Attempted garnishment gone?

[Anonymous]

In 2002 I had a credit card I racked up $900 on. I paid it off but have no proof of that now. Around 2009 I received a letter from a collection company stating they were going to garnish mine and my husband's joint checking account. I read online that I must have received a court order to appear for them to be able to garnish, yet I never received anything.

Regardless, we quickly removed me from the account and they of course didn't touch the money (technically my husband's income as I was a stay at home mom, though I know it was considered my money, too until we removed me). The bank did notify us of their attempt to garnish but the bank denied it since I was no longer on the account. Though it's been difficult, I've avoided a bank account since then for fear of a garnishment. The agency said I owed $3k. We didn't have the ability to pay, nor the ability to get a lawyer to fight it.

Today I pulled my credit report and was stunned to see this judgment not on there (equifax and transunion). I do have a low score due to a closed cc from years ago, and no other credit. But I can't find one hint of this judgment/collection.

I'm so confused. I thought a judgment stayed on permanently until paid? I'm in Oregon if that helps.

Thank you in advance.

[Anonymous]

Also, to be clear, this was on my report last year when I pulled it.

[RobertEG]

FCRA 605(a)(2) permits a judgment to remain until the later of either 7 years from date of the judgment or until expiration of the statutory period of enforceability of the judgment.  Yes, that means than an unpaid judgment can remain as long as the judgment remains enforceable, which is usually 10 years, but extendable.

That could theoretically be until it is paid.

However, anecdotal postings seem to indicate that the CRAs do not attempt to monitor continued endorceability of a judgement in their evaluation of when to exclude, and will often exclude based only on the expiration of the 7 year period from date of entry of the judgment.

Perhaps others who have had excluded judgments would share their experiences.  However, the fact remains that the CRAs do have the abiliity to delay exclusion of unpaid judgments past the 7 year period.

[EAJuggalo]

I got hit with a garnishment order about 3 years after the judgement was removed from the CR.  If a new job or bank account gets put on your report they will try again.  If you're a homemaker with no bank account you are in a perfect position to leverage negotiations for a lesser amount.  They don't have any real ability to get anything from you otherwise.

[Anonymous]

I'm in Oregon. The creditor has 10 years to collect on their judgment, and can renew it again for another 10 years prior to it expiring the 1st time. So technically they can collect on that judgment for 20 years if they are on top of it. I would call the court where they filed and ask them if the judgment is still valid. The court is the one who reports the judgments to the credit report not the creditor. They can give you more information.