Judgment question

Anonymous · ‎10-14-2008

Hello all. I was checking my boyfriend's credit report with him (he's considering buying a house within the next year), and we see that he has a civil claim judgment from March 2003. He was a minor at the time, and he said it was a restitution and then became a judgment. Apparently once he gets a receipt from the court saying he paid off the judgment (he owes $310 to an individual) and has a signed and notarized Satisfaction of Judgment from this individual, the loan officer can fax the receipt to the CRAs and get the judgment pulled right off his report. Is this true? I know nothing about how all this works, and we're trying to clean up his report. Sorry if this is confusing, and thanks for any info.

Anonymous · ‎10-15-2008

Any info on this would be extremely helpful. I know nothing about this kind of situation - I don't even know how much a judgment would affect his credit score (his FAKO as of yesterday was 683 through experian). If anyone has any experience with this at all, advice would be helpful. Thanks!

Anonymous · ‎10-16-2008

I'm no lawyer or expert in judgements, however here what I think I know:

- the judgment can only be "vacated" (removed, canceled, in legal jargon) by making a "motion" (a request) to the judge\the court with some reason

- the request needs to be endorsed by the other party (the satisfied dreditor)

- if the judge says yes, the judgement is vacated

- removal from the credit report needs to be pursued after the above has taken place

- i don't believe there is an automatic mechanism to clear judgements

Anonymous · ‎10-16-2008

pez478 wrote:
Hello all. I was checking my boyfriend's credit report with him (he's considering buying a house within the next year), and we see that he has a civil claim judgment from March 2003. He was a minor at the time, and he said it was a restitution and then became a judgment. Apparently once he gets a receipt from the court saying he paid off the judgment (he owes $310 to an individual) and has a signed and notarized Satisfaction of Judgment from this individual, the loan officer can fax the receipt to the CRAs and get the judgment pulled right off his report. Is this true? I know nothing about how all this works, and we're trying to clean up his report. Sorry if this is confusing, and thanks for any info.

The loan officer can not, by law, do anything to his credit report. Unless, he gives her some type of power of attorney.

You can have the judgment updated to showing paid/satisfied.

If he owes an individual, he might ask them if they will agree to have the judgment vacated after he pays. But, he will have to file a motion to vacate and have a reason for vacating.

I am assuming that the individual sued him to get the judgment, right? If so, was he properly served? Check to see what the law on being serve is in your area.

Also, with him being a minor, check on the laws of being sued as a minor.

Anonymous · ‎10-16-2008

Demed, I dont' think you need a motion... you need to file a simple document called a "vacatur of judgment. It's one sheet, has to be signed by the other party and notarized, and then you file it with both the court from which the judgment was ordered, and the clerk that electronically reports the judgment to the CRAs. It's the county clerk in my state.

The tricky part is not the filing, it's the getting the other party to sign and notarize the document!! I wrote a good will kind of letter to the attorney that sued me, and they sent me the vacatur, but it was a special circumstance. The reason I had a big bill with their firm was something I couldn't ethically avoid, whether or not I could pay them, because it was about the safety of my kids (and they won the case.) I think if you are asking a CA to sign something because you defaulted on somethingless imperative, it might be harder, but it's worth a try.

Just remember, unless you can get a judgment vacated because of improper service or something, which is actually a good possibility if it's a CA, then they have you by the short hairs. You really have no leverage and are at their mercy. Which is why these boards advise that you do anything and everything not to get sued.

Anonymous · ‎10-16-2008

The process of vacating a judgment is likely to differ from state to state. When you filed that paper you got from the the other party, you made a motion to vacate.

As for the clerk who files with the CRA, I've not found a court yet that reports directly to the CRA.

There are companies that gather public record information and reports it to the CRA, not the courts.

likewise wrote:
Demed, I dont' think you need a motion... you need to file a simple document called a "vacatur of judgment. It's one sheet, has to be signed by the other party and notarized, and then you file it with both the court from which the judgment was ordered, and the clerk that electronically reports the judgment to the CRAs. It's the county clerk in my state.

The tricky part is not the filing, it's the getting the other party to sign and notarize the document!! I wrote a good will kind of letter to the attorney that sued me, and they sent me the vacatur, but it was a special circumstance. The reason I had a big bill with their firm was something I couldn't ethically avoid, whether or not I could pay them, because it was about the safety of my kids (and they won the case.) I think if you are asking a CA to sign something because you defaulted on somethingless imperative, it might be harder, but it's worth a try.

Just remember, unless you can get a judgment vacated because of improper service or something, which is actually a good possibility if it's a CA, then they have you by the short hairs. You really have no leverage and are at their mercy. Which is why these boards advise that you do anything and everything not to get sued.