How long can a 3rd Party collector keep a Judgement?

[Anonymous]

Bonneville Collections has a judgment for about $4000 on a car that was voluntary repossessed in August of 2010. The Last payment to the original creditor was Apr 2010 then May showed 30 days delinquent. So is it 7 years from one of these dates or 7 years from the date of the Judgement which wasn't until January 2015 that it should be removed from my report.  I haven't paid any money to the 3rd party ever.

[gdale6]

Welcome to the board

Judgments run from the date they are granted, 7 years so if in 2015 removal would be in 2022 unless you get the court to vacate it then it can be removed immediately. I would be setting the judgment as they can pretty much be renewed forever even though they can only make one 7 year run on your CR.

[RobertEG]

While the CRAs dont typically enforce the extended exclusion provision for unpaid judgments, FCRA 605(a)(2) sets the exclusion date for a judgment as the LATER of 7 years from the date of entry of the judgment, or until the expiration of the period of enforceability of the judgment.

Most judgments have an initial period of enforceability of ten years from date of entry, with the ability to extend for additional periods.

Thus, an unpaid judgment that remains enforceable could have an exclusion date that extends until paid.

The CRAs apparently dont atttempt to monitor whether a given judgment remains enforceable, and thus normally will exclude based only on the 7 years from date of entry provision.  However, it is permissible for an unpaid judgment not to become excluded if it remains unpaid and enforceable.

As for how long a 3rd party collector can "keep a judgment", the answer is as long as it remains enforceable.  Credit report exclusion by a CRA does not terminate the enforceability of a judgment.  The prevailing plaintiff can still pursue court-ordered satisfaction by way of attachment of assets or garnishment of pay, regardless of credit report exclusion.