topic Re: HELP!!!!!another...Judgement Question in Rebuilding Your Credit

HELP!!!!!another...Judgement Question

NikJ4 — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 04:17:41 GMT

What exactly does this mean?

NOTICE: YOU MUST SIGN AND FILE A "RELEASE OF JUDGMENT" FORM if and/or whenever the Defendant pays off the full judgment owed to you. A release form can be obtained at this office.

I have a judment and this was listed on the site for our county. Does this mean once it is paid, they will remove it from my credit report? Do I still need to get a motion to vacate? Also I am trying to contact the collection agency to see about doing a PFD.

It is for a credit card(Best Buy) which Palisades is collecting. Also, they still show the collection account as well as the judgement. Isnt that a double negative?

Message Edited by NikJ4 on 02-25-2010 10:17 PM

Re: HELP!!!!!another...Judgement Question

RobertEG — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 07:39:05 GMT

The simple answer is no.

What is being conveyed to you is simply that you have legally satisfied, to the satisfaction of the plaintiff/creditor, payment of the amount specified in the judgment.

Credit reporting is based on default/delinquency on payment on debt, and not on how it is finally paid.

It is a risk analysis of your likelihood of delinquency, not of your income, assets, or payment after the storm.

Civil judgments remain in your CR, under FCRA 605(a)(2), for 7 years from date of judgment.

Civil judgments can only be vacated by the court that issued the judgment. The court will normally grant such motions to vacate only if made by the prevailing plaintiff.

No, it is not a double negative. A collectiion is separate from a judgment. Both can co-exist.

Re: HELP!!!!!another...Judgement Question

Anonymous — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 09:06:43 GMT

@NikJ4 wrote:
What exactly does this mean?

NOTICE: YOU MUST SIGN AND FILE A "RELEASE OF JUDGMENT" FORM if and/or whenever the Defendant pays off the full judgment owed to you. A release form can be obtained at this office.

I have a judment and this was listed on the site for our county. Does this mean once it is paid, they will remove it from my credit report? Do I still need to get a motion to vacate? Also I am trying to contact the collection agency to see about doing a PFD.
It is for a credit card(Best Buy) which Palisades is collecting. Also, they still show the collection account as well as the judgement. Isnt that a double negative?
Message Edited by NikJ4 on 02-25-2010 10:17 PM

It means that once the judgment is paid they will have it marked as "satisfied," but that does not remove it from your credit report. The only way to have it removed from your credit report is for either the reporting time period to expire or for the court to vacate the judgment.

My understanding is that when the judgment is satisfied and you no longer owe the collection agency / judgment creditor, the CA trade line will be removed from your credit report.

Now, as far as as having the judgment vacated you need to understand that simply satisfying (i.e. paying) a judgment does not usually give grounds for having the judgment vacated in any but housing courts in select jurisdictions. Generally speaking, there are but a couple of dozen legally valid reasons why a judgment should be vacated and virtually all of them pertain to the original court lacking jurisdiction over the matter in one form or another. Ordinarily the judgment creditor, for obvious reasons, would never have justification for attacking the jurisdiction of the court which granted them the judgment in the first place.

That said, some courts are prone to overlooking legal grounds for vacating a judgment and doing you a "favor" by entertaining a Motion to Vacate once the judgment is satisfied. Again, in all but a very few instances, the court has absolutely no obligation to vacate a judgment for you.

The general process in filing a Motion to Vacate goes something like this: If you can convince the judgment creditor to file a Motion to Vacate for you, you've hit the lottery. Ordinarily, and for obvious reasons, it is the judgment debtor who files the motion along with documentation from the judgment creditor stating that they do not object or at least a commitment from the judgment creditor not to contest your motion. So, once you have the judgment satisfied, you file your Motion to Vacate hoping for no opposition from the judgment creditor and praying you've landed before a sympathetic judge. if and when the judge grants your motion, you can have the judgment removed from your credit report.

Re: HELP!!!!!another...Judgement Question

Anonymous — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 16:47:00 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:

The general process in filing a Motion to Vacate goes something like this: If you can convince the judgment creditor to file a Motion to Vacate for you, you've hit the lottery. Ordinarily, and for obvious reasons, it is the judgment debtor who files the motion along with documentation from the judgment creditor stating that they do not object or at least a commitment from the judgment creditor not to contest your motion. So, once you have the judgment satisfied, you file your Motion to Vacate hoping for no opposition from the judgment creditor and praying you've landed before a sympathetic judge. if and when the judge grants your motion, you can have the judgment removed from your credit report.

I am in the process of asking the creditor if they will file the motion to vacate. I really hope they agree. I sent a letter to both the lawyer, and the plantiff. I hope someone will respond! But if that doesn't happen, then how would I go about filing a motion to vacate without the creditors consent? If they object am I screwed?

Re: HELP!!!!!another...Judgement Question

NikJ4 — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 17:23:39 GMT

ok, so I called the county court here in my city where the judgement was filed. They will remove the judgement from your credit once judgement has been satisfied. It is a release of judgement. It has to be filed though. They just dont do it to be nice. I asked 500 different times. She said yes. I would just need to file a release of judgement. Cost $ to have it released and REMOVED from credit so that I am willing to pay.

Re: HELP!!!!!another...Judgement Question

Anonymous — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 00:13:07 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
The general process in filing a Motion to Vacate goes something like this: If you can convince the judgment creditor to file a Motion to Vacate for you, you've hit the lottery. Ordinarily, and for obvious reasons, it is the judgment debtor who files the motion along with documentation from the judgment creditor stating that they do not object or at least a commitment from the judgment creditor not to contest your motion. So, once you have the judgment satisfied, you file your Motion to Vacate hoping for no opposition from the judgment creditor and praying you've landed before a sympathetic judge. if and when the judge grants your motion, you can have the judgment removed from your credit report.
I am in the process of asking the creditor if they will file the motion to vacate. I really hope they agree. I sent a letter to both the lawyer, and the plantiff. I hope someone will respond! But if that doesn't happen, then how would I go about filing a motion to vacate without the creditors consent? If they object am I screwed?

Look at your state court website. Often they will have forms available. If they do not, you would have to go in to the court clerk's office and ask them. Many times they will not assist under fear of being sued for giving legal advice, but they can allow you to pull copies of past cases which involved a Motion to Vacate. Court records are almost always considered public records and open to anybody (a fee may apply).

Once you file your motion (there may or may not be a filing fee), you or the court may have to serve a copy on the judgment creditor depending on the jurisdiction. Assuming the judge is even willing to vacate a judgment without legal grounds, if the judgment creditor specifically objects then you might be out of luck. If they agree or do not repond at all, maybe you'll be ok.

I think asking the judgment creditor to file the motion and, of course, pay the filing fee is a bit selfish. I'd ask if they object, get it in writing and do it myself. That way you know it is done right.

Re: HELP!!!!!another...Judgement Question

Anonymous — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 00:20:08 GMT

@NikJ4 wrote:
ok, so I called the county court here in my city where the judgement was filed. They will remove the judgement from your credit once judgement has been satisfied. It is a release of judgement. It has to be filed though. They just dont do it to be nice. I asked 500 different times. She said yes. I would just need to file a release of judgement. Cost $ to have it released and REMOVED from credit so that I am willing to pay.

You need to be careful. In most jurisdictions a release is most definitely not the same as vacating a judgment. Here are a few definitions:

1. Satisfaction: paid; you paid an amount the judgment creditor deems sufficient to satisfy the full amount of the judgment.

2. Release: removal of a lien against property (usually real property) created by the judgment itself. This does not mean the judgment no longer exists. It simply means the lien created by the judgment has been withdrawn.

3. Vacated: the judgment has been expunged, erased, declared null & void; it is as if the judgment had never been granted in the first place.

It is virtually always #3 that gets the judgment off your credit reports and not #1 or #2.