Judgment question

[Anonymous]

DH has a judgment on his TU report.  The same judgment was on mine as well, but was deleted after the 1st round of disputes that my credit repair agency sent out.  I'm now through w/their program, and don't want to shell out $1,500 to them to clean up DHs reports, so I've been working on them myself (with MUCH success I might add!).

Anyway, I don't know how they got it off (it's NOT paid), but I'm looking for advise on how to handle DHs.  The construction company is no longer in business, so there's no one to negotiate with (there was no attorney, it was all handled through small claims court), who would I pay if I could, I was NEVER served (although the Abstract said I was, there is NO signature on it!)...

How should I proceed?

[Anonymous]

I would call the court and ask them how to proceed.

Every place is different.  Sometimes you pay the attorney, sometimes you pay the court itself, and then it's the court's responsibility to distribute the funds.

(also, I wouldn't ask too many questions about how they got it off the report--sounds shady.  But check with the court, maybe they were successful on a motion to vacate for service issues)

[JoeBJay20]

Public records are generally verified using a third party database, CRAs never go back to the OC or county courty were the record was filed to verify.  If you weren't properly served there may be grounds to pursue dismissal there.  I wouldn't recommend disputing it as it will more than likely be verified.  How old is it?  Judgments generally expire after 7 years, if the company is out of business, there would be no one there to file for a renewal. 

[Anonymous]

Did you go to court or was the judgement ordered by default?

[Anonymous]

Default...

[Anonymous]

Okay... I would definitely file a motion to vacate the default judgement with the original judge based on failure to obtain jurisdiction (improper service). Depending on your location and/or the time since the judgement was entered, it may be referred to a motion or petition and the county clerk may have a form for you or you may have to draw it up yourself. Either way, seeing as they are no longer in business, more than likely they will not appear and then you will receive your order to vacate by default.