Judgment deleted! Need advice on how to proceed...

[zootown]

I have a judgment from 2012 that was satisfied in late 2014. I noticed on my credit reports that it was not showing as a paid/satisfied judgment. On 5/17 I opened a dispute with Transunion and put that it should be showing as paid. On 5/19 the investigation was completed and to my surprise they ended up deleting the judgment off of my TU report. It wasn't supposed to be gone until 2019, so this is a huge victory.

Obviously I would like to also get this judgment removed from my Equifax and Experian reports. I am looking for advice on the best way to go about this, because I am unsure what party made the decision to delete the judgment, and if the result will be the same if I dispute with the other reportings agencies. I should also mention that at the same time I disputed the judgment as paid that I also updated my consuer statement to this:

LATE PAYMENTS AND DEROGATORY REMARKS WERE DUE TO ONGOING ISSUES FROM A MENTAL CONDITION. I WAS MISDIAGNOSED AS A CHILD AND IT WAS NOT UNTIL I WAS 26 YEARS OLD, IN THE YEAR 2012, THAT I RECEIVED THE PROPER DIAGNOSIS AND WAS ABLE TO GET TO THE ROOT OF ALL THE PROBLEMS I HAD ACCUMULATED.SINCE THE DIAGNOSIS I WAS ABLE TO REALLY TURN MY LIFE AROUND. I HAVE SPENT THE YEARS SINCE THE DIAGNOSIS WORKING HARD TO PAY OFF ALL OF MY OLD DEBTS AND REBUILD MY CREDIT. PLEASE TAKE THIS INTO CONSIDERATION WHEN REVIEWING MY CREDIT REPORT. I APPRECIATE YOUR TIME AND CONSIDERATION. REGARDS 

 Questions:

1. If I dispute the judgment on EQ and EX will it likely be deleted there too?
2. Who actually made the decision to delete it from TU? Was it TU, the creditor, or the court?
3. Could my consumer statement have possibly played a role in the decision to delete the judgment?

Thanks guys!

[traveler2005]

You can call Experian and they will delete

[zootown]

Thanks for the response! What do I say when I call them? This technically isn't supposed to be deleted from my CR, it's just supposed to be marked as paid, so that's why I'm not sure if I'll get the same results with EX and EQ.

[Anonymous]

Don't quote me on this. But if it is paid, they will most likely delete it . They  do not go to the courthouse to manually check and the courthouse doesn't have the time to contact them. They get their information from a third party database.

Disputing it like you did on TU will mostly likely work. 

[zootown]

Thanks for the input NewBeginning16! I guess I'll just dispute it as paid on EQ and EX like I did on TU and see if they end up deleting too. I think that probably will be what happens, but I wanted to check here to make.

I have another judgment on my report that is correctly shown as being paid. I wonder if that judgment would also get deleted if I disputed it or asked for it to be verified? It was only marked as satisfied/paid in Feb. of this year, so maybe I should wait a little while before proceeding.

[RobertEG]

The CRAs verify the accuracy of public record information by re-chekcing the posted public record, not by referral to either the creditor or the court.

When the checked the public record, they did not find it, and thus deleted.  It may have been that the judgment has been removed from the public record, or it may have been just a crummy search on the part of the CRA.

The CRAs dont do good will deletions of accurate information.

I recommend that you first do your own public records search at the courthouse and determine what the current public record shows.

If it is sitll showing in the public record, then the other CRAs are likely to find it and determine only whether it shows paid.

That is the issue on dispute, not the judgment itself, so the CRA would only delete if their search fails to turn up an existing record.

[zootown]

Thanks RobertEG! That makes sense and that is great advice to check with the courts first.

I was also thinking of writing the attorneys for the plaintiffs in each of the judgments to see if they would be willing to file a motion to vacate the judgment since it has been paid off. I had/have a good rapport with the attorneys for the plaintiffs in both cases, so I think it's worth a shot. Getting them vacated would be ideal since it actually alters the record of the judgment, correct?

[Anonymous]

If it's not showing as paid, it's not reporting correctly. The law has shown that it's ultimately on the CRAs to insure that all credit reports reflect accurate information. Suing is often all the CRAs understand. If they are causing damage, they should pay for it. An unpaid judgment is not the same as a paid one. 

That said, I would aim for vacating the judgment while disputing its reporting (which is inaccurate). It can take 60-90 days for a judgment to be vacated (it can take much less, but don't be surprised if it does take 60-90 days). If the two cross, that would be the best thing for you: it is removed off all 3 CRAs while being vacated so it never shows back up. 

[Anonymous]

I think what Robert said is probably the process that is supposed to happen but in reality it may not always be followed. For exampled a while ago I called EX because I had a judgement from 2012 that is paid but was never update on my report to show that, it is definately still on my record, I can see that it is. When I called EX and told them the situation they said they would open a dispute but rather than coming back updated the very next day it was removed from my report. With it coming off the next day, really in a matter of hours since I called late in the afternoon and it was gone when I checked the next morning, I seriously doubt they bother to do any investigation at all.

I guess it could still come back if they find it at some point but for now it is gone.I have not done anything with the other CRAs yet but that was my experience with EX.

[RonM21]

OP, what is your next.step, checking with the courts?