Final Step: Two public records

[Andrew22]

I am down to the last two negatives on my report, and wondering if, or how, I should dispute them, or just hold on and think warm thoughts until they drop off.

1) An IRS paid/released lien for $5200. What irks me about this is that I was never notified, either of the lien, or that it was paid, until I pulled a credit report. This all happened without me ever knowing. But, strangely, at the time the lien was filed, I was working with the IRS and had a payment agreement, and while the lien was sent to the wrong address my payment plan details were all sent to the correct address. In addition, both the amount of the lien and the payoff seem incorrect, as I paid the debt in May, in full, but the Paid/release date is November, for example.  Also, this was filed in the wrong county. This PR turns four years old in January.

2) A Judgment from the state for $180, same year,  also apparently for a tax debt. Once again, no notice, just a letter from the State deducting the amount from my tax refund two years ago, and saying I was paid in full. Now, I've seen a lot of talk about liens and what judges can do, etc, on this site, some of it pretty snippy. None of them address what happened to me. Apparently, a lien was issued, and, yes, that is administrative. But that lien is not on my CR. However, to collect on that lien, a judge issued a default judgment in court. That is what is on my CR, a judgment. I pulled the court document, no detail at all.

So, here's my dilemma. Do I seek to vacate the judgment and validate the lien, and risk opening a can of administrative worms? I am not a big earner, the amounts are small, my taxes are all paid and in good sdtanding. But the amount of time I might have to spend on this could be quite the hassle if an agency decides to make it an issue. The debts are paid, and I'm not  looking to challenge the amounts. But these certainly never should have gone through process, and the records are quite damaging.

Am I better off manually explaining, and just living with the FICO hit for the next 2-3 years? I'd like to see about getting a home this year...

[Anonymous]

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@Andrew22 wrote:

I am down to the last two negatives on my report, and wondering if, or how, I should dispute them, or just hold on and think warm thoughts until they drop off.

1) An IRS paid/released lien for $5200. What irks me about this is that I was never notified, either of the lien, or that it was paid, until I pulled a credit report. This all happened without me ever knowing. But, strangely, at the time the lien was filed, I was working with the IRS and had a payment agreement, and while the lien was sent to the wrong address my payment plan details were all sent to the correct address. In addition, both the amount of the lien and the payoff seem incorrect, as I paid the debt in May, in full, but the Paid/release date is November, for example.  Also, this was filed in the wrong county. This PR turns four years old in January.

2) A Judgment from the state for $180, same year,  also apparently for a tax debt. Once again, no notice, just a letter from the State deducting the amount from my tax refund two years ago, and saying I was paid in full. Now, I've seen a lot of talk about liens and what judges can do, etc, on this site, some of it pretty snippy. None of them address what happened to me. Apparently, a lien was issued, and, yes, that is administrative. But that lien is not on my CR. However, to collect on that lien, a judge issued a default judgment in court. That is what is on my CR, a judgment. I pulled the court document, no detail at all.

So, here's my dilemma. Do I seek to vacate the judgment and validate the lien, and risk opening a can of administrative worms? I am not a big earner, the amounts are small, my taxes are all paid and in good sdtanding. But the amount of time I might have to spend on this could be quite the hassle if an agency decides to make it an issue. The debts are paid, and I'm not  looking to challenge the amounts. But these certainly never should have gone through process, and the records are quite damaging.

Am I better off manually explaining, and just living with the FICO hit for the next 2-3 years? I'd like to see about getting a home this year...

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A lien is an administrative remedy which generally requires, basically, no notification to the subject before being entered.  Still, if there are errors in how it is being reported you might want to contact the IRS and seek correction or at least an explanation.

In some states judgments for tax-related debt are also a largely administrative process that require no service.

I would check the statutes in your particular state and see how tax debts are handled and then contact the taxation authority to see if they can help you.