Internet's first get-out-of-debt community - 196,000 members

#1 03-15-2009, 08:11 AM

If a credit card that I defaulted on and they were granted a judgment against me, could they take our house or any personal property like furniture, electronics, etc.? My husband is on the title also and owns most of these and had no knowledge of these debts. Help!

SOAPLADY · #2 03-15-2009, 08:55 AM

They wont take the house but they could put a lien against it.

#3 09-08-2009, 12:16 PM

This is totally untrue. No unsecured debt can put a lien against anyone's home unless the owner of the home used home equity to aquire money to pay off those debts. This happens all the time and it is foolish. When this is done the customer is making an unsecured debt a secured one and therefore is allowing the home to be collateral against an unsecured debt. Never a good idea.

frogpatch · #4 09-08-2009, 12:26 PM

A judgement is NOT an unsecured loan! They can put a lien on any assets including a home, bank account and even garnish pay! If they put a lien on your home you will not have it removed until you pay the judgement! That means you can't sell it or take a second mortgage. Guest above is terribly misinformed! Soap Lady who spent her career in the business of collecting is correct!

#5 09-08-2009, 01:15 PM

You are correct that a judgement is different, however you are failing to mention in all your experience collecting debts that judgements on unsecured debts only occur in todays market if the customer sits on their hands and allows it to happen. In todays market and with todays banking protocols there are several ways to prevent a judgement from occurring on an unsecured debt. These ways include the increasingly popular debt settlement process. This is a simple program that involves hiring a company who can negotiate the principle balances of your unsecured debts to far less than owed and gaining approval from the creditor to satisfy that debt for that smaller amount. This process is accepted by banks, collection agencies, attorneys, and other creditors before judgements are passed. I have experience in the settlements of thousands of debts with all of these types of creditors and it is true. In fact with the changes that have occured within the banks since last september they have become even more flexible with regard to the terms of settlement than ever before historically. This is making these programs very attractive and easy for consumers who have been blindsided by this turning of the economy and simply cannot afford anymore, to pay their debts on the original terms they were given by their creditors.

Chrys Henderson · #6 09-08-2009, 11:52 PM

Doing debt settlement will not stop any collector from suing and obtaining a judgement, in fact it may even increase the chances of a lawsuit.

But anyway, this is a moot point in this case. The original poster was talking about a judgement against them and it does no good answering a specific question with every other "you could have done" that they could have done.