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.
I stayed in a apartment in 06! lost my job and had no way to pay my bills. I got evicted. its now 2014 and I cant rent anywhere. I tried contacting the apartment complex, with no results they have been sold 3 times since I moved out. I went into the apartments leasing office and spoke with one of the leasing agents whom was very rude and told me he would not give me any information about my account balance. which I was prepared to put something on it because I cant find any place to stay. what should I do?
Look up your name in the local court records and see if there was a lawsuit filed against you and a judgment entered.
Also look at your credit reports and see what negative account information is on there.
Post an update with what you learn and lets go from there.
I have looked up my credit and the complex is on there as well as a judgment. I have no idea where to go from here because the guy that works at the complex will not give me any information on paying off my balance
The apartment complex employee may not have any information to give you.
Get a copy of the judgment from the court, or see if you can pull it up on line, and call the law firm that sued you. If they still have the ability to deal with you, they can make arrangements for payment and updating the court record so that the judgment can be updated to show paid or satisfied.
If the law firm cannot work with you, find out who may own the debt today if the original judgment creditor sold it off, or if it was absorbed as an asset in some other acquisition.
If you do not get anywhere in that effort,you may want to start considering what your options are to pay the full amount of the judgment to the court, and can talk to the court clerk about that option.
Hi Mike,
I have a judgment I paid off. I did it on the day of the court date in full in front of the plantiff but it was still filed. The clerk even has told me the judge notated it paid in full. But the court refuses to give me a letter stating it’s removed and Equifax won’t delete it without one. What do I do?? Please help
One Lost Lindsay
I am skeptical of whether the court will remove the judgment. They would not it as satisfied/paid in the court record, and that is how Equifax should be showing it. This situation may not get better than that.
Was there something the court said about dismissing the case?
Do you have some credit and financing goals a paid judgment on your credit is holding you back from accomplishing?
Hi Mike in 2007 I leased a car the loan was from chrysler financial services america. I became ill as i suffer from mental illness and was not able to continue paying the car by 2009. As the years passed I have not payed the debt and it has become a judgement on my credit report which was filed in 2011. I have been doing some reading and was unaware of how bad this could be(may last longer than 7 years possibly 10-20). I have also read that making any payment at all could actually make it worse as they may prolong the debt situation. Will it go away in 7 years from the filing date or do you think it may not? What should i do the balance is rather large now like over $8000 and i don’t really want to pay it the court was westchester supreme court if that helps my email address is [edit: email address removed] in case i dont come back to this site
I live in new york by the way
Paid collections in New York may be removed in as little as 5 years. Paid judgment debts will generally result in them being dropped from the credit report after 7 years. But no, the judgment is not going to go away. Judgments in New York can be good for 20 years. That means the judgment creditor can pursue extra ordinary collections for all of that time, and the judgment is likely growing from an interest rate set by the court (though not in excess of the 9% limit on judgment debt in New York).
Judgment debts can be settled for less, which will lead to the judgment record being updated to show paid or satisfied. Are you simply uncollectable and certain you will remain that way, or can you come up with a strategy to settle this for less than the current amount owed?
well I don’t really want to settle i can’t afford to it is a lot of money I owe unless they would settle for a really low amount I don’t see myself being able to pay the debt so I guess it’s just going to sit there? Any other options
You might be able to get them to settle for half-ish.
No, not many options for dealing with judgments. Not unless there was something wrong, or some defect, with how the collections all went down. And even then you would have some costs working with your own attorney.
i know they say it usually resolves itself within 7 years of the filing date but what is you opinion on how long it will stay if it doesnt get paid do you think it really would hang around for 10-20 years?
It is a trivial matter to renew a judgment, and costs them little, so yes, I think the odds are high that you will have to be aware of extra ordinary collection efforts for the full 20 years if the judgment is not resolved. But that would not be the case with the credit reporting. You may see that fall off automatically after 7 years from the entry date.
ok last reply sorry for so many replies but say i went to get a car after the 7 years when the judgement should clear from the credit like you said, would it still be an issue would they see it? or can they always see it when trying to get an auto loan or etc house…
Public records are… public. And there are big data brokers that track and trade public records. Now understand that different lenders use specialized reporting. Home loan lenders will often use a tri-merge report for example. Part of that may include public record data searches. Here is where a prior judgment may prevent loan approval.
In other words, I cannot say for certain. But if an issue does arise after the judgment is no longer showing on your credit reports, it is probably likelier to prevent home loan approval than auto loan approval.
Thanks for your help
Hey Mike I was afraid to open a checking account because of the judgement on my file I didn’t want them to take the money so i haven’t had a checking account in a long time is this true should i not have one and if so how long should I stay without it. Or would I be able to have one anyway
Around 1700 dollars in your personal bank account is exempt from judgment creditors in New York, and up to 1k more possibly, if you are not taking a homestead exemption.
You can go your whole life without a checking account. But if you do get one now, do not keep much in the account until this all blows over, or you resolve the debt.
and if i am mentally ill or disabled can i fight the judgement
I am not a consumer law attorney, and not familiar enough with how your disability would be viewed by the courts. I can refer you to one to speak with about your options to fight the judgment.
Given what you have shared, I do not think your disability would open up additional options to fight the judgment having happened and existing. You may have additional collection exemptions that could be established at a court hearing, but here again, I would check with an experienced collection defense attorney in New York.
thanks for all your help mike im sorry for the numerous replies i’ve been ill and am trying to back on track but appreciate all of your responses
Mike
About two years ago I got an HSBC credit card through best buy to purchase a computer my (at the time) credit card could not hold. Soon after the purchase I was going to be overseas for some time so called HSBC to set up automatic payment. The guy I talked to on the phone never ended up doing it, by the time I got back to the 1st world the account had been sold off to collections. I have been advised not to pay the debt but I feel both an obligation to pay it back and want to get the ONLY black mark on my credit report removed. I am sitting at 582 at Experian and 600 with Transunion. I like many others here am looking to buy a house soon and wanted to get my score up to get approved for a home loan. I contacted HSBC today regarding the debt asking if I could just pay them directly the remainder of the debt in exchange for removing the blemish from my report but the girl told me since the account had been sold they had no rights to it. After further research I discovered that in some instances it is possible to have the original lending company resend the debt to allow the borrower to pay them back directly. My first question is, is this a good option or not? If not then my only other option is to pay the third part company the remainder of the debt. I have read that it is possible to negotiate a deal with the company to pay in full and have them remove all marks from my report, is this true? If so, correct me if I’m wrong, but that will remove the account having not been paid, but will still show up from HSBC that the debt was sent to collections which will in turn still continue to hurt me? Without this blemish my score shoots up to nearly 800!
Your advice is much appreciated.
Regards
Michael
Who is the current holder of your old HSBC debt?
Good morning I have a concern about judgements that I have on my credit from an apartment complex. I was looking over my credit report and noticed that I have several judgements that are 30 days past due according to the filing date and the date of the actual payment but according to my paper work the filing dates are wrong and so are the date of payments. I do agree that I paid late but what concerns me is for ex. if i filed on June 19th and received my court date which for my county is the first Tuesday of July is the first and I attend court make an agreement to pay you on the 3rd and i do just that but you failed to notify the court of my payment until I find out about it almost 6months later what can i do to get this corrected as far on my credit report can i get this removed if i have supporting documentation or is it because i went to court it stays as a paid judgement.
Not trying to make any major purchases but if i decided to I do not want this to hinder me.
The fact that the judgment is showing as paid is the important part. Judgments on your credit report will impact you, but the more time goes by, the less the impact will be, and the judgment will drop off your credit reports generally after 7 years.
Depending on the loan product you are looking for later, the judgments may have little to no impact after a couple years.
Because this collection went to court is why it is showing on your credit reports.
Thank you very much, I did the best possible thing to do which was pay in full.
Hi Michael,
I have a judgement from a credit card that was sold to an attorney. I am currently making monthly payments to the current holder of the account (a credit collection company). My concern is on my credit report it is listed twice, one by the first attorney and then by the second attorney (2008 and 2012). Can I get get one of these removed since it is the same account?
Who is the second attorney?
Who is the named plaintiff in the lawsuit?
Michael,
hopefully that will be the case. i’m really stressed about it. IF it turns out they won’t do that, what do you suggest? i don’t want to just pay anyone, especially if they can’t sign the release but i don’t want to wait until the judgment expires either.
Talk to an experienced consumer law attorney about paying the total amount due to the court and filing updated docs for the court record to reflect satisfaction.
I am in the process of trying to get a mortgage but am having difficulty due to an outstanding judgment. the judgment was awarded to Mann Bracken on a Discover card debt. Mann Bracken was a very disreputable debt collection/law firm that has since closed it’s doors. Discover has no knowledge of the judgment and as previously stated, Mann Bracken went out of business less than a year after receiving the judgment. There is no receiver on file in the state f Texas. And if the debt was sold to yet another party, they have never made any collection attempts. So, how do you pay a judgment when there is no one to pay it to? logically, only the owner of the debt can release me from said debt once it’s paid. And they are no longer in business.
p.s. the judgment was granted 7/24/08 and the abstract was granted 9/5/8.
Michele – Who is the named plaintiff in the lawsuit for the Discover debt?
Michael,
The named plaintiff is Discover Bank. I might also add that i sold my home approximately 8 months ago. The attorney hired by the title company to get the homestead affidavits done, sent the affidavits certified mail to Discover Bank and there was no repsonse. So, we wound up filing it the “Homestead Affidavit as Release of Judgment Lien” along with all of the documentation showing it was sent certified with the court clerk to satisfy the title company.
another attorney recommend i get the title company to open an escrow amount for the amount of the judgment and maybe that way they would write the title policy. Have you heard of this being done?
Yes, I have heard of the escrow being set up. Pretty common.
Michael,
Thanks for such a quick response. If the title company will not do that, what do you suggest, other than waiting for it to expire?
Hi,
I rented an apartment last year and when I was on vacation a water pipe in my bathroom burst. When I got back from vacation, the rental manager said the management company was still on good terms with me. About a week later, I received a 3-day vacate the premisis demand taped on my door. I moved out immediately. Two months later I was contacted by a debt collection agency in regards to the apartment. They told me I owed $1700 for the water damage and the carpets which were damaged when I moved in and was noted on my initial walkthru. The apartment management company still has my security deposit. The debt collection agengy has lowered the price to $1000 but since I did not damage the apartment in any way I don’t feel obligated to pay the bogus amount. I sent the collection agency all the vacate the premisis papers along with my returned rent check from the apartments, but they said the apartments are denying them. The collection agency told me the apartments want to take me for $2600 because the apartment has not been rented out yet. I was told to leave in January. I also tried to negotiate the price to $500 but they said no. Since I lost my apartment, I’ve been pretty much homeless and do not have $1000 to pay the debt off. What should I do? If I don’t pay the amount, how bad will it effect my credit score?
Before you look at negotiating and paying anything, get a hold of your states and local city/county tenant rights laws. Then talk to the state or local offices about this landlord/management company and see what other options you have to dispute this collection, and what type of assistance is available from local groups that help people in this regard.
I have a judgement filed from a cell phone bill for over 2,000$ in 2003. ‘according to them they got a default judgment in 2007 and since it is good for 10 years, they are just bringing it up now. They have a hold on my chase account and are holding the money I have in there. Earlier last week, my bank reported that I had $980 and so they agreed to settle for $250 to start and 100 monthly but they told me yesterday that they cant do that now since my direct deposit went in and I have money in there. I never received any letter from this people and I am so frustrated. Will this affect me from opening other bank accounts? I cannot afford not to have access to my funds because I have several bills to pay. what can I do?
Stop direct deposits until you get this worked out. You may still be able to open an account with another bank, but can operate from a cash/money order/prepaid card basis temporarily.
What state are you in?
I have a judgment of paternity and medical support with a 0 balance on it from the state of Louisiana for my son and I am trying to buy a house and because it is a judgment they are saying I might not be able to get my new house loan … How would I be able to get this judgment for medical support off my credit
Just not to sure what to do about the situation because I close on the sale of my house in less than 30 days and this just came up on me in the middle of buying a new house
How long ago was it that you paid the judgment to zero?
Are there any other collections on your credit reports?
2 years ago and it’s from the state of Louisiana it’s always been a 0 balance it’s a judgment to carry medical support threw the state on my son
There is no other judgments and I have a credit score of almost 750
Richard – I am not familiar with how that judgment stands in the courts view, and it appears the credit reporting agencies view as any judgment for a fixed dollar amount, when that does not appear to be the case.
If this is common in Louisiana, the broker or loan officer you are working with would perhaps have a work around, or perhaps they are new to their job?
I would encourage you to speak with a knowledgeable broker (someone with 10 or more years experience), or with a consumer law attorney with a practice that focuses on Fair Credit Reporting in your state. I can refer you to one or more if you post the name of a nearby larger city.
Hello Michael,
I would really appreciate it if you can provide me with a piece of advice.
1- Just yesterday I have found out that I was sued by collecting agency back in 2012 ( January)
When it happened I had already moved to California and simply did not know that I had to go to the court. When I pulled my credit report it says that I have a public record . Below is what I found on the court’s site under my name
INITIAL CASE FILINGComplaint No.:
Date: 10/12/2011Comment:INITIAL AFFIDAVIT CASE FILING
Type: TRIALComplaint No.:
Date: 11/02/2011Comment:TRIAL SET FOR: 01132012;
Type: NOTICE SENTComplaint No.:
Date: 11/02/2011Comment:NOTICE OF INITIAL TRIAL (ATP)-D1
Type: SERVICEComplaint No.:
Date: 11/25/2011Comment:REGL;10122011;DEF;SV-SERVED ;
Type: NOTICE SENTComplaint No.:
Date: 12/27/2011Comment:NOTICE OF OUTCOME OF ORIGINAL SERVICE (ATP)-A1
ype: AFFIDAVIT JUDGMENT ENTEREDComplaint No.:
Date: 01/13/2012Comment:AFFIDAVIT JUDGMENT ENTERED
Type: TRIAL DELETEComplaint No.:
Date: 01/13/2012Comment:TRIL;01132012;0845A;02;BY 9X2;JUDGMENT ENTERED
Type: NOTICE SENTComplaint No.:
Date: 01/25/2012Comment:NOTICE OF AFFIDAVIT JUDGMENT ENTERED (DEF)-R1
Type: NOTICE SENTComplaint No.:
Date: 01/25/2012Comment:ALSO SENT TO – ATP,
Type: COMMENTComplaint No.:0
Date: 02/16/2012Comment:RET MAIL;AFFIDAVIT JUDGMENT ENTERED;DEF
And this is what I have on my credit report under public charge :
Date filed [?] Jan, 2012
Status [?]
Pending
Amount [?] $1,288
Plaintiff [?] Pasadena Receivables Inc
In addition to this, I have 2 more collection with Midland Credit Management. Bu I would like to ask about it later.
For now, I am thinking what should I do with my unpaid judgment. Do I Have to pay? If I do not pay what are the consequences ? If I pay , how it will help me in in the next 3 years ?
Another thing , that I do not even know what it was for? I have no account number, nothing. I have no idea who was the original creditor. As , I said in addition to this I have 2 more accounts in collection with Midland Credit Management They somehow found me in California , and started sending me letters with their offers to pay 40% less from the current balance. The strange thing about these two accounts is that both of them have assigned date of November 2012, But I knew that I have stopped paying those accounts at the end of 2010 when I got laid off.
My current score is 600 right now, I have a secured credit card for more than 1 year( paying always on time) , and I have purchased a brand new car back in December ( with 18% interest) , I am also paying this on time. I have a really stable and unique engineering job right now. ( Working with special metals and designing device for treating cardiovascular and vascular diseases) .
I am and immigrant, who is trying to stand up form my knees and fix my life.
Mike do you think, I have a chance to buy a house in 3-4 years ?
Best regards,
Igor
You have a chance to buy a house in much less than 3 or 4 years.
Before I pipe in on the collection judgment, and next steps to take to get you closer to your goals, please answer the following:
It is only implied in your comment, so to be sure, is the judgment in a California court?
No matter the court, pull a copy of the lawsuit filed, and find out who the original creditor was (who Pasadena Receivable got the account from)?
Name of law firm that filed the collection action in the court?
Hello Michael,
First of all thank you very much for your reply. I really appreciate it. Thanks!!!
The judgment was in Maryland court. Name of the laws firm was Reroutka and Peroutka P.S.
I think it belongs to Pasadena Receivable .
I am just thinking if I ask the court to send me a lawsuit letter, are they going to provide the collection firm with my address as well, or not.
Should I call to collection firm to ask about this letter, or it is better not to do so. Is it possible to find out from the court letter who was the original creditor ? In addition , can I pay this money directly to the court or not ?
Best regards,
Igor
I would get the documentation directly from the court prior to calling the debt collector.
Yes, you can often pay the judgment balance to the court. Your goal for home ownership will mean getting the judgment updated as satisfied in the court record, so be aware of that if the debt turns out to be legitimately yours and that is the path you take (paying or settling with Pasadena Receivables).
Hi there, can you paid medical collection accounts be removed from your credit report? I have not paid them yet. If so how should I go about this with the collection agency? Also. Can a paid tax lien in Ohio be removed from your credit report? Thank you
You would be lucky if you were able to get the tax lien removed from your credit reports. That entry on your credit is related to public records. Even if you somehow got it off your reports, it could show back up. Getting the lien removed from the public record is not common at all.
You can sometimes work with the medical service provider, or billing company for the provider, to make payment and have that lead to the collection agency removal.
How old are the bills?
Hello Mike,
I noticed you had mention different reporting shenanigans that goes on by the collectors. I have quite a bit of school debt, and early on soon after graduation, I was slapped with a collection within months. I paid nearly the entire loan off directly through the original lender, since I had the ability to do so, and the collection agency was very shady.
The collection agency was still sending me bills and threatening letters, claiming I owe them an amount nearly double the original loan. Now on my credit report, it’s showing payments as continuing to be missed even though it has already gone into collections.
Is this one of their reporting shenanigans? And how should I navigate through that situation. A home purchase is on my horizon, hopefully within the next year.
Thank you for all your help.
Can you be more specific with what happened, when, who the debt collector is, and what it is the collections agency is reporting vs what the original lender is reporting?
Hi Michael,
My husband and I have excellent credit with few blemishes. Recently my husband’s brother is trying to close on a house. On his credit report, he is listed as a co borrower on our mortgage( which he is not) and listed as a co borrower on several of our credit cards( which he is not). I called the credit card companies and they assured me he is not listed as a borrower on our account. Is this a mix up with the credit bureaus and what can we do about it?
It certainly sounds as if this is some form of merged file issue with one or more of the credit reporting agencies. Which of the 3 agencies are reporting these things in error? Is there any time sensitive financing goals that are going to get hung up by this incorrect reporting?
Answer those two questions in reply and I can offer more next steps feedback.
I have an unpaid judgment of $10k showing on my report, It was a credit card debt taken over by a company called Erin&Erin in NY. Judgment was filed in 2009. I want to purchase a home this year. Court letter was handed to my mother in NY at my last known address. At that time I was living in GA and of course could not get to court in NY. I ended up contacting them and they ended up garnishing my wages in 2009 for a few months. I haven’t heard much since except an occasional letter with a higher amount and in March a letter from someone else stating they represent Erin& Erin and offering a settlement. What can I do? I have read most of your answers and I will assume that a credit repare company will not be able to fix this. Help!
The judgment is on your credit as a result of the court record. You would have to vacate the judgment in order to impact the credit reports, and based on what you have shared, I do not see that as a realistic option.
Can you raise the money to settle the debt? Lets say you could negotiate a pay off of 60% of the balance. How long would it take to pull together the money?
You can get a home loan with a resolved judgement on your credit reports. But it is increasingly difficult to get loan approval with a judgment that is showing it is still owed.
help I posted a question and don’t know where it went
Pat – You filled out a consultation request form that I sent to Steve, a CRN debt specialist I have worked with for a decade-ish. You can connect with him, or I can send that email back to you so that you can post the content as a comment here for feedback.
2 years ago my ex husband sued and won a judgement against me for unpaid camera tickets on a vehicle that we were joint titled in. Recently, we found out that unpaid camera tickets can not cause a license suspension and that he had unpaid moving violations that caused the suspension. I have not paid anything on the judgement and although my ex knows and acknowledges that its not my fault that his license is suspended, he has not doing anything to help me get the judgement removed from the report. We live in Maryland.
You will likely have to petition the court to vacate the judgment. I would encourage you to work with an attorney on something like this. I can help locate one with the experience you need if you post the name of a nearby larger city.
Thanks Michael! We live in Prince Georges County, Maryland.
I sent you an email with several options.
Good Afternoon Michael,
My situation is similar to Daniel L says:December 6, 2013 at 6:02 pm in that it involves the EDD in Calif for an overpayment of benefits. My total was originally at about 6k back from 2006. Recently they filed a Judgement for a little over 11k. I no longer live in Calif and reside in Tenn. I am wondering if they can garnish my wage if i am in Tenn. I like Daniel would rather pay the original amount. I do have the ability to perhaps pay in 6 payments. I have discussed this with the EDD but was told they would or could not negotiate. I thought of Bankruptcy but was told that the law firm would not represent me because the $$ amount was less then 20k and because I would have to travel to and from Calif to file. I was also told that Criminal Charges could be leveled against me. So BK is not an option. I wondered if Debt Consolidation is an option? I would appreciate your thoughts.
Thank You
Foreign judgments can be enforced in Tennessee, but likely only once they jump through another court hoop. Talk with an experienced debt defense attorney in TN about this for more details. I can refer you to one if I knew the name of a nearby larger city.
Bankruptcy should still be an option. And people frequently file for amounts under 20k. How many attorneys did you talk to about bankruptcy?
I now live in Memphis Tenn. I only talked to 2 Attys both were the free consultation type. They said the BK would have to be filed in the state i lived the longest and that the documents would need to be signed in person. It is also my understanding that in BK i would need to pay off the entire amount which i have a hard time fathoming. I would love any recommended location you can point me too I have only been in Memphis 6 months.
You can wait longer and file bankruptcy in TN. I sent you contact info to a consumer law attorney in Memphis, so talk with him about those timelines along with what it takes to collect on a foreign judgment.
Paying off the entire amount of debts in a bankruptcy would often mean the debt does not qualify for discharge in a chapter 7 (some debts do not), or that you cannot qualify for chapter 7 based on the income means test, or you would be forced to liquidate stuff that has a value in excess of your debts.
Hi,
A debt collect took my wife to court back in April 2011. I went with her to court and brought a Transunion report showing my wife was in good standing for the particular debt this collector was trying to sue her for. Right before the audience/hearing, I showed the report to their lawyer and he immediately proceeded to postpone the session and said “I need to show this to my client and will take it from there….”. We never heard back from them, but the judgment still appears on my wife’s credit reports. It doesn’t show “status” or “verified” or “satisfied”. It doesn’t show anything, just the date and the court. We don’t know if they dropped the case or else. I’m thinking about filing a law suit against this debt collector now because my wife is still not able to get credit because of this (I guess).
Thank you,
Rui
What state do you live in Rui?