How much impact does a judgement have on Fico score?

[Anonymous]

I had a default judgement awarded against me because I never received a summons to appear in court.  I never knew there was a judgement until I started monitoring my credit.  I was sued by a medical provider because my insurance failed to pay my claim even though I was fully covered.  SInce I had sent in all the paperwork that they requested and stopped being called by the medical provider, I thought it had been paid.  This is the only negative thing that appears in my credit score.  I've still  been trying to get my former insurance company to pay this claim.  Will my scores go up if I am able to get this judgment vacated?

[gamegrrl]

My credit reports are exactly the same across all three CRAs with one exception: I have a PAID default judgement on Transunion and Experian, but NOT on Equifax. Here is a bit of info on this public record:

Date Filed: 6/10/2009

Date Resolved: 3/7/2011

Status: Paid

Amount: $366

I won't go into all the details, but my situation was similar to yours.

My Equifax score (the one without the judgement showing) is 795. My other two scores (where the judgement IS showing) hover around 740/750. 

I've looked a lot into trying to get this judgement vacated. A lot. Apparently, one has a better chance of getting a paid judgement vacated in some states than in others.  In fact, I have an appointment with an attorney next week to put together a will, etc., and we're going to discuss his filing a Motion to Vacate for this. 

Ohio Rules of Civil Procedure states that the fact that this judgment is now paid is a valid reason to petition the court for relief from the judgment. Rule 60 (b) (4), which says: (4) the judgment has been satisfied, released or discharged, or a prior judgment upon which it is based has been reversed or otherwise vacated, or it is no longer equitable that the judgment should have prospective application

My scores are at a point where I'm not sure that this one thing really makes that much difference, but like you, it's the ONLY negative thing on those two reports, and it drives me crazy. I'd be happy to throw a couple hundred at it to make it go away, if I can, but that's just me.

[Anonymous]

My tax lien from March 2008 vanished from my TU report for some mysterious reason, and the score jumped from 719 to 791. Still in EX and EQ and those are at 715 and 718.

[tonyjones]

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@gamegrrl wrote:

My credit reports are exactly the same across all three CRAs with one exception: I have a PAID default judgement on Transunion and Experian, but NOT on Equifax. Here is a bit of info on this public record:

Date Filed: 6/10/2009

Date Resolved: 3/7/2011

Status: Paid

Amount: $366

I won't go into all the details, but my situation was similar to yours.

My Equifax score (the one without the judgement showing) is 795. My other two scores (where the judgement IS showing) hover around 740/750. 

I've looked a lot into trying to get this judgement vacated. A lot. Apparently, one has a better chance of getting a paid judgement vacated in some states than in others.  In fact, I have an appointment with an attorney next week to put together a will, etc., and we're going to discuss his filing a Motion to Vacate for this. 

Ohio Rules of Civil Procedure states that the fact that this judgment is now paid is a valid reason to petition the court for relief from the judgment. Rule 60 (b) (4), which says: (4) the judgment has been satisfied, released or discharged, or a prior judgment upon which it is based has been reversed or otherwise vacated, or it is no longer equitable that the judgment should have prospective application

My scores are at a point where I'm not sure that this one thing really makes that much difference, but like you, it's the ONLY negative thing on those two reports, and it drives me crazy. I'd be happy to throw a couple hundred at it to make it go away, if I can, but that's just me.

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wow with a Judgement on your CR you still have scores of 750/740, that's awesome! I thought it was impossible to break 700 with a baddie.