I am currently working to help my son and his fiancée get a new home loan. There is a judgment on my credit report that was filed back in 2003. Nothing has been done regarding this judgment since the original file date. I also found out from the original creditor that the account has been charged off and sold to someone else. I am making attempts to reach them, but have not had any luck.

How should we handle this and what can be done for me to still help my son?

We are back to your original question. You told us in the other thread that you were already approved as a co-signer. So if that has happened, then why do you need to know how to help your son? It would seem that's already taken care of.

What you need to know is how to deal with the judgement. You have a few choices that I see. First you can contact the court that issued the judgement and see if they know who currently owns it. Second you can contact the creditor or plaintiff and ask them who currently owns it. Third, you can write to the credit bureaus and ask them to remove the item because it can't be verified.

Ok, if you want to help your son, do so, nothing stoping you from trying. I still think that a lender will have a issue with you having a judgement, and normally a judgement will greatly lower your credit score.

But if you want to co-sign go for it, a judgement does not stop you from co=signing a 100 other notes if they are willing to accept you.

As for the judgement, them "charging it off" means nothing, that is an accounting term that means they took it for a loss on their taxes, you still owe the money and the judgement is still valid.

The judgement stays valid for @ 10 years depending on where you live and can be renewed for normally another 10.

So what do you do, contact them or the current owner of the debt and make arrangements to pay them.

The pre-approval portion was done and run through DU, but the underwriter can still have an issue with it. I have cotnacted the court and they supplied with my the company that filed it. They have since sold it so I am trying to get information from them, but it is being very difficult.

Document all your attempts to satisfy the judgement. Show these to the underwriter if he questions the judgement. The main problem is the fact that a judgement had to be gotten in the first place. It indicates you default on the account and you will probably need to explain why.

Does anyone have any suggestions on negiotating these? I know to not tell them that it is to get a home.

Negotiate what? There is nothing to negotiate until you find who owns the debt. After that it will depend on whether you can make a lump sum settlement or not.

You are correct there is nothing to negotiate until then, but it is better to be prepared then go into something blind.

I spoke to both the original company and the company that it was sold too. They both stated there is no record of a judgment being on it. The original company stated they had filed for one and then later asked for it to be dismissed without prejudice.

So, ask then for a letter to that affect and send it to the credit bureaus to have them remove the entry.