Foreclosure Aftermath

Hello Paul, my husband and I fell on hard times two years ago and had our house foreclosed upon.  We did however attempt to work with the lender. We had a neighbor who was willing to assume our mortgage or purchase our home at a discounted rate. 

Unfortunately, our mortgage company outsourced their collections department overseas and once our account ended up their, we were never able to speak with an English speaking person again. Noone could understand what we were trying to do.  We eventually got frustrated and let the house go into foreclosure. 

We have since been working very hard at restoring our credit.  I recently pulled my husband’s credit report to see how our credit score was.  We have managed to raise it signifigantly. 

Unfortunately, I just noticed something I had not noticed before.  There has been a judgement placed on our account in the amount of $56,000 from our previous mortgage company. 

What does this mean and is there any way this can be removed.  We would like to someday purchase a house again but there is no way we can pay $56,000.  Am I out of luck? 

Thanks so much for this sight and any answer would be greatly appreciated.

Amber

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Hi Amber,

The judgment was the decision of the court regarding the rights of the foreclosing lender.  It may be a summary judgment of foreclosure which awarded them the house or it could be a deficiency judgment, in which case, you may owe on the amount.  You need to obtain a copy of the judgment from the court to determine the type of judgment.

As to credit reporting, regardless of the type of judgment, the FCRA requires that the judgment must be ‘complete and accurate’ to remain on your credit report.

Thanks for the questions and hope this helps.

Paul

This author is not an attorney and this information should not be considered legal advice.  Please consult an attorney for legal advice.