topic Re: HELP with recent Judgement in General Credit Topics

HELP with recent Judgement

angie23 — Sun, 08 May 2016 17:26:52 GMT

So my husband got a letter from a collection agency for a court date for an old Walmart credit card suing for like $600. We totally forgot about it! Yesterday in the mail he recieved a letter that the judgement was filed on May 3rd. Will this appear on his credit report? Is there anything I can do to keep it from reporting? I'm freaking out as he has great credit and do not want this reported! What should I do?!?!!

Re: HELP with recent Judgement

RobertEG — Sun, 08 May 2016 17:36:31 GMT

A judgment occurs once the court has heard the case and awarded to the plaintiff.

You appear to not yet have been to trial.

If you pay before the trial date, no judgment will be awarded.

Re: HELP with recent Judgement

angie23 — Sun, 08 May 2016 17:45:05 GMT

We did have a court date, we got something in the mail a couple months ago and just forgot about it, so we didn't go. I'm not sure what to do now.

Re: HELP with recent Judgement

RobertEG — Sun, 08 May 2016 18:07:05 GMT

If you had notice and failed to show, then they likely issued a default judgment.

It will likely appear in his credit report in a few months, once it is posted in the court public record and found by the CRA in their next search.

Re: HELP with recent Judgement

Anonymous — Sun, 08 May 2016 18:17:37 GMT

Re: HELP with recent Judgement

angie23 — Sun, 08 May 2016 23:12:25 GMT

Is there any way to avoid that from happening?

Re: HELP with recent Judgement

myjourney — Sun, 08 May 2016 23:19:34 GMT

@angie23 wrote:
Is there any way to avoid that from happening?

1st step

Offer a PFD

If successful then work on removing it from PR

Just be aware the amount has probably grown due to legal fees and filings now all associated with the judgement being granted

Re: HELP with recent Judgement

RonM21 — Mon, 09 May 2016 16:27:59 GMT

I'm with everyone else,.if you can find a way to pay it whether it be PFD or not before the court case, that would be the route to go.

Re: HELP with recent Judgement

StartingOver10 — Mon, 09 May 2016 18:14:01 GMT

The judgment has been issued. They had the court date and did not show up.

Best way to fix it now - pay it and get a Satisfaction of Judgment. The creditor is supposed to record it in the public records. If this is done right away, it may not show up on your credit report - but it will show as paid in the public records. This is important.

Re: HELP with recent Judgement

angie23 — Tue, 10 May 2016 17:51:30 GMT

Should we contact the creditor and see if they will settle? Or is that a slim chance since they won the judgement?

Re: HELP with recent Judgement

Anonymous — Tue, 10 May 2016 21:31:05 GMT

As someone who has gone through this before I'm pretty certain that you guys had to be aware that you were being served. Two of the times the local law enforcement officers chased me down to serve me with the paperwork so I really doubt that they would just send you letter without serving either you or your husband first. Maybe the laws in your state are different but in the state I live you have to be served by someone.

As for the reporting if you already missed the court date then you pretty much gave up your rights to fight the judgement and it will more than likely be filed against you in favor of the creditor At that point you can pay off the amount owed and they will just note the judgement as satisfied and it will drop off your husband's credit report in 7 years. I wish i had better news for you but I've had three of these and from everything I've read judgements they work differently than charge offs/collections so unless you can get the judge to vacate the judgement, you can't really get a PFD since it's a public record now.

Re: HELP with recent Judgement

Officer737 — Tue, 10 May 2016 22:35:48 GMT

It may post to his credit profile if the courts report them. Pay it off as soon as possible and then check your state's laws on motions for vacating a judgement. If your state permits it and the courts approve it, the judgement can be vacayed and removed from the history and the creit score will rebound.

Re: HELP with recent Judgement

StartingOver10 — Wed, 11 May 2016 12:00:20 GMT

@angie23 wrote:
Should we contact the creditor and see if they will settle? Or is that a slim chance since they won the judgement?

Judgements can be negotiated too, just like other debt. Make sure when you pay the negotiated amount that you get the Satisfaction when it is paid and that it is recorded in the public records so it can't come back to bite you down the road. It doesn't help you at all to pay it and not get a recorded Satisfaction. Judgements accrue interest at the statutory rate for your state, so look that up before you call so you have all of your information before you call. If you have been mortgage shopping it will work against you as the creditor can see the inq's and knows that you have to have it paid before you close so they stick to their guns (usually) when they see you need it paid off in order to get your mortgage approved.

Some states will vacate paid judgments. Not all. Check your state's statutes if they allow that. Otherwise the Satisfaction shows that it is paid.

Judgments last for a very long time. 10 years in some jurisdictions, and 20 years in others. They can be renewed for the same period if unpaid. This is one of those debts you want to take care of sooner rather than later.