Jugement vs Collection Agency

[Anonymous]

Good Morning,

My credit report is getting to be in a "happy place", but I need assistance on the last item (saving the best for last kind of thing).

I have a judgement in the amount of 1506.02  - searched for the exact amount on the website that the county offers. Filed on is 4/2004 (Doesn't show up on CR as a judgement - date of default was 3/2004).

The collection agency is reporting for the same debt in the amount of 2604 - DOFD is 5/2004 and shows up as a collection.

My question is...do I pay the court or the CA? I'm 100% unsure of how to proceed.

[Anonymous]

It sounds like your account may have been bought by the CA and interest is accruing.  You'll first want to contact the court and get a copy of the judgment (there may be a fee for this).  All the judgment does is validates that the debt is yours and opens the way for garnishment.  Unfortunatley you cannot PDF a judgement. 

You would next want to DV the Collection agency.  If they return verification, then I would suggest a PFD letter.  I would start with the original debt amount on the judgment.  Once a judgement has been satisfied (paid in full), the entity holding the debt needs to submit a "Satisfaction of Judgment" to the court.  This would need to be a condition of your payment.

It sounds like the judgement has not been picked up by the CRAs yet.  It may never.  I believe they remain on for 7 years, however, the judgement never goes away.  It remains enforcable until paid.   It can also come up in a local records check, which some lenders do in addition to pulling CRs.  You could wait until the line falls off in May 2011, hoping that they don't sell and reage it or file for garnishment before then.

Since it's a relatively small amount, I would suggest paying it.  There is also a chance that they will attempt to attach your tax return.

[RobertEG]

No, you dont pay the court.,  Theri judgment was for payment to the creditor.  You pay the creditor, and then if paid, get a release of juggment based on complyig with the terms of payment.

Upon payment of the debt, that does not mandate any deletion of anything from your CR.

FICO does not care about payment of debt.  it cares about derogs along the path.

The judgemetn will remain for 7years from date of entry.  FCRA 605(a)(2).

The collection will remain for 7 1/2 yers from the DOFD on the OC account upon which the collection originated.

The court only enforces assertions for debt, it does not take payments on behalf of the involved parties.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

It sounds like your account may have been bought by the CA and interest is accruing.  You'll first want to contact the court and get a copy of the judgment (there may be a fee for this).  All the judgment does is validates that the debt is yours and opens the way for garnishment.  Unfortunatley you cannot PDF a judgement. 

You would next want to DV the Collection agency.  If they return verification, then I would suggest a PFD letter.  I would start with the original debt amount on the judgment.  Once a judgement has been satisfied (paid in full), the entity holding the debt needs to submit a "Satisfaction of Judgment" to the court.  This would need to be a condition of your payment.

It sounds like the judgement has not been picked up by the CRAs yet.  It may never.  I believe they remain on for 7 years, however, the judgement never goes away.  It remains enforcable until paid.   It can also come up in a local records check, which some lenders do in addition to pulling CRs.  You could wait until the line falls off in May 2011, hoping that they don't sell and reage it or file for garnishment before then.

Since it's a relatively small amount, I would suggest paying it.  There is also a chance that they will attempt to attach your tax return.

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Not true.

Judgments most certainly do have a statute of limitations on enforcement. 

While debts never die, judgments do.