[bobsmithjohnson]

Hi,
Back in 98-99 I had a run of bad debt. I chose to simply ignore it and as a result 1 of my creditors filed a judgement. At the time I was unable to attend the hearing and the attorney who filed applied for a 29% interest rate on the judgement. The original debt was around 800 + the attorney fees.
I've never heard anything from them since the judgement and this has me somewhat worried. All of my bad debts have been removed from my credit report and there is only 1 or 2 things listed now. In my state there is a 10 year statute of limitations on a judgement after which they can file an extension. I'm going to wait out hoping that the extension isn't filed.

Now I'm curious what options I have for handling this judgement. On one hand I would like to take care of the original 800.00 amount and consider the matter settled. This course of action brings about 2 concerns.

First is that if I settle will the attorney report this judgement as settled on my credit report and thus cause my credit score to drop again?

Secondly will contacting the company's attorney to discuss payment options open the door to wage garnishment of the full amount plus interest? I'm unsure on what I should do in this case. Should I wait another 3 years and check to see if an extension is filed. Does anyone here have any suggestions or recommendations?

I'm somewhat concerned about my credit score but I'm more worried that I may decide to buy a house down the road and have them begin garnishing my checks, which could in turn cause me to lose my job.

I have one other point too. I've considered opening up a credit account with the same company that sent my account to a local attorney. Will applying with them throw up any red flags? These accounts have been dormant withoutu so much as a phone call for almost 8 years now.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[excon]

Will applying with them throw up any red flags? These accounts have been dormant withoutu so much as a phone call for almost 8 years now.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Hello bob:

I presume that it's NOT on your credit report now, and you want to know what happens if you poke a stick at a sleeping dog (who has very big teeth).

In my view, you have TWO courses of action, and neither of them includes poking a stick at anybody...

You're intuition is right on the one hand, and very wrong on the other. I don't know why it's NOT on your credit report and why they're NOT pursuing you, but they're not. You're NOT judgment proof, so they're either lax, or incompetent. In any case, either of those two afflictions is going to cost them any chance to collect in two years.

So, you either (1) wait, or (2) go see them through the front door with an offer to settle. Uhhhh, $800 ain't going to cut it - not even close! So if you're not willing to walk through the door with more cash than that, then you better take option number #1.

excon