Pay off credit cards, pay off old judgment or save for home?

After a year of aggressively paying down debt, my wife and I are in a position to pay off all off our credit card debt in about 16 months while saving up enough for a down payment on our first house. (It%26#039;s amazing how paying off two car loans frees up cash!)

Here%26#039;s the thing: I have an old judgment from my college days. It%26#039;s more than a decade old. I could work it into my budget by taking another six-to-eight months or so to pay off the card debt or not save as much for the home purchase.

Should I make the judgment a priority? Is an unpaid, ages-old judgment more harmful to a prospective home-buyer than credit card debt?

Also, the judgment has switched hands many times (at a fraction of its amount, no doubt). The current holder recently offered a 10 percent discount on the amount. If I were to negotiate a settlement, what percentage would be an good one to aim for? And would it be worth paying an attorney to handle those negotiations? The judgment is for $4,000.

Pay off credit cards, pay off old judgment or save for home?mortgage lenders

You should pay the judgement, with or without a lawyer. Most mortgage companies or banks wont approve your home loan if you have a judgement. They look worse on your credit than credit cards, because they are court ordered, no matter how old they are. And don%26#039;t be fooled if you are pre-approved without paying it. When it comes time to apply for the actual loan, it will require you to pay it.

Pay off credit cards, pay off old judgment or save for home? loan

Congratulations on your progress. When you get totally out of debt (except for your home), I hope you will come back and counsel the less fortunate, here.

I would ask a lawyer about the strength of the judgement. Morally, you should pay it, but legally, the statute of limitations may be about to expire, or have already expired.

I like your plan of paying off the credit cards, and saving at the same time. It seems you have the discipline, so maybe, if the credit cards are at a higher rate than savings interest, you want to route your funds to paying the cards first, then route everything to saving, afterwards? It should be to your financial advantage.

No super rush to buy a house. Prices are still going down.|||first thing is get rid of the old judgment!!!|||In order to qualify for a mortgage loan you need to pay down as much debts as possible. That includes any old judgment or collections. So you should put paying off all debts as priority over saving up for a house down payment.|||Hi,

I used %26quot;Credit Solution%26quot; to settle my debt and improve my credit score.They managed to reduce my debt up to 58%.It%26#039;s legitimate.I came across this company on NBC News Special Edition.Check it out here:

http://creditsolution.ez-mart.biz