Advice needed for tricky situation with judgement/closed account

[Anonymous]

I think I have a tricky situation with a judgement/closed account.  Midland held the debt (it's around $1000), and it's showing as a closed account on my cr.  Then Midland had their lawyers (Domion Law Associates) sue me and they got a judgement against me in May 2011.  BUT, for whatever reason the judgement isn't showing up on any of my credit reports.  That's odd, right?  It's been almost a year and still it hasn't shown up; a small miracle!  My cr is just showing the original closed account from Midland.

My question is, can I try to offer a PFD to Dominion, and ask them to have Midland delete the account from my cr if I pay in full?  What worries me is if I pay this in full, and Dominion then reports the judgement as paid, that perhaps it will actually be posted to my cr after all.  Am I right to be concerned about this?

Any advice on how I should approach this would be greatly appreciated.

[Booner72]

So you paid the account off, then they got a judgment? 

Do you owe any money on either the account or the judgment?

The only way to get the judgment removed is to have it VACATED.  Most of the time people do this because they were improperly served or other technicality.

Yes you are lucky that the judgment isn't reporting.  Collection agencies usually don't report judgments.  it's these contractor people that the CRA's hire to comb the courthouses for public records that report the judgments.  Have you gotten copies of the entire file?  Did you know it is common for lowlife CA's to say there is a judgment based on a case # but there really isn't a judgment when you go looking?  This could be your case.  I recommend you go get a copy of that file.  See what was done, when, and what actually is in your file.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the reply Booner.  To clarify, I haven't paid anything on this account yet at all.  I'm willing to do so, but want to make sure I don't make the situation worse.  So to recap, the original collection agency is showing this as a closed account (which doesn't make sense - I would figure it would show up as a collection account), and their 'law firm' claims they have a judgement against me.  I do believe them, as they just sent me a letter saying they may issue a summons for me to answers questions in court about my financial situation.

Any suggestions?

[Anonymous]

They probably don't have a judgment against you NOW, but will seek one.  If you're sued, and lose, then the plaintiff (law office, in this case) is awarded a judgment.  And, that will be recorded in your county records.  But, in order to be sued, you will need to receive notice.  If you haven't been "served" with notice, they don't have a judgment yet.  An officer of the court (policeman, processor, etc) will personally contact you, verify identity, and give you a notice of legal action.  You'll have a period of time to respond.  After your response, you will get a court date. DON'T BE A NO SHOW AT COURT, if you can't get the debt settled before you get a court date.  Then, they will get a default judgment against you

BUT, if you don't dispute the debt, and can pay it, check your county records to see if a judgment is actually on file against you.  If no judgments against you, check out this site for PFD letters to send to the law office.  Some of these debt collector law offices are low lifes, like Booner said, and will claim to have a judgment against you.  if you have not been personally served notice, you can win a lawsuit based on that fact.  But, I am not an attorney, just a former judgment debtor!  I'm sure someone with more legal knowledge will respond to your post.  Don't believe what the debt collectors tell you...you have a responsiblity to protect your credit!

[Anonymous]

Just to clarify, I found out they DO have a judgement against me, issued in May 2011.  I was living with roommates at the time, and what I think happened is that when the Sheriff taped the notice to my door, one of my roommates 'forgot' to give it to me.  So I'm out of luck with that issue.  So, if they have a judment, why is it also showing up as a closed account by the original creditor?

Also, yes, I do have the money to pay it off, but would like to do so in a manner that helps my credit, if possible.

[RobertEG]

If the OC with which the debt originated has sold the debt to the debt collector, then whatever derogs they reported on the OC account will remain in your CR.

Upon sale of the debt, the OC must update to show a $0 balance owed to them.  The OC is then done with the matter, and their reporting remains.

The purchasing debt collector can then report their collection of, in this case,their own debt.  Subsequent judgement for payment of the debt does not affect their reporting of the collection.  That is a legal determination of payment.  I share your question as to why the debt collector would then close their collection with the debt still unpaid, but that is their business.  Perhaps they feel no need to continue reporting anything on their collection once having secured a judgment.

Reporting of the judgment is entirely optional.  Courts dont usually report to the CRAs.  Once again, apparently the judgment debt collector could have reported, but apparently has chosen not to place the item in your credit file, most likely to avoid any FCRA disputes, etc.  Having the judgement, perhaps they just dont want any FCRA hassles, so have closed the collection.

Yes, as long as the judgment is in force, they can report it at a later time.  Perhaps, if they have trouble collecting it, as a means to put pressure on you.

If you were to PFD them on the collection itself, it would be wise to also include a condition that they agree not to later report the judgment.

Yes, you take some risk.  Knowing that CR deletion is important to you, which is what a PFD offer tells them, they might then decide to up the pressure by also adding the judgment to your CR.  They have a court order for you to pay, so might be less inclined to make concessions on terms of payment.

They can always go back to the judge and request a writ of exection of the judgment, which would set court-ordered terms for its payment, such as wage garnishment.

I dont see you as being in the driver's seat on this one.

[Anonymous]

Robert,  thanks for the response.  I don't think that the OC sold the debt to Dominion Law Associates, because on my CR is shows up under the OC for the full amount as past due as of 1/2012 (as opposed to showing a zero balance if they sold it to Dominion.)  Does that make any sense?

**UPDATE**  I spoke with Dominion Law Associates who informed me that Midlan still owns the debt, and that they only represent them.  That would seem to make sense since my CR shows the full amount on the Midland Account.  In light of this info, does anyone think I might have luck with a pfd regarding getting Midland to remove the account from my CR?