Can I get a judgment removed from my credit report?
I had a Judgement entered on feb/2012 for a $400 medical bill. It increased to $800 once it was sold to a debt collector. The collector reached out to me to make payments but I could not due to lack of funds. Long story short. A judgement was served to my then boyfriend at the time (feb/2012) because he opened my door and confirmed I lived at that residence. Missed court date so the collector received a default judgement against me. Started making payments of $100 every month until I lost my job again. I haven't heard from them since. I made 2 or 3 payments total after the judgement was in place.
I want to fix this debt but I want the judgement to be removed from my credit report. Called the collector 2 months ago informing them I would make two split to pay balance in full within 1 month. They declined saying they would gladly accept the payment but will not remove the judgement they will only said judgement settled on my cr. The firm is a building not far from home maybe 20 min ago with an office of like 5 ppl. Not sure if i can go in face to face to make arrangement again with my same terms or speak to another agent and or person in charge. Not sure if its something i can do on my own to meet my terms or if i need to get my own attorney to do the negotiating for me. Really want to take care of this before it increase any higher than it already is or worse/wage garnishment. btw I live in M0.
How can I get a judgement removed off my account if I pay the balance in full? Is this something i can do on my own if told
—Jai
Short answer
Not by asking whoever is collecting. Debt collectors, debt buyers and collection attorneys cannot make your original creditor change what it reports, and nobody collecting the debt controls the court record. Removing a judgment means getting it vacated. For most people the practical move is to pay or settle it and make sure a satisfaction of judgment gets filed.
Key points on this page
- There is a hierarchy to credit reporting. Collectors, debt buyers and collection attorneys cannot change what the bank reports, and original creditors have no real influence over the court record once judgment is entered.
- The judgment is a matter of public record and the court maintains it. Getting it vacated takes an attorney who knows that work, or a lot of your own time and energy.
- Judgment debt carries a 7 year shelf life, and that clock starts on the date the judgment was entered, not on your first missed payment.
- The earlier stages, from first late payment through charge off and collection reporting, carry about a 7.5 year shelf life from the date you missed your first payment.
- Paying or settling the judgment results in a satisfaction of judgment. Put the filing of that satisfaction in the agreement in clear terms, because there is no shortage of feet dragging on updating the court.
- Once the satisfaction is on the court record you can use it to update your credit report yourself, which matters when you are trying to get a home loan approved or refinance. On a small balance, paying it also heads off garnishment.
It sounds like your main goal is to resolve the debt and get the negative off of your credit report. Unfortunately, you are fighting a losing battle with this approach.
Getting a Court Judgment Removed From Your Credit Report
The life time credit cycle of a debt that goes unpaid looks like this:
- 30 days after you miss a payment to a creditor, like a credit card bill, you should see a thirty day late pay on your credit report if the item appeared there already and is updated regularly.
- 60 days after a missed payment you now would have 2 payments skipped and are considered 60 days late.
- As long as you continue to miss payments month by month you are being reported as an additional month late.
- Ultimately the creditor will charge off the debt and take an accounting hit. The charge off is often then reflected on your credit report.
The Life Cycle of Credit Damage
After missing payments on unsecured (and most other debts), your account may take on some additional qualities after charge off.
5. If a debt collector/debt buyer has the account and reports it as a collection on your credit report, with a balance due, the charge off from the original creditor remains, and the new negative will be reporting a balance due them, not the original creditor.
6. If you are sued for collection and judgment entered in the court, the judgment can turn up in the public record section of your credit profile.
Most of the negative credit impact from missing bill payments does not get to #6. One through 5 has a 7.5 year shelf life from the date you missed your first payment. There are some shenanigans that occur with credit reporting and debt collection accounts being reported with more recent dates, and even instances of multiple entries showing up for the same debt and more than one reporting a balance due, which is not right because you cannot owe the same debt to more than one place.
I am pointing out the above as a brief outline for later readers of this page. A little perspective of what happens to credit reports along the way when a bill remains unpaid is a good foundation for what I have to share about getting a judgment removed from credit reports.
Credit Reporting, Collectors, Debt Buyers, or Attorneys Collecting Debt
There is a hierarchy to who can do what when it comes to credit reporting. Debt collectors, debt buyers, and attorneys that collect debt cannot make your original creditor change what the bank is reporting to the credit bureaus. And even the original creditors have no real influence over the court records once the judgement is entered.
The judgment is a matter of public record. The integrity of that record is maintained by the court. You would need to get the judgment vacated, or the judgment creditor to somehow miraculously want to undo their suing you (doesn’t happen).
Unless you have a good argument for getting the judgment vacated, and are willing to spend the money on an attorney who knows what they are doing when it comes to accomplishing something like this, or dedicate a hell of a lot of personal time and energy to learning how to do it for yourself, the judgment will stay in the record with the court.
Judgment debt has a 7 year shelf life too, but the time only starts ticking from the date the judgment was entered.
Is this a big deal? Not for most people. Getting the judgment paid, even for less than the balance owed if that is agreed to, will result in a satisfaction of judgment being filed. You can use the court record to rapidly update your credit report yourself if you are dealing with the judgment in order to get a home loan approved, or refinance a current mortgage.
Be sure that any pay off agreement, whether in full, or for less than the judgment balance, includes filing the satisfaction with the court. There is no shortage of feet dragging when it comes to updating the court.
Paying Off or Settling a Judgment Debt Can Be Done on Your Own
It is always best to discuss legal matters with an attorney who practices in a specific area of law. In this case, one with credit reporting or debt collection experience. Hiring one to help resolve an 800.00 debt may not make sense unless you want to battle the judgment itself.
With a smaller debt amount such as this one, you can get the payment in and avoid garnishment. Just be sure that any agreement to pay includes in clear terms that upon receipt of payment, or the full agreement being met, a judgment satisfaction will be filed with the court.
Improving Your Credit Report After Payment Setbacks and Judgments
I will have a series up at the beginning of the year that details credit report recovery and tips for increasing credit scores after bouncing back from a tough financial patch. In the mean time, if you can answer the following questions in a comment reply, I can give some more feedback:
What are your immediate financial and credit goals (buying a home, car, other)?
What other negatives appear on your credit report beside the original payment default related to the judgment debt, and the judgment itself?
What positive items are appearing on your credit report right now?
Need some personalized help?
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About Michael BoveeMichael started CRN in 2004 with a mission to provide people in need with detailed debt and credit help and education. Michael has participated as an expert panelist in federal consumer protection rule making, collaborated on state law changes governing debt consolidation, has worked as an expert witness in court matters related to the debt relief industry. He is available to speak with you about your financial struggle and helps people resolve their debt problems daily.
Mike
My credit score is close to 600. I have a lot of medical bill from assult that happen to my son and few other medical bill. I do have student loans but all are in deferment. I have two judgements listed one that has been satisfied and one that was included in my Chapter 13. The judgement that have paid is still listed on my report. I have sent the letter to the courts but its is still listed on my report. Is there anyway to have this completely removed?
Toy – Judgment debts showing on the credit report are due to the court record. In order to legitimately get a judgment removed (earlier than what is mostly a 7 year limitation on how long one can show on your credit report), you have to attack it at the court level. That is just not going to be worthwhile for most, and does not appear to be an option in your situation if you already paid it.
Hi, Michael,
Thanks for all of the helpful information. I have a judgment on my credit report that I paid one month after it was entered (fall 2010). Two of the credit bureaus had it reported as satisfied, but one didn’t. I disputed the status with the third bureau and a rep said they would look into it, but now I’m wondering if I did the wrong thing. Since it’s been so long on the judgment, my credit scores were going up. Will updating it to paid on the third report cause my score to fall because I’m updating essentially what’s negative information? Thanks!
Sue – I do see instances where the “newness” factor of an already negative item like a judgment hits the credit score, but the hit, if it does occur, is often fairly brief. No way did you do the wrong thing though. Having an unresolved credit card judgment on your credit report causes more harm to you credit report than a satisfied one. You needed to get this corrected anyway.
It does matter which credit scoring model is being used. Are you planning on applying for credit in the next couple months? If so, what for?
Hey Michael,
I failed to pay Macy’s once on-time as I was on travel and that has been reported. It happened like 0.7 years back. Can I ask Macy’s to remove it as it seems it will stay on my record for 7 years? I have been a loyal customer for Macy’s and all other cards and have paid on-time otherwise.
Also, my credit score is 676. I am trying to improve it further. Have got three credit cards, two shopping cards and one auto loan. Using <10% of my credit. I am having 18 hard enquiries since I have been moving a lot recently and also trying for new cards.
My auto loan is at 7.5% and I am getting better rates now. It is 5 months old. Shall close it and get new one at 3.5%. Will this affect my score?
I am planning to buy a house soon. What is your suggestion to improve my score further?
Thanks you!
Panky – It is unlikely that Macy’s will remove the 30 day late reporting. But a single late pay is not the credit score killer it has been in the past. If that is the only late pay on your credit report, you’ll be fine credit wise.
Do you already have the auto loan finance of 3.5% approved?
18 hard inquiries is a lot. When will the fist lot of them be 24 months old?
When are you looking to purchase a home? Do you have any money you will put down?
Yes I am getting offers of 3.5 to 5% from two banks. Yes 18 inquiries are a lot. I did the mistake of applying cards, check for auto loans etc a lot recently. 7-8 are like 22 months old now. I plan to buy house sometime in 2014. What’s ur suggestions?
Hey Michael my name is Daniel and I have a judgement from EDD (Unemployment Development Office) against me from an overpayment a long time ago. It was originally around $700 and it’s now accumulated to $3000 with fees and penalties added over time. Is there anyway I can get help to just pay what I originally owed and have it vacated from my credit reports? Any information would help. Thank you!
Daniel – It may be possible to get the amount you owe on the judgment reduced somewhat, but you have next to no shot at getting the judgment taken off of your credit report.
How much money are you prepared to offer to settle the judgment if you cannot get it reduced to 700?
Thank you for the reply! I am willing to try to pay half if not less. The lowest possible. I’m working with a credit agency and the judgment is off my report right now due to it being verified and I don’t think edd responded in the 30 day window so it was deleted but I’m sure it’s only a matter of time when it comes back on my report updated. So how can I negotiate the balance owed or what do you suggest?
Half or less may be a bit optimistic unless you can show some hardship situations and limited income that persist. What state are you in? How long ago was the judgment entered?
I’m in the state of California and the judgement was entered back in 2009.
Daniel – I have only worked a handful of files lifetime as relate to resolving debt like this that originate from overpayment by a state government. California is tough. My first step would be calling them and getting the discussion going with a focus on your difficult finances then, and now, and if you were able to pay it would be the result of outside help, not because there is room in your budget.
I have tried communicating that I’m in a hardship but all they could say is pay as much as you can monthly until it’s paid off. So I really don’t know what to do at this point. Is there anything else I can do? I can’t believe over 2,000 of it is interest and fees which is more than double of the original debt.
Daniel – If all you have discussed are payments, that is the type of response you can expect. If you are serious about settling this (paying less than the balance) you would need to be ready with the money to make a realistic offer. If you were able to get them to approve a 60% pay off (waive some fees etc), how long would it take to come up with the money?
It would take me a month to save up 60% from now. When I am ready how can I try to get edd to lower my balance to 60%?
I would start by speaking with a supervisor about your hardships, and ask if they are willing to abate penalties and some interest, you may be able to borrow enough from family to resolve this, if its affordable and within reach.
I will do that thank you so much for all your help! Happy new year!
Hey mike,
Thank you for taking the time in answering all these questions. I have a question reguarding two judgments filed against me 4/11 and 3/11 both from my apartment complex for non payment of rent. However I still paid those just right after I received the papers from the court and never actually went to Court. They show up on my credit but they don’t show anything about being paid or satisfied. I was hoping for some insight here and was wondering if there was anything here that I need to do. Thank you for your time!
I reposted this because I forgot to hit the notify my email button. Sorry
ross – Do you have documentation showing proof of payment (bank records)? Did you pay the attorney suing, or the landlord/property management company?
I purchased a car in NC in 2000 it was repossessed in December of 2003. The repossession stayed on my credit report for 7 years and in 2010 it fell off. June of 2013 I was served papers to notify me that a judgment was being filed against me for the total amount that I initially purchased the car for, even though I had made payments on the car for almost 3 years before it was repossessed. I am military and I didn’t receive a court date unless it was in the initial serving of papers, because I was gone on training mission. As of September 2013 a judgement by default was granted against me and is now showing on my credit report. I did not have any judgement against me until September of this year so it wasn’t a renewal of judgement. What can I do? I don’t understand how a debt that has been removed from my credit report and it has been 10 years since my repossession that the credit company can still come after me.
James – There are a host of concerns I have with the information you shared.
The debt is probably to old to legitimately use the courts to sue you for it.
But you would have to raise that as a defense. Unfortunately you were not served appropriately in order to protect your rights.
You are also protected by the service members relief act, and the debt collector may have ignored that too.
I have some feedback for you to follow through on, but first I need a little more detail.
Who is the debt collection law firm or attorney that sued?
Who is that attorney working for (the named plaintiff in the lawsuit)?
Post answers in a comment reply and lets go from there.
Michael,
Thank you so much for your time and all the helpful info!!
I have a judgement on my credit report for around $7,500 from 2009. I’m working on cleaning up my credit report so I can purchase a house within a year. After hitting several walls, I was finally able to contact the lawyer who represented Arrow Financial Services in my court hearing (I did not show up for the initial hearing in 2009, I was young, scared and dumb). Arrow Financial Services is current not in business, but the lawyer informed me that LVNV has purchased the debt.
I would like to just pay the judgement, but will this help my credit score at all? Do I need the attorney to agree to any terms in writing before paying the judgement? Is is possible to have it removed from my credit report? Will the 7 years start over again from the date that I pay it off?
I don’t want to be taken advantage of from the law office. I’m willing to pay the full amount, what do I need to do before I make the payment?
Thank you in advance!
Angela
Angela – Paying off the judgment, or settling it for less than what is owed, would result in a satisfaction of judgment being filed in the court (done correctly). That will not necessarily immediately help your credit score, though it it could. But it will likely help you purchase a home within a year, as the unpaid judgment will go into calculating your debt to income, and may even prevent you from qualifying for a home loan. At this point it will not really matter if you pay it off in full, or settle it. The satisfaction of judgment is the key to your goal.
It is unlikely in the extreme that you would get the judgment removed from your credit report, as the entry is relying on a legitimate public record. But that is okay, as it is not necessary for it to be removed in order to reach your goal. The seven years credit reporting time line would not begin anew as a result of taking care of this.
Did the law firm suggest that they would work with you on resolving this on LVNV’s behalf?
I would encourage you to read through this post about Arrow debts: https://consumerrecoverynetwork.com/arrow-financial-services-debt-buyer-closed-shop-debts-purchased-lvnv-debt-collection/
Thanks for the quick response!
I had sent a DV letter to Arrow Financial Services and the certified letter was sent back to me as not deliverable. When I spoke the the law firm I asked if this has any effect on the debt owed, they told me that Arrow Finance is not in business, but LVNV acquired my account and that I now owe it to LVNV. They are mailing me information regarding paying it off. Would be it ok to ask to settle for less than the total amount or will they not negotiate that? Should I deal with the law firm or call LVNV directly?
Angela
Angela – Why not save money where you can in this effort? I would absolutely look to negotiate a lower payoff. What is the balance showing as owed for this account on your credit report? Is it the same amount shown in the court record? When you get the documents you requested, it may show a higher balance owed than what is appearing on your credit reports due to legal interest on the judgment. Negotiating 4 years of interest away (if applicable), would be a significant savings.
If it were me, I would reach out to LVNV Funding and try to resolve this with them directly. They may refer you back to that collection attorney, or another agency they had placed the account with, but I do see many situations where people get better results by dealing directly with the debt owner (where that is possible).
Hi Michael,
I had a joint Macy’s credit card with my wife. We obtained the credit card to get a discount on a purchase there several years ago. We never use the card – except last Chrstimas I bought her some shoes as Macy’s and used the card to get a discount again. For some reason, the account was set up for online billing and I wasn’t aware of that. Fast forward a couple months and I get a late payment notice in the mail on the credit card – the original bill was apparently only posted to an online account for which I was unaware. I contacted Macy’s and got the details, made payment over the phone and got them to switch to paper bills.
Unfortunately, we each now have a 30 day late payment on our credit reports, all for a billing issue and about $80 pair of shoes. I assume this will be on the report for 7 years and have a negative impact on out scores.
Is there any way to remove or mitigate the damage?
Larry – If the only late pay on your credit report is that single 30 day with Macy’s, it will have a negligible impact on your credit scores. And perhaps no impact at all. While a late pay may stay on the report for 7 years, a single late pay (if it drops the score), will not depress your score for that 7 years. It will typically lose any potency to affect your credit over a period of a year or two.
You could send them a “good will” letter, explaining the oversight (also show where they could have done a better job notifying you with email or phone call earlier), and asking for the late pay to be removed. It is worth a shot for the 5 minutes of time to compose the letter and the cost of a stamp. But I would not have high expectations for them removing the late pay.
The judgment was vacated jan 2011 but then the collection agency entered in a judgment june 2013 and backdated to june 2011 that showed up on my credit report this year oct 2013 for full amount that I origanally owed. This judgement was entered after I had been paying on it for 16 months. Is that legal? I moved and was not aware they were taking me to court. They said I never signed a contract in january 2011 and never appeared in court in june 2011. So they are not removing the judgment. But I was paying on it since jan 2011 to may 2012. I am confused and frustrated. I called asked them to send me payment history and today i went to bank to get copy of allbprocessed ach debits and the checks they accepted and cashed. Should I get an attorney?
Lori – Does the judgment show up on your credit reports as satisfied or paid?
Yes, I would encourage you to speak with an attorney. Few attorneys have a practice that focuses on debt collection and credit reporting issues. If you post a comment reply with the name of a nearby larger city – I will email you contact info for attorneys in that area that have the experience you would want.
Hi Michael,
The credit report says civ cl judg as public record with creditor name there is no reference to paid or unpaid or satisfied. I live in the Fairfax, VA area. How much should I expect to pay this specialized attorney?
Lori – If it is a legitimate judgment (which I question at this point), it should have been updated to show as satisfied if you met your pay off agreement (which is how I read your original comment above).
I sent you an email with contact info to 2 experienced consumer advocate attorneys near Fairfax. Both are less than 30 minutes from you. I can send info to reach others that are an hour or more away.
I cannot say what you would pay an attorney in this situation. Consumer lawyers with a practice focused on debt and credit issues tend to price themselves within reach of their clientele – who are often struggling financially. Call and speak with both, and even additional attorneys to get a feel for fees. Most of this attorney type offer no cost initial consults, so nothing out of pocket to get some professional feedback.
Our offer & all communication is via phone.
Okay. Depending on how collectable you are viewed (often based on what your credit report looks like) by either the firm, or the judgment owner, your settlement can be considered either still too low, or they are simply motivated to hold out for more regardless.
I would be better able to offer feedback if I knew the answers to my questions in my above comment. If you do not want to post those details to the site, send them to me in an email. I will respond to that.
We are attempting to settle a deficiency judgment for a 10 year old debt. The debt has been sold to a third party law firm that deals in collections. We are attempting to remove this debt in an effort to clean up our credit report. This judgment is the only thing standing between us, and qualifying for a home loan. We offeedr 10 cents on the dollar for original amount owed, and were turned down. Next we offered 1/3 of the entire original debt. This offer was submitted to original creditor, whose response was a demand for pay check stubs. Its my understanding that these are requested in an effort to obtain a higher amount than offered, or to determine if they would collect more money garnishing wages vs. agreeing to settle. My question is what do we do next. This debt originated in Colorado. The statue of limitations on a judgment filed in county court in Colorado is 6 years and renewable every 6 yrs. We have 60-90 days to fix this. What do we do next?
Stephanie – Most debts, no matter the situation, will not settle for 10%. A judgment debt is unlikely to settle for 30%, though I have both seen and settled some for that low.
I can help you better target your efforts if I knew who the original creditor was, who sued if different than that lender, the attorney debt collector you dealt with, and the amount owed on the judgment today?
Also, is the judgment 10 years old, or is that when the debt was originated?
Michael,
How much time does the creditor legally have to get back to us with a response regarding our pay off offer we submitted?
There really is no legal time limit (or requirement) for them to respond to your settlement offer (given the circumstances shared so far regarding the judgment). If you put forward an offer via negotiations on the phone, you would generally be able to follow up on that with them if you do not hear back after a few days. If you submitted a written offer only – you may never get a response. Establishing contact on the phone is how most settlements get done, whether negotiating judgments, or debts that never reached the court.
How did you make your offer?
I have a satisfied/paid judgment but it does not appear on my CR as satisfied nor paid. This judgment was in 11/10 it was paid in full as of 09/11 Can this judgment be removed form my CR if so how?
Wilda – Getting the judgment removed from your credit report is unlikely at this point. Even if for some reason you were successful at getting it removed, the next time some data miner scoops up your courts info, it would probably just reappear.
Have you checked the court record to verify there is an entry of judgment satisfied? I have worked files where the judgment gets negotiated and settlement documented and paid, but where the attorney or plaintiff drops the ball on updating the court. Let me know either way and I will have additional feedback to offer.
I have a judgement on my credit report from a medical bill. I had coverage during the time I had gotten my surgery done. The hospital and Dr had my insurance info and yet I have this judgement from it. I don’t recall being notified of this and my insurance company at the time have no records of billing for me at all. They are sending me a certificate of coverage for the time frames I was insured. What are my chances on having this vacated or taken off my credit without me having to pay it. I live on Long Island, NY fyi. Thanks for any feed back.
Ray – There are a couple of reasons or strategies you could take to get the judgment set aside or vacated, which would ultimately lead to the judgment getting removed from your credit report. I would suggest you connect with a consumer law attorney with a practice that includes debt collection defense. This type of attorney will be the best able to talk strategy with you. I can send you contact info to a couple if you would like. Let me know in a comment reply.
I am dealing with the same situation but in CT. I had insurance and there was a larger balance that was settled but the hospital billed for anethisia seperately and I never recevied this notice of the small claims details so judgment was entered in the hospital’s favor. I sent this information to my attorney and recevied an email from the hospital’s attorney saying he didn’t connect the two cases along with his apologies. Is there something that can be done to get this vacated or removed? It was entered 1/13… Thanks.
Enisha – I would look to the attorney for plaintiff, now that you have his “oops, my bad” response, to get this judgment vacated on his motion, and the collections amount settled or paid in the process. Have you looked at getting something like this done already?
Hi Mike,
I am assisting a friend of mine with a purchase of a home. She has an unpaid judgment on her records that is 2 years old. She negotiated a settlement and cashed in her 401K to pay it.
The creditor changed their mind at the last minute
and the judgment remains. Can it be removed by a credit repair service or is an attorney necessary?
The approximate amount is $10K.
Thank you in advance for your answer.
Craig T
Craig – While not impossible, it’s unlikely that a credit repair company, or an attorney acting as one, will get the judgment removed from the credit report. The judgment is part of the public record and considered highly reliable. Getting the judgment to show satisfied through a settlement is the more realistic solution. Do you have any more details about why the earlier agreement was turned down at the last minute?
Hi Mike,
So my question is about a judgement that is on my credit report. I was in a car accident in 2009 and 2 years later the gentelmen sued me because there wasnt enough damage for my insurance company to pay him. He didnt like that an claimed life long injuries, we ended up going to trial. I had insurance and they provided me a lawyer. He didnt want to settle which is why we went to trial. Needless to say after all was said and done my insurance company paid what was established as a “fair” amount. Now i have this on my credit report and im not sure why. It was never a debt or sent to collections this was something my insurance company paid and i want it removed, is that possible? Im trying to buy a house and this is the only issue standing in my way.
Sarah – Is the judgment showing as satisfied on your credit report? If not, does it show as satisfied in the court record?
Mike,
Yes it is showing as satisfied on my report. It was filed march 7 2012 and paid march 22 2012 by my insurance company. I have spoke to the lawyer who was with the plaintiff and he said it shouldnt be on my report and he would write me a letter and get me the satisfied paperwork from the courts. Will that help at all?
Sarah – It may, but because the judgment is already showing satisfied, that is not a problem. If you were sued in your name, and a judgment entered against you, that is what is coming from the court record.
I agree with the attorney, this should not hurt you or your credit report and access to new credit. But I can assume why it ended up happening. I think you should call an experienced fair credit reporting attorney to talk about your options. If you post the name of your state and a nearby city, I can email you contact info that I find for this type of attorney.
I am in Omaha NE. I dont want to have to spend a ton of money for this but if it is fairly affordable i would consider it because this is stressfull.
sarah – I sent you an email with contact info for 2 attorneys in your area with practices that focus on credit reporting.
Are there any in hte Houston, Texas area?
Denise – Are you looking for attorneys in the Houston area with credit reporting consumer law, or debt collection defense?
My case is exactly like Sarah but my report shows I satisfied. I live in Maryland.
Is it possible to remove this from my credit? And how soon
Pls advice
Mary – A satisfied judgment is not likely to come off of your credit report for 7 years from the date the judgment was entered in the court record. When was the judgment entry date?
Another question I have is that in reviewing one of my credit reports I noticed a creditor listed that I have never done business with but I am listed as a co-sginer for a car loan that my ex-husband had signed for with CitiFinancial Auto and learned by calling the creditor’s phone number and speaking to a live customer service rep of their sister company that they are no longer in business. Is is true that the credit bureau listing this on my credit report as a derogatory collection item will have to delete it off my credit report if I file a dispute in writing giving the relevant information regarding that entry? Will that improve my credit score after it is deleted?
Gayle – Having a credit report collection item removed will often improve your credit. But if there are more negatives than that CitiFinancial entry, it may not be by much. Are there any other key derogatory collections listed?
Also, not all disputes sent to credit report agencies end up with a deletion. Is this a situation where you never signed off on the loan docs? What is the relevant information you intend to provide in your dispute?
Hi Mike,
I wanted to ask if on my credit report I show three items that show the 7 yr. mark for coming off in early 2014. Do they automatically come off or do I need to contact the specific credit bureau to prompt the removal of those items?
Gayle – The negative items do generally fall off as they are marked on your credit report. I would not take that for granted though. Monitor your reports to be sure that they are gone after that date.
Hi Michael. Thank you for this service.
I have a judgment against me in Calif. (Santa Cruz) and I now live in Oregon. I was going through a home foreclosure and the suit paperwork from the Credit Card collection stated I had 1 year to go to settlement mtg (I think it was a clerical error by the Court). Anyways, I put it aside because it stated the settlement date was a year away. Within a month I received a Summary Judgment. Also, I am permanently disabled from breaking my neck and becoming paralyzed. I have zero extra income. Do you know if I can use an OR attorney or do I need to get one in Santa Cruz? Do you know of any experienceed attorneys that may be able to help me?
Thank you in advance. Dan
I am going to email you contact info to an attorney in California that I would encourage you to speak with first. He offers a no cost initial consult. See what he has to say about your situation.
Mike I have a similar situation with a judgement in Orange County California.
Can you let me know about a lawyer experience in judments
Thanks
Rafael
I sent you an email with contact details to get in touch with him and talk over your options for the judgment.
Please post an update with how thing progress for you.
Hi Mike,
I appreciated and valued the information I read in the above story you shared with others like myself. My question first is regarding the Transunion credit score I pulled from two different sites the first was credit.com and the other was karmacredit.com I believe. Each one produced a different score. Which one is correct?
Gayle – were those the free score checkers from credit.com and creditkarma? How far apart were they?
Credit scoring models will vary from one loan product to the next, from one vendor to the next, and from one credit report to the next. The reasons for the variance are many. Rather than focus on the score for the moment, post a comment reply about what credit goals you have (car, home puchase or refi etc). I can offer better feedback based on a goal you are reaching for.
My main goal is to clean up my reports so I can rebuild my credit and get approved for a secured credit card and create more lines of credit so I can bave a higher score in a cuple years when I will need another car loan.
That is a reasonable goal and time frame. What other items are there to deal with on your credit report besides the Citi Financial entry?
Hello Mike,
I just checked my credit score after having a credit card for about 6 months and it has gone up 83 point since 2013 which brought me from very poor rating to poor and climbing if I have any say going forward. I still have that collection showing which I have no paperwork to produce to CitiFinancial who no longer exists since I wasn’t a co-signer that I ever ever recall … I don’t know where to turn at this point to get that corrected and noted on my credit report that it was filed in error by CitiFinancial before they were dissolved . ??? Addiitionally I noticed I have a judgment for $100 balance for a medical bill unpaid …. I never new medical bills could be reported to credit bureaus in the first place not to mention a judgement issued for a defaulted on balance …?? Do you have any advice I can put in motion to further clean up my current credit reports ?
You might consider filing a credit reporting complaint with the CFPB about the Citi Financial never being an account of yours, but is some how showing on your credit reports. I would typically recommend first sending a dispute to the credit bureaus as “not my account”.I would send that in a written letter, using certified mail return receipt, and not through the online dispute portals. If you have sent a dispute already, or if you skip ahead, file that complaint here.
I would pay the court judgment, and on a balance that small, I may just pay the court directly. But talk to the clerk first to see about how the court would handle updating the court record to show the judgment as satisfied. Once the record is updated,check your credit reports roughly 60 days later. If you do not see the judgment updated to show paid/satisfied, post an update.
Great work with the progress so far!
Mike – I respectfully disagree here. The proper and EASIEST way to get such items removed is to use the ID Theft provision of FCRA. This requires only the filing of a police report and sworn affidavit that you did not authorize the account. The affidavit and police report should be forwarded to the CRA’s and they are REQUIRED to exclude the item, no other proof of anything should be needed. This method is much faster than using the dispute process, which will undoubtedly take months of back and forth investigation and re-investigation.
Good suggestion for accounts that show on credit reports that are the result of ID theft.
I will say that I see legitimate complaints filed with the CFPB being resolved to many peoples satisfaction in a matter of weeks.
The dispute process direct with the credit reporting agencies has been know to be time consuming, and a waste of time in many instances. That is improving, but more based on better regulatory supervision.
mike thank you so much for all your advice and help. i feel confident i’ll be able to accomplish my goals
Hi Mike,
I never paid macys, or the other store credit cards it all happened back when i was 18 or 19 years old. Im 27 now. They are falling off automatically because its reach the point of the 7 year mark. Ive never reach out to these companies/nor have i ever made any payments or speak to anyone from macys, or newyork and company. I’m a victim of fraud , i had my purse stolen at that time and it had my i.d. and ssn# inside my wallet. I never filed a police report at the time of the incident. and surprised my parents never mentioned it to prevent fraud from happening. when i got my car my score was 620. my realtor pulled my credit report on monday and told me they go by my middle score (what ever that means) he said they don’t take the highest or the lowest score only the middle and my middle came to 550. he only told me i took a hit in august when i opened my credit card. mastercard gave me a limit of 500. I wish i could see my score from all three bureau myself. so many websites offer u to view ur score but im not sure who to trust. when those collections and charge-offs drop off next year will it increase my score and or add points? im considering opening a secure card with my credit union but is it true i will take another drop in my score for opening a new line of credit? i so badly want a house. im so tired of renting. ive been paying my car note on time and my credit card. i thought my score would have went up from 620 instead i was dissapointed with a 550.
Jai – Your middle score is arrived at by comparing the credit scores from Experian, Equifax and Trans Union. The high and low score are tossed leaving the middle score.
The credit card you took out in Aug can bring the score down briefly (6 months-ish). Generally, once a new account is seasoned 6 months, it begins to have an incremental positive impact on your score if there are no other fresh negatives.
When the stuff from 7 years ago falls off you should see some benefit to your score. Some of the reason for the low credit score, based on what you have shared, is that you have a fairly “thin” file. 2 open and positive credit entries, and one positive but closed entry is thin. I do think an additional revolving account would help you. A secured card from your credit union, as long as they report to the credit bureaus, would help. It too could keep your score suppressed for the first several months after you open it. Be sure to confirm the credit union reports secured cards to the credit reporting agencies.
One of the reasons I like credit.com and refer to that resource is that the credit report card link above gives you access to your credit scores and makes suggestions for credit to help you achieve your goals. It also uses intelligence based on what it sees and recommends credit products you are most likely to be approved for. The credit report card is free.
If you make informed and good credit moves now, you can set yourself up to be able to realize your goals in 2013.
Hi Mike,
I currently (as of today) have a credit score of 774 from Trans Union. However, I just moved to a new state and filed my taxes in October (after an accepted extension). I attempted to submit e payment for the $300 that was due the state. The state issued a 10 day demand 5 days after filing which I presumed was a cross and that the e payment would hit any day. I subsequently found out the state does not accept epayments from 3rd party payors like Turbotax but by that time I was outside of the 10 day demand period and the state issued a tax warrant. Of course I immediately paid the $300 plus penalty but the warrant was still already filed with the clerks office and will likely show up on my credit report next month. They are providing me with a satisfaction of lien letter which I will sent to the credit bureaus to show this lien as satisfied but now my credit score is going to take a big hit. I am appealing to the state’s tax advocate group in an effort to show this lien will create a hardship because it could affect my employment. Since I deal with financial instruments, my employer pulls credit and driving reports routinely. Additionally, I am the financial representative payee for my critically ill parent. It will take 30 days for them to respond. Beyond this, what other suggestions do you have? Would a tax attorney be of assistance?
My experiences with tax advocacy offices have all been positive, but are mostly at the federal level. While what you shared should appear as excusable, I do not know your states reputation for handling similar situations.
If there is that much on the line, than yes, I would talk about your options with a tax attorney. At least consult with one, and ask about their experiences with situations like yours. You could sleep better just from the consult, even if you do not hire the attorney.
Thanks for your reply, in response to your questions. I am looking to buy a house in 6 months. my credit score is 550. Other negatives on my account are macys, newyork and company store credit cards, sprint and other medical bills recently added in*which i already made payment arrangements. the new medical bills are not listed as bad or good as of now. macys fall off in jan 2013 (its been 7years) ..new york and company falls off april 2013 and sprint falls off june 2013. I have 2 great accounts. my car loan i got in feb 2012 and my mastercard credit card i got in august 2012. I also have sallie mae student loans currently listed as in school forbearance. sallie mae has been on my account since 2006. i have one payed off visa card totallying 1,500.closed account/settled/made in full/ its been there since 2004.
Thanks for the follow up details Jai. Your credit report is going to have a better appearance mid 2013, but you need to bring your score up. The credit card you got in Aug of this year should help more with your score in a couple more months as it becomes more seasoned. That will be timed well for the other negative items that are due to come off.
The car loan adds good diversity to the report.
I am somewhat surprised that your score still hangs down in the 550 range given the details you provided. Collections certainly weigh down a credit score. Yours are really old though. Has the Macy’s settled account been settled since 2004, or was it settled more recently? If recent, when?
You may want to establish one additional revolving trade line and have it be reported for 6 months as an additional improvement on what is currently a pretty thin positive credit profile. You can get a secured card that reports to the credit bureaus to accomplish this goal. Check out some of the options available here: https://www.credit.com/credit-cards/bad-credit/
I really like the free credit report card tool offered by credit.com. You should look into using it as a tool to help you reach your goal of qualifying for a mortgage next year. It takes a measured approach to helping you recover and improve your credit: https://www.credit.com/free-credit-score/
You can learn more about rebuilding your credit tools in this video interview I did with Gerri Detweiler: Improve credit video
Can a public recod judgement be closed from public so that it is not reported?
Not without getting the court to do it, and that is not common.
Judgments on credit reports do age off though.
i have a court judgment currently on my credit report that states it is active and that it was filed in 2010. I have documentation on court paper work, that it expired on May 3rd 2014 and that it was actually filed in 2009. i am trying to get a mortgage, my credit score is a 650 right now this is the only thing negative on my account is it smart to dispute this or will that hurt my chances of a mortgage?
What do you mean the judgment expired?
If the judgment is part of the court record it can typically stay on your report for 7 years. Most mortgage lending will want that to show as resolved to put the loan through. Disputing a legitimate judgment does not often lead to a positive outcome and tips off the judgment creditor that you have goals.
Who is it that got the judgment against you?
Over the past year I have paid two outstanding collections accounts that were on my credit report and were able to get them removed from Equifax and Transunion by stating that I paid the debt in full and please remove because I am trying to get a mortgage in the next year all by online dispute. Experians policy was not to remove the paid collections but of course changed it to reflect they were paid. I also had a judgement that I paid, I mailed in the letter from the attorney stating I paid and in the meantime online disputed to ask each one to remove it a little early please because I paid it and everyone but Equifax removed really quick but of course Equifax updated to show that it was paid. I cannot wait until the judgement falls off 11/2016!
what website did you go to if you don’t mind me asking? I have a medical bill from August 2015 that I did not pay until May 2016 and it just recently took about 80 points from my credit score….I went from 780 to 698.