Offer to settle judgement?

[js0319]

My wife has a judgement from Citibank for a CC from over 4 years ago, and she was served in 2009. The current balance of the judgement is about $5200, and she has received an offer to settle the judgement for a little under $1500, or about 28% of the current balance. We want to pay so we can put this behind us, but how do we need to proceed so she can have the judgement vacated? Should we submit a written request for a MOV in exchange for the settlement amount? Would we be pushing our luck? We have until the end of July to pay. Any advice is appreciated.

[hdrider07]

Normally the attorney that got the judgment against you has to file a motion to vacate so that is something you would want to negotiate and get in writing before making payment. 

[RobertEG]

What are you referring to when asking if you should submit a written request for an MOV?

I see no issue of a dispute.  You can only ask, under the FCRA, for method of verification of the procedures used by a CRA in their reinvestigation of a dispute filed under FCRA 611(a).

If you are referencing a motion to vacate the judgment, that goes to the court, not the judgment plaintiff.

[golo]

I'll take the offer and run! I just settle one with a CU for 80%, by law they're entitle to the whole amount,you don't want to poke the tiger with a pencil..... 

[js0319]

I believe I got my acronyms mixed up last night when I wrote the original post. So, I will need to pay the attorney that is representing Citibank on behalf of the judgement, and then file a motion to vacate with the court - and this has nothing to do with the CA (or attorney in his case). Please correct me if I'm wrong.

[pizzadude]

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@js0319 wrote:
I believe I got my acronyms mixed up last night when I wrote the original post. So, I will need to pay the attorney that is representing Citibank on behalf of the judgement, and then file a motion to vacate with the court - and this has nothing to do with the CA (or attorney in his case). Please correct me if I'm wrong.

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As the defendant you may not have standing to file the motion to vacate ~ typically the plantiff can do this, so you could negotiate this as a condition of payment.

[Lilybuggy]

hi there, I don't know a whole lot about this area of law in general, but I have dealt with settlements in general.  you will not be poking a tiger by asking an attorney to put the settlement agreement in writing; they did this all the time.  i would just verbally agree to it but ask him/her to draw up a settlement agreement which basically says that you are paying x amount in exchange for their agreement to drop the suit/vacate judgment.  it is them that has to file to vacate judgment, not you. don't be afraid to ask them.  the worst they will say is no; it's not like they will revoke the offer just because you asked for it in writing; and by the way, if you are worried by any talks coming back to bite you, an offer/discussion of settlement cannot be used as evidence against you. in any case, I can't imagine why they wouldn't put in writing, unless, of course, they intend to come after you for more, in which case, why would you pay anyway?

[Anonymous]

Something I've seen mentioned in the forums is to offer a little more in settlement and to offer to cover the costs associated with filing the motion to vacate.  Legitimate attorney's making legitimate offers should have no reason to not put agreements in writing.  It's common practice in the legal field to get agreements in writing.