To take advantage of the current low interest rates, Mrs. Spiff and I took out a home equity loan from our credit union and used the money to pay off the balance of our house mortgage.
The title search company found two “encumbrances” on our property, which are in error. They are two separate civil judgments, one in 2002 and the other in 2009, for about $1,200 and $2,500, respectively. These list me as the Defendant/Debtor. And, apparently, I lost both times – no doubt because I had pro se representation both times! :smack:
Mrs. Spiff, who is a librarian in a law office, did some digging and found online records with a few more details on these civil actions, but not much. But in each of the County’s records, there are errors, such as a misspelling of my last name(!) in one of them, and in the other, it says I live in an incorrect ZIP code. In neither document was a legal description of our property (Lot no., Block no.) or a street address.
The errors are either the result of the County Registrar or the title company (or a little of each, I dunno). And it seems to me that the only thing tying me to these civil judgments is my name, which falls somewhere in the middle of the rare/common continuum.
We told our lender that these encumbrances are a mystery to us, and he said it didn’t affect our loan. I have a stellar credit score (>810), so I don’t think these civil judgments have been tied to my credit rating.
But anyway, should I spend what I think would probably amount to a lot of time and trouble to set the records straight? And how big a deal is this in the long run?
If it matters, I’m 51 years old and don’t plan on buying another house (but maybe a condo in 20 years or so to retire in). Maybe I’ll have one or two more car purchases in my lifetime that will require loans. (Midlife crisis Ferraris ain’t cheap, you know!)
