Hi Everybody,
Appreciate the help from the community.
On my credit report I have a negative item (collection). This stems from co-signing an apartment lease for my sister-in-law in California. I live in NJ. She broke the lease and did not pay any fees. Subsequently they went to court, I didn't receive any paperwork, and they filed a judgement against her and me. My sister-in-law didn't help with this which is a totally another issue.
Since then, the amount $4500 was given to IC Systems to collect. They actually provided all the judgement information to me via fax.
I got a lawyer in California which stated the case would cost considerable money to reopen and preferred contacting the management company. He was able to negotiate a reduced satisfaction of judgement for me specifically.
My question is that currently, my credit took a hit of 60pts with the negative item (collection). I have seen in the forums that satisfaction of judgements will decrease your credit score also.
Should I pay the reduced amount, then send a GW to the court to attempt a removal of the judgement from my records. Any help or advice is appreciated.
