Old judgement...statute of limitations over after 10 years?

[Anonymous]

HI,

 I received a letter from a CA today offering to settle a very old account that had a judgement placed 11/00 in Virginia at the General District Court for 1/2 the collectable amount. Panicked, I looked online at the court records, and found only an old inactive judgement from District Court, dated 11/00 that I assume would have expired 11/10. 

Reading online, it looks as though the only way a creditor can issue a second judgement (which I don't see evidence of) after the statutes of limitations runs out (10 years) is to have filed an abstract of the the judgement in Circuit Court as well. The original amt was 750 bucks - now at 2000 I don't find my name online in the Circuit Court.

Do you think I still owe the judgement legally? 

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

HI,

 I received a letter from a CA today offering to settle a very old account that had a judgement placed 11/00 in Virginia at the General District Court for 1/2 the collectable amount. Panicked, I looked online at the court records, and found only an old inactive judgement from District Court, dated 11/00 that I assume would have expired 11/10. 

Reading online, it looks as though the only way a creditor can issue a second judgement (which I don't see evidence of) after the statutes of limitations runs out (10 years) is to have filed an abstract of the the judgement in Circuit Court as well. The original amt was 750 bucks - now at 2000 I don't find my name online in the Circuit Court.

Do you think I still owe the judgement legally? 

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Yes, you do owe the judgment.  The statute of limitations on enforcement of judgments does not erase the judgment, but only bars enforcement of the judgment itself.  As they always say, "Debts never die."

You are right that district court judgments are enforceable for ten years unless an abstract has been filed in circuit court.  Most judgment creditors fail to file an abstract and that is likely what happened in your case as well.  I would still contact the circuit court personally to verify that this has not been done since if the online results are inaccurate your judgment still has another thirty years to go.

[Anonymous]

Sounds like I should validate and negotiate/settle and get rid of it forever. Reading the forum, looks like I should get it in writing that the settlement brings the balance to 0. Is there anything else I should watch out for?

As I am trying to buy a house and get my credit in shape (and do the right thing). It's been quite a journey. I have learned so much. I wish I could go back about 15 years and kick the younger me in the rump. 

Thanks for your help!

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Sounds like I should validate and negotiate/settle and get rid of it forever. Reading the forum, looks like I should get it in writing that the settlement brings the balance to 0. Is there anything else I should watch out for?

As I am trying to buy a house and get my credit in shape (and do the right thing). It's been quite a journey. I have learned so much. I wish I could go back about 15 years and kick the younger me in the rump. 

Thanks for your help!

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First of all, when you find a way to get the kick in the rump part working, please let me know how to do it, too. 

When you pay off a judgment you need to get a notarized Satisfaction of Judgment.  This document ultimately gets filed with the courts and effectively renders the judgment dead.  In the vast majority of jurisdictions, the judgment creditor is responsible for filing this document with the court clerk within a certain period of time, but now that we are older and wiser we know that if you want something done right, many times it's better to do it ourselves.

You should also ask for a notarized General Release.  This effectively kills the debt upon which the judgment was based.  It will keep other collection agencies down the road from popping up and claiming you still owe money over the debt.

That said, CAs are notorious for being lazy scumbags and instead of a General Release they'll probably just want to send you an e-mail or, at most, a simple letter stating that the debt is considered paid-in-full.  Getting a GR out of them might be like pulling teeth and you have to figure if it is worth the effort or not.  If you decide not to bother with a GR, make sure you save any type of documentation they do give you and, if possible, record any phone calls where they say the debt is now paid off or at least make careful notes of the phone conversation.

A Satisfaction of Judgment, however, is something they are required by law to provide.  In almost every state the statutes require a judgment creditor to file with the court clerk a Satisfaction of Judgment within a certain period of time (usually 2 weeks) after demanded in writing by the judgment debtor.