FCRA Guidelines

[Quick32]

for removing or marking a judgment as paid/settled? I'm paying a judgment today and was told they will follow the FCRA guidelines.

[Anonymous]

The only thing they are required to do is send a letter of satisfaction to the court. They will usually send a similar letter to the debtor as well. Check with the court in 30 days or so and find out if it has been done. Once the court has listed it as satisfied, you can get the CRA's to update it.

In some states, satisfied judgements can be vacated and removed completely from the public record. Check with your state laws on whether this can be done and how to go about gettting it done.

[Anonymous]

I live in Alabama.

I googled and found this link http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/alcode/25/5/3/25-5-93

that states :Any judgment entered under the provisions of this article and Article 2 of this chapter, either by award or by settlement, and entered on the minutes of any court, shall be discharged by said court and marked satisfied upon presentment to said court or the clerk thereof of a release or discharge of said judgment, executed by the party in whose favor the same runs and acknowledged in the same manner as conveyances are acknowledged or upon presentment by the employer or his representative of an affidavit that said judgment has been, in accordance with its terms, fully satisfied and discharged, together with satisfactory proof in the way of vouchers or checks duly endorsed by the party in whose favor such judgment ran."

When the lady from the courthouse called me, she told me she was mailing me back the document stamped where it was recorded and told me to mail it to all credit reporting agencies and that they should remove the judgement from my record.

Is that true?

[Quick32]

Ok thanks. I talked to them today when I dropped off the check. They said they will satisfy it with the court.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I live in Alabama.

I googled and found this link http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/alcode/25/5/3/25-5-93

that states :Any judgment entered under the provisions of this article and Article 2 of this chapter, either by award or by settlement, and entered on the minutes of any court, shall be discharged by said court and marked satisfied upon presentment to said court or the clerk thereof of a release or discharge of said judgment, executed by the party in whose favor the same runs and acknowledged in the same manner as conveyances are acknowledged or upon presentment by the employer or his representative of an affidavit that said judgment has been, in accordance with its terms, fully satisfied and discharged, together with satisfactory proof in the way of vouchers or checks duly endorsed by the party in whose favor such judgment ran."

When the lady from the courthouse called me, she told me she was mailing me back the document stamped where it was recorded and told me to mail it to all credit reporting agencies and that they should remove the judgement from my record.

Is that true?

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Yes, you can do that. Just go online and dispute the judgment as being paid/discharged and you will have the option to upload documents.

[Anonymous]

& that will remove it from my credit reports??

[Anonymous]

It really depends on how the court records it. It may get deleted entirely or it may get updated to Paid status.

[RobertEG]

The FCRA does not provide for deletion/exclusion of a judgment based on its satisfaction.

Secion 605(a) provides for exclusion of a satisfied judtment no later than 7 years from the date of entry of the judgment.

Before disputing, you must have knowledge that the court has vacated the judgment, meaning it is removed from the public record.

In a dispute, the CRA will simply check the public record, and if it still remains, regardless of whether updated to show paid, will verify the accuracy and deny the dispute.

[Anonymous]

Update:

I received letters in mail this weekend from all the credit reporting agencies regarding the copy of the recorded satisfaction I mailed them.

That document was headed “INDIVIDUAL CANCELLATION AND RELEASE STATE OF ALABAMA” and the first paragraph read “THE DEBT SECURED BY JUDGMENT DATED 08/26 / 14 AND RECORDED IN BOOK J UDGE (I omitted the book and page for this post) IN THE OFFICE OF THE JUDGE OF PROBATE OF (I omitted the county for this post) COUNTY, ALABAMA, FROM MIDLAND FUNDING, LLC AND AGAINST (I omitted name for this post); HAVING BEEN PAID, SAID LIEN IS HEREBY FULLY CANCELLED, SATISFIED, AND RELEASED JUN 03 2015 .”

The stamp read “Recorded in MISC BK 271 PG 524, 6/12/2015” & then the time, county, and name of judge.

Experian wrote “The amount of a judgment that appears on the personal credit report may include the original sum plus any court costs or attorney fees. Once it is paid in full, its status will be "civil claim paid. Information about a judgment remains on your personal credit report for seven years from the date it was filed in court."

They included a page of what it now looks like and its status is now Civil claim paid and says “This item is scheduled to continue on record until Aug 2021. This item was updated from our processing of your dispute in Jul 2015.” It also lists the date resolved as June 2015.

TransUnion included a page of what it now shows on their report. It is now listed as “Type: PAID CIVIL JUDGMENT” “Date Filed: 08/26/2014” “Date Paid: 08/26/2014” “Date Updated: 07/06/2015” “Estimated month and year that this item will be removed: 07/2021”

I made the last payment on this on May 25, 2015, so what they have listed isn’t accurate.

Do I have to dispute again or just leave it?

Equifax letter said “We have reviewed your concerns and our conclusions are: We have reviewed the judgement information. Case or ID # - (I omitted for this post)

The results are: This item has been updated to report satisfied/released. Please be advised that judgment remains on file seven years from the date filed. If you have additional questions about this item please contact: (listed the courthouse address and phone) Satisfied Judgment Filed 08/2014; Amount- $1 ,298 ; Plain **bleep**- Midland Funding LLC; Satisfied 06/2015; Verified 07/2015”

So it looks like I have to live with this judgment on my reports for another 6 or more years =(

I am very disappointed since the lady at the court house specifically said if I mailed that document that the reporting agencies would delete.

[Momof5]

Often you can go to the lawyer who filed the case against you and make a request for their office to file a motion to vacate since it has been paid.

This is akin to a GW request.  They don't have to do it, but if they do, it will be removed from your CR.