to purchase a home. Now analyze all of the things we\’ve covered and decide if it\’s worth it. The Federal Government is aggressively making home ownership a reality. Do you want to be included? It\’s your decision.

This may not have been your idea of a home buying plan, but now that you\’ve read this I hope it makes sense.

In my next article I\’ll discuss how a good rental is vitally important when it comes to qualifying for a home mortage financing whether it\’s in California, Florida or Rhode Island.

Chuck Lunsford is the owner and developer of EasyFloridaHomeLoans.com. He offers advice on how to get your credit in order and working for you. Visit his website and learn more about how to obtain florida home financing.

Writen By : Chuck Lunsford

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Negotiate Debts With No Money

May 22

Posted by admin in Debt Relief

This is understandably tough to do but it can be done. Why would someone agree to accept your terms when you have not paid him or her anything in the past? Remember the old saying \”Half a loaf is better than nothing\”. Well again, let\’s put ourselves in the seat of the original creditor. He sold you something that you failed to pay for. Here it is again later and you contact him. He has sent the account over to a collection agency and they have not had any results in collecting any money. Now when you make contact, in writing, you are planting a seed in their mind. They are saying to themselves \”this guy has either come into some money or he needs something\”. Well they are partly correct. You do need your credit history addressed.

Let us now proceed to negotiate our debts. It becomes very simple. When you owe money, make arrangements to pay it. Negotiate – remember you are offering something they previously had little hope of collecting. You actually have some leverage in this case. Do remember that you only want to communicate in writing and NEVER on the phone.

Writing allows you to create a paper trail. Don\’t even try to the old \”he said, or she said\” scenario when negotiating paying bills. That simply won\’t fly. But, when you can produce in writing a record of an agreement and you can PROVE that you are making payments on your back debt, you are satisfying a lot of the requirements of the FHA in regards to obtaining a home mortgage loan.

Do not believe for one minute that debt simply dries up and goes away. Yes, there is a seven year time limit of reporting adverse information in your credit files. That is true. Can you wait seven years? This is important to remember if you\’re trying to get a home loan. If a creditor decides to take you to court and he is successful, the seven years flies right out the window. It now doesn\’t mean a
thing. You are now in a judgement scenario. Do not take a chance regarding a back debt. Handle it NOW if you are serious about buying a home.

Chuck Lunsford is the owner and developer of EasyFloridaHomeLoans.com. He offers advice on how to get your credit in order and working for you. Visit his website and learn more about how to obtain a florida home loan refinancing package.

Writen By : Chuck Lunsford

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Statute Of Limitations … Is It Going To Protect You Or Make Things Easier For The Creditor?

May 21

Posted by admin in Debt Relief

Each state in the Union has a different Statute of Limitations. Do not get confused regarding the Statute of Limitations in collecting debt versus the seven year period of reporting adverse information on your credit report. South Carolina for example has a three year statute regarding open end debts. These have been categorized as credit card debts, store card debts and gasoline cards. Home mortgages and loans do not fall into this category. This means that the amount you owe will change monthly depending on the activity of the account. This is different than an agreed contract that spells out a monthly payment for an agreed upon time limit. Be very careful to understand that IF you make a payment regardless whether or not you got caught up, the Statute of Limitations is tolled.

There are also statutes of limitations regarding how long a judgement can remain on your credit report. In Florida a judgement is granted for seven years and can be renewed twice for an additional seven years. This means a judgement in Florida can possibly remain on your credit report or be in public records for over twenty years. Please be aware of this. Sometimes a judgement might not be reported on your credit report but a search of legal records might reveal that you have an outstanding judgement against you. This is a severe penalty for now being able to pay a bill and be unaware of the ramifications of the law.

Knowing this, it becomes extremely important to understand medical bills. We address medical bills in another article. Be forewarned however! Do not let medical bills deteriorate to the point that they become a judgement against you. This is financial suicide if you are serious about getting approved for you home mortgage loan.

More and more creditors and collectors are now aware of the laws. Some are well versed and when it is brought to their attention that some accounts are beyond the statute of limitations, they are willing to accept offers. They legally cannot collect. Do they try? Yes indeed they do. They prey on your ignorance of the law. What is your defense if they try and collect on a debt that has survived the statute of limitations? Your defense is the fact that it has PASSED THE TIME LIMITS AND THEREFORE IT IS TIME BARRED from collection.

Do not, and I repeat do not fail to show up in court if you are served a summons from anyone attempting to collect a debt that is time barred. IF YOU FAIL TO SHOW THE PLAINTIFF IS AUTOMATICALLY AWARDED A DEFAULT JUDGEMENT! Just show up and represent yourself and it will be adjudged in your favor.

Now you see the importance of understanding your rights. It is not necessary for any debt to go to the judgement scenario if you use good negotiating skills.

In my next article I\’ll cover Restrictive Endorsement and how they can work in your favor.

Chuck Lunsford is the owner and developer of EasyFloridaHomeLoans.com. He offers advice on how to get your credit in order and working for you. Visit his website and learn more about buying a home in florida.

Writen By : Chuck Lunsford

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