UPDATED: HELP-2 judgments from same apartment

[Anonymous]

You just need to call that court and ask them. They would have sent a copy of the judgment to you at the address they had for you at the time. It might be a small fee, but they'll likely be willing to mail the judgments to you. They usually wouldn't include much other information, about service of the court notice or anything, but they might be willin to if you are polite.

For a judgment, it's up to each creditor to decide if they want to settle for a smaller amount. I've found it's generally more difficult to settle these, as the chances of being able to recoup the money through a garnishment or a lien is now only a matter of then finding out where you work, who you bank with, or putting a lien on any property you might own or buy (within the SOL, of course).

[novabama]

It's odd to me that they haven't garnished anything after 5 years. I've been at the same job for almost 2 years and a year and a half at the one prior. So it seems like I'm just going to have to suck it up, pay this and it's going to be on my credit as satisfied for two more years?

[Anonymous]

Probably so. If you have a little spare cash, they may be willing to settle. And usually judgments and other public records can be on your report for 10 years. 

[novabama]

BUMP

I got the copy of the court papers today, they were willing to fax them to me. Do you mind if I ask what state you were in? Mine were in Virginia. Scott, could you possibly PM me about this, so I can find out what you did to have one of the judgements removed from your CR? 

Based on what I can tell from the Case Papers, the first court date was 6/11/2007 (the date of the first judgment on my CR). This was for late rent and fees and to get me "evicted" (although I had already been in Alabama at this point. Which sucks because apparently in VA they only have to leave the summons on your door if no one answers?! Which was the place I was already moved out of!). Then it appears it was continued to 9/10/07 (the date of the second judgment on my CR).

This is what the second dated court doc says if this helps:

NOTICE AND MOTION TO AMEND SUMMONS FOR UNLAWFUL DETAINER

TAKE NOTICE that on September 10, 2007 at 9:00 am, I shall move to amend the Summons for Unlawful Detainer pending against the defendant to increase the principal balance to $1662.59, an additional $857.58 in final rent and damages; and further move to increase attorneys fees to 435.65.

CERTIFICATE

I hereby certify that a true copy of the foregoing Notice and Motion was mailed by first class mail, postage prepaid this August 8, 2007 to Holly Bagwell, at ______(the apartment address I was "EVICTED" from the month before. 

QUESTIONS:

1 How can they have expected me to have received this "amendment" if they sent it to the place they evicted me from?!

2 Shouldn't the first judgment and amount have just been amended like they said in the notice?? 

[Anonymous]

Some courts do allow service by (what they call in Georgia) "tack and nail" at the person's address, particularly for evictions. Judges don't really like to, but as you can imagine, people will try to avoid service in hopes that they can prevent a judgment against them.

Yes, it appears that you do only have one judgment. I would call the court and clarify that you have ONE judgment, an amended default judgment, and then ask what steps they recommend to have the first judgment listed on your credit removed. Don't expect BIG help, they aren't usually overly knowledgeable about CRAs. Try calling one of the CRAs to dispute and explain that the second judgment is actually an amended judgment and ask what documents you need to have it listed properly so that it is reporting correctly.

[Shogun]

+1  Get all your paperwork together and see if you can satisfy this.   Judgements can hang around for a long time!

Edited cause once again clicked post before I typed anything.