Judgment or Lien: Can My Creditor Take My House and Property for Non-Payment?
December 31, 2009 by Guest Author
Filed under Debt
If you are worried that you may lose some of your assets due to a judgment or lien your creditor is filing or has threatened to file, you should be. You can definitely lose assets if a judgment is awarded to your creditor. Your creditor must go to court with the debt matter if the debt has gone a certain number of months without being paid. It is unfortunate that it will likely cost you in one way or another if the matter goes to court. The result reached in court will be unique, just as every person’s individual situation is unique.
Normally, you will have 30 days to respond once you receive judgment papers. The judgment papers will notify you that you are to appear in court to defend the debt matter. It is smart to spend these 30 days attempting to come to a settlement with the creditor.
If the creditor is successful in obtaining a judgment against you and depending upon your state’s laws, the creditor will have legal remedies against you. These may include seizure of assets, garnishment of wages, or possibly even placing a lien against your home or property. If a lien is placed against your home, this will mean that you cannot sell or borrow against the property until the lien has been paid.
It is important to note that a court-ordered judgment will cause your credit score to take a significant southward plunge. Also, a judgment may be reported for up to ten years on your credit report. A bankruptcy is the worst mark you can have on your credit report. A judgment follows closely on a bankruptcy’s heels. Considering the difficult times we are living in, an exceptional credit score is more important and necessary than ever before.
In the end, resolution to the debt issue is all the creditor wants. In light of this, creditors are often responsive to working out a resolution in order to avoid legal action. However, for this to take place, you and the creditor will need to communicate in order to hammer out the details.
You will likely wind up in court if you ignore your creditor’s request to negotiate a settlement. If this happens, you will be allowing the court the opportunity to rule against you as opposed to working with the creditor to reach an agreement that will be more beneficial to you. You should never allow a judgment to just happen!
If you feel you don’t want to tackle this situation alone, you can look into hiring an experienced credit attorney who can guide you through the process. It is always best to deal with debt matters head-on rather than opting for avoidance.
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