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?
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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.
What if I go to court, lose my case and have a judgement entered but paid it in full and years later the attorney files that a mistake was made and I overpaid? The court responded that judgement was reported as fully satisfied so no further action could be taken.. I previously overpaid in a suit for monies I didn’t owe according to the plaintiff and they tried to make it right. What do I do?
You may want to talk to an experienced consumer law attorney debt collection attorney in your state. You can find some using the drop down menus here: https://www.consumeradvocates.org/find-an-attorney
Years ago my husband got a vehicle loan in Missouri. Later moved to Texas and continued making payments. Then he got laid off. Living with family and unable to make payments he allowed the vehicle to go back. Several years later he received a notice to show up in court in Arkansas. Working again but unable to afford to take time off work or pay travel expenses he ignored the notice. We were looking to buy a house and a judgement showed up on his credit for over 9,000. Of course no one will give us a loan now. We can’t afford to pay the full about or hire an attorney or travel to Arkansas. Is there anything we can do ourselves to deal with this? Doesn’t really seem right that they can file in another state that my husband has never lived in.
It is not right. What was the date the judgment was entered in the court?
Also, it sounds like they already knew you were in another state, but please confirm that in reply too.
I’m not sure what date it was entered in court. The date on the report is empty.
The notification was delivered to my husband in Texas
Call and consult with one or more of the attorneys I just email to you in Arkansas. They all have the experience you will likely need to look into vacating the judgment for being sued in the wrong state.
The debt was paid in 2011, received court documents and a judgement satisfied letter. I have forwarded copies of these documents to the big three credit agencies. It is 2017 and my credit report has not been updated.
Did you send a dispute to the credit bureaus? Did they respond to your dispute within 30 days? If any of the bureaus responded, what did they say?
Hi….I have incurred some medical bills, that unfortunately I ended up with a judgment against me. The question I have is none of these medical bills are in my husbands name and the judgement is in mine and his name. Can you tell me if I can at least get the judgement removed from his name, since he did not incur the debt I did? We are in New York State.
Talk your situation over with an experienced debt collection defense attorney in New York. I can email you a list with the experience you need if you like?
Our home was recently foreclosed on. We had already left the home and were living in another state. Our daughter was staying in the home and when the house was sold at auction, the new owner filed an eviction on us and our daughter. She moved out of the home and now we find out we have a default judgement on our credit for an eviction from a property we didn’t live in. How can we get this removed from our credit? What do we need to file in the courts in California to do that? We can prove we lived in another state for a year and that our daughter should’ve been the only person evicted, not us. We need this off of our credit. Thank you.
Check out the interview I did with this California debt collection and Fair Credit attorney. Call him and see what he suggests.
I went to the courthouse yesterday to try and file a motion and the clerk told me all I need to do is contact the attorney who handled the eviction and have them remove it from our Experian. I called and left a very detailed message with the receptionist and am awaiting a response from the attorney. I found out that we would’ve had to file a motion within 6 months of the default so we are still within our time limit, although I am hoping we can solve this with the attorney instead of going to court. Thank you!
Hi Mr Micheal, This is Ram, Have a Derogatory mark (public record) in my credit report like below.
Date —
Status Filed
Amount $984
Classification Legal Item
Type legalitems
It happened in 2012 March.
I sincerely request you to give me an advice to overcome this (I am willing to close that payment with penalty with the Apartment complex owner (so far I am out of USA since then came back home country due to family emergency that time till now not been to USA) but to avoid this and want to be good and want to have clean report. what I have to do to overcome with no derogatory in my credit report.
Appreciate your kind advice.
Thanks
Ram
It is difficult to get the collection removed if it is legitimate. You can resolve the debt and get it updated to show as a zero balance and resolved. That will allow you to get credit and financing needs met still.
Hello. I’m trying to buy my first home. I recently paid off a small judgement and received the satisfaction papers to give to the court which I’m having sent to the Court. I was served at an old address and my mail was forwarded from my x landlord. Also the original judgement was 451.00 and the lawyer firm charged me 612 instead. I have 3 other derogatorys for medical bills and an old utility bill from 2012 which I intend to pay off since it’s in the same state we are trying to buy in. And we need gas and electric. I have opened 3 credit cards and I’ve been perfect with payments andonly using 10 percent or less of my credit limit. But the judgement is what’s scaring me here to get a house. What do you suggest sir?
You are already doing what you need to. Once that judgment is updated to show as satisfied in the court record, and those other 3 unresolved debts are update to show zero balance owed, you would likely qualify for FHA loan underwriting.
Hello. My husband and I are trying to settle a debt that has a judgment on it and then was sold to several different collection agencies. What should we do?
Just wanted to add that the judgement occurred in 2012.
Who is collecting on it now? What is the name of the plaintiff on the original judgment? How much is owed today?
A previous landlord obtained an eviction/default judgment against me back in 12/2012. I didn’t receive notification until after the court date, and I haven’t made any sort of payment to this day. From what I understand the statute of limitations on a judgment can continue to be renewed every 10 years by the creditor. If the creditor does renew/extend the judgment does the judgment also get extended on my credit report, or would the judgment be removed from my credit report after 7 years from file date regardless of whether the judgment is extended/renewed? If I were to pay the judgment does that renew the date of last payment/7 year period that it will report on my credit report like it would for other debts?
The judgment will fall off after 7 years of entry regardless of whether you pay or don’t pay. Nothing resets that. But just because it is off your credit does not mean they cannot collect on it through all legal means available.
Non judgment collection accounts are not allowed to reset for a fresh 7 year credit reporting period just because you make a payment either.
HI MICHAEL
Iam from SOUTH AFRICA I just found out that i have a judgment on ma record and i was about to be summoned i have received a letter from the court of sherif but after that matter i manged to contact the stored which placed that judgement and started to do some paymemt for the first time. So i just need to understand how will i work it out on this judgment or how long will take to be removed on my name
Thank you
Judgments are typically removed 7 years after entry in the court record. You can get the judgment updated to show as paid or satisfied long before the 7 years is up, which will still help you accomplish credit and financing goals.
As I try to work out a lump sum type of settlement with Bank of America via a law firm/debt collector – is there anything else that is negotiable or, not necessarily negotiable, but something I should/can ask for with a settlement?
For example, I received a summons – if I settle this in advance of moving forward further in the court? Is it possible to have this removed and no longer visible from the state repository that is searchable by the public? Or, will it remain, but say withdrawn or something else?
And, is there any changing what is reported on my credit report? Or, will it say, “Settled – Less than full balance”? Is it at all likely that this could phrased differently? Or, would they ever indicate settled in full?
While I’m anxious to have this all settled and move on, I’m also trying to reduce the damage and clear the trail behind me – including public & credit records.
Thanks for your information and advice.
If it were me, my negotiations with Bank of America would include dropping the case. That will prevent any judgment appearing in the record, and avoid one being on your credit reports. But the court is a matter of public record. I am not sure the case getting dropped would remove any trace of it. Talk to an attorney that practices in your particular court about that.
Your credit report will typically be updated to show a resolved collection with a zero balance owed. The notation about paid for less, paid in full etc., means little. It is the zero balance you want and need to start to heal your credit. BofA will not do anything other than the minimum legal requirement in this regard, but that’s fine, as it is all you need.
Hi I have a judgement on my credit unpaid for 7 yrs from past landlord. I put myself in treatment for alcoholism at the time I was renting from them 2009. I was in treatment so I never got court date so now I moved to Indianapolis from Minnesota and my son and I can’t get an apt! I’m on SSI and work 25 hrs a week what can I do?
How much is the judgment for? Settling the debt to get it to show paid or satisfied may be the best option. You may benefit from reading this article about renting with bad credit.