Help Judgement/execution Solomon and Soloman/ Capital One

[Anonymous]

Help! I have an old Capital One Account from 2001, DOA is 2002 or 2003. Solomon and Solomon bought the account and over this past summer filed a judgement against me, however I never got served and never even got notified to go to court.

Once I got notice of the judgement, I immediately went up to the court and filed to vacate. The judge did allow and I entered into a payment plan which I am ashamed to say that I did not keep, however I did make a $400.00 payment on the day I went to court. The total account was $1735.00. The attorney put down for another court date on 12/4/08 to review.

I get in today' s mail a letter from Solomon and Solomon requesting that the court remove the hearing date and issue an execution since there are no payment review dates. Though, I was relieved not to go back to court I did not know what an execution is. I called the court and they explained that they could file a lien against my property etc...( I do not have any). However, it is complicated because, they can not issue an execution as the judgement is vacated. So the court is contacting the attorney to find out what they want to do. They themselves do not know what to do, but indicate it needs to be straightened out.  I contacted Solomon and Solomon and of course no one is really working today, but they did indicate that the account is now $2600.00 AFTER MY PAYMENT. However court papers show that I owe $1735.00 which is the amount filed on the payment plan.

So after all this confusion my question is, that since I already filed and received a vacate of judgement, can they turn around and file the judgement again? I am afraid that the judge will be annoyed that I have not made more payments but since it is right before Christmas now I can not go into court next week with a hefty payment .(single mom three kids). Also can they increase the balance after the court date if there were no further legal costs incurred? I am sooo confused.

I would not be so frantic about this but I am going to be buying a house early next year, I have been working on my credit since the summer and have got my scores form the 400's into the 600's and am afraid a recent judgement will send my scores plummeting down. Does anyone know how much a recent judgement will impact my score? Will my score improve if the judgement goes on but it is paid in full? Currently the collection for this account is reported only on my Eq report, I am wondering if a judgement gets reported by who the collection agency reports to or the court?

Any and all help would be apprectiated :-).

[Anonymous]

Ok, you really likely need to consult a consumer law attorney, but I will answer some of your questions.

The first thing you need to do is find out your state's SOL on CC debt. Then you need to find out what resets SOL.

For some states, only a written agreement will reset it and for some states, once it is completely expired nothing will reset it, other states just making a payment will reset it.

Check the link in my signature titled "State Resources".

As for how much a judgment will impact your score.....no clue but I would guess it would have a significant impact.

To my knowledge, a paid judgment will not have any less effect on your score as an unpaid judgment, but will look better in a manual review. However, I could be wrong on this part.

As for them adding to the balance, check your state laws as to what can be added.

Usually, a 3rd party company reports the judgments and other public records to the CRA, not the courts or the CA.

[Anonymous]

Thank You. I plan to consult a lawyer today after a frustrating day on the phone yesterday with the court and the law office. At this point, I know it is not going to go away and I need to get it taken care of. I called the law firm yesterday and first inquired about a settlement which they indicated to settle would be $1800.00 which did not appear reasonable to me as the original debt was $300.00, so I was going to agree to a payment plan which would have it paid off by next month, however after a lenghty conversation with them on the phone, they indicated that by entering into a payment plan, this would then be entering into a judgement agreement with the court? The lady at the court indicated I needed to file an answer and the case would be set up for a status conference. I am just so confused, I want to get this taken care of but do not want it to end up as a judgement on my credit report. So at this point, this is way over my head and I am going to consult an attorney who I am hoping can negotiate a better settlement with these people and I can just pay it.

[Anonymous]

I think that what they've offered you is a "consent judgment" (or at least that's what we call it in NY and TN).  Yes, it's a payment plan, but it is also a judgment that you consented to when you set up the payment plan.  Sounds like they don't want a payment plan from you without the judgment.

My advice to you is to meet your deadlines for answering, attend status conferences, etc.  But do everything in your power to pay this off as soon as possible.  You can walk in with a check to the status conference and still avoid the judgment.  The purpose of the judgment is to make you pay--no need for it if you've paid.

You may be able to use the status conference as a settlement conference, especially in light of your prior payment.  Definitely talk to a lawyer--those settlement negotiations will go very quickly with a lawyer.  Good luck!