I paid off a judgment in 2003. It was filed in 2000. It will stay on the credit report from 2000 or 2003?

Question

The credit reporting agency is listing this judgement as unpaid since 2001. That was when an "abstract of judgement" was entered in the public record.
I'm going to dispute this item stating the fact that it has been paid. I have proof of this.
But the judgement was entered in March of 2000. The abstract was entered in 2001, and it was paid in 2003.
What will the credit agency show?
1. The 2000 original lien is a little more than seven years old. Will drop off?
2. Will the seven years start from 2001 (the abstract)?
3. Will the report show paid in 2003 then remain as a paid judgement seven years from 2003?
Whew!
please help. Thanks

Answer 1

Money debt judgments will remain for 7 years from the date of entry of judgment, regardless if they are paid or not.

Unless your state statutes say otherwise - note the following - FCRA 605 (a) (2) "suits and judgment which, from date of entry, antedate the report by more than seven years or until the governing statue of limitations has expired, whichever is the longer period"

Which basically means that if judgments are allowed to be renewed in your state and the judgment was renewed in the legal time allowed - the reporting SOL "may" also be renewed - IF your state statutes allow the reporting SOL to be renewed. (don't you just love the straight forwardness of the law, sheesh)

Order your "paid" report from each individual CRA. Do not use tri-merge reports for your information when you dispute anything. Do not use the free FACT-ACT reports when you dispute anything - it gives the CRA's an extra 15 days to investigate which could mean a trade line remaining instead of being deleted.

The first thing you should do, especially if you had moved since the judgment was filed is to clean up the personal information that is reported on your reports.
Dispute outdated or wrong addresses, wrong names, misspelled names etc.

If you had moved since the judgment was placed on your reports, you may get lucky and see it drop off if the old address is removed.

Do not dispute a judgment as being paid. And do not give proof of the payment. The only thing that would happen is that you would cement the judgment to your reports.

If they are still reporting the judgment as unpaid, you should send a dispute that says something like - "I have no judgment due in the amount of $xxxx.xx registered in the court."

There is always a chance that the judgment will be verified and remain. Though courts "do not" verify judgments, the CRA's often get their "verification" from 3rd party sources like LexNex. (though they will not admit that since it is illegal to get verification from any source other than the true source)

If you have a certified copy of your satisfied judgment and the CRA's verify your dispute and it remains, compare the report to you copy of the satisfied judgment - the credit reports should "exactly" match your certified copy of the satisfied judgment.

If it does not match, dispute it. If they verify, file an online complaint with the FTC then re-dispute with the CRA's and include a printout of your FTC complaint.

Using paid reports, the CRA's have 30 days to investigate and 5 days to mail their response. Never contact the CRA's while you have an active dispute going, it will only result in an extra 15 days being added to your dispute - even if your contact has nothing to do with your dispute.

If the CRA notifies you that they need information from you to continue an investigation - they are stalling. Wait until the 30 days have passed then give them the information they asked for.

You can continue with a new dispute after the CRA's finish their investigation or the 35 days have passed, whichever comes first.

The CRA's usually wait until the end of the month to delete obsolete data.
With the original lien, if it is past the original month of default, file a dispute as obsolete.

Answer 2

You got a lot of good advice here but one thing I have not seen on here is probably very important to your situation. A judgement is a little different than a collection. Once paid off most court houses make you pay a fee to release it. Usually between 75-150 dollars. I'd pay the money to have it released. Take your receipt from the court house or letter saying the judgment has been paid and there is a zero balance and send it with a copy of your SS card, drivers license, copy of credit report and a letter asking for it to show a zero balance and send it certified mail to each of the three credit bureaus. They have 30 business days upon receipt to make any corrections then each bureau should send you a copy of your updated report. Hope this helps.

Answer 3

Actually... It will be on your credit from the last time that this company reported it... it does not have to report every month some companies only report every six months or quartly... and from there is a minimum of 5 year to 7 years.... depending on the company.....

Answer 4

It is seven years from last activity. So seven years from 2003

Answer 5

Judgments stay on your credit report paid or unpaid for 10 years.

Answer 6

It will stay on your credit 7 years from the date you pay it.

Answer 7

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