Rebuilding Your Credit

[Miss_Donna30]

How can a judgement affect her credit? She would like to move to a larger apartment this summer, will this judgement affect her getting an apartment?

[llecs]

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Miss_Donna30 wrote:

How can a judgement affect her credit? She would like to move to a larger apartment this summer, will this judgement affect her getting an apartment?

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I don't know what's on her CR, but a new judgment on a clean CR can drop scores by quite a bit. Not every landlord will use a credit score, but it could hamper things with some.

[Jutz]

If there is a court judgement that says she owes a company $10,000 this could absolutely hurt her in applying for an apartment. 

[tmobileguy]

Unpaid judgements can only remain on your report for 7 years from the date they are reported. Some states allow you to renew the judgement and restart the timeclock. 

[llecs]

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tmobileguy wrote:

Unpaid judgements can only remain on your report for 7 years from the date they are reported. Some states allow you to renew the judgement and restart the timeclock. 

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They'll report for 7 years max and that can't be renewed. The renewal has to do with SOL which, in the case of a judgment, is the time frame a creditor has to collect via legal means after suing (e.g. garnishment, liens, etc.). In Cali for example, once sued, the SOL is 10 years. It can only report for 7 years, but they can collect on it up to 10 years. By the 10th year in California, the creditor can renew the judgment and they can collect for another 10.