I want to pay off some judgements

[Anonymous]

I have two judgments that I am in the position now to pay off. One is $2500, and the other is $2800. I can't pay the full amounts though. Do you think there's a chance that I can settle with the law firms to get these amounts down? I would like to pay about $700 for each of them, $900 at the most. I know you all can't tell me what the companies will do, but I'm just asking in general. Do these amounts seem too low? About a year ago, one of the law firms that bought my judgment sent me an offer for 50% off the amount, but I wasn't able to pay it then. So that leads me to believe me that they will work with me on a lesser settlement amount. Thanks in advance! 

[nmjacobs]

Yes, you can try to settle them! I'm on my last payment of a settlement for a 2010 judgement. Like yours, it was bought by a company (I had to contact the attorney that handled the original case to find out who currently owned it; the original one who had sued went out of business). I'll say it took a LONG time of going back and forth. I had to first get the attorney to return my calls. I'm not kidding when I say that alone took 6 months! It took several weeks after that to get a response from the previous call. I would call the attorney, he would contact the owner of the judgement (they would not directly negotiate with me), then wait for him to call me back. The total with added fees since 2010 was around $8,000. My first offer was $1,000. They countered with $3,000 and agreed to me making that in 4 payments for 4 consecutive months. So, I was able to settle it for much less than 50%. The judgement was technically dormant as they had not contated me in over 5 years. Not sure if that helped or not. Be sure to have the attorney send a letter with the terms and ask for receipts for each payment. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Thank you. This helps a lot! 

[RobertEG]

Just remember that they have an order issued by the court finding the debt valid, and ordering you to pay.

The judgment provides the creditor with basis, if they so choose, to go back to the court and seek an order, called a "writ of satisfaction," that permits a specific attachment of assets or garnishment of pay in order to force compliance with the judgment.

You are not in the strongest of negotiation positions when the creditor already has a judgment.

[Anonymous]

Thanks!