What is worse or are they equally bad? charge off, judgement, lien?

Answer 1

They are all pretty bad. But I would have to say the judgment and lien.

And yes, if you have a charge off it could lead to them filing suit.
You cannot have a lien without having a judgment.

But, as with charge off's, there is also a statute of limitations (SOL) on judgments and liens.

Every state is different and many states allow a judgment to be renewed. For example - if your state has a 5 year SOL for judgments and the Plaintiff fails to renew it within the 5 years - it is history along with the lien. If they do renew it, then it will be actionable for another 5 years.

And yes, if you plan on purchasing a home while having a judgment OR a charge off, the mortgage co. will more than likely require they are satisfied before lending or that you borrow enough, in your loan, to satisfy them.

If they have a lien on your home, it will be satisfied if you sell. As long as the judgment and lien are still actionable.

Answer 2

A lien stays with you or your property forever, as does a judgment (and a judgment lien!)

A charge-off can go away, after many years and many downgrades to your credit score.

The difference is that a lien or judgment is a court order, enforceable by law, while a charge-off is just bad debt that isn't enforceable by law - it would cost too much for the credit card company to sue you in court and get a court order saying to pay them the money, so they sell the debt to collection agencies for 60 cents on the dollar.

Answer 3

Judgement. Legal order will need to be resolved before buying or selling real property and possibility of further action. Repo garnishment and the like.

Charge-off can develop into judgement at lendors discreation, but until it does only hurts credit. No legal teeth to it.

Answer 4

Spelling wrong.