So Frustrated! Unknown Judgement just showed up

[Dea9295]

I am so frustrated, and feel beaten down.  Some background, my husband died in August of 2013, my Mom in September 2013.  It was a bad year, and I had 2 strokes myself.  So, I worked my butt off to pay all my husbands medical bills off.  I have been in credit rebuild for the past 2 years, with all 3 FICO scores going from the 500s into the lower 700s, mostly due to the information found on this amazing forum.  I was feeling pretty darn proud of myself!  Today, I received notification from a Collections agency of a judgement on my husband's estate for over $8000 in medical bills!!  I live in Washington State, so community property law says I owe it.  I didn't know the bill existed, and certainly wasn't served on the court case. I am feeling seriously defeated.  The judgement hasn't shown up on any of my credit reports as of today, but I am assuming it will and is going to tank my scores.  I am going to try and get a loan to pay it off.  Do I see if I can settle it for a lesser amount or just pay it in full?  I have no idea what my options are at this point.  If I am able to pay it, will that stop it from showing on my reports?

[Brian_Earl_Spilner]

First, relax, judgements can't be reported anymore. Verify the judgement is legit by getting the details and looking it up at the court it was filed. If legit, set up a payment arrangement. You can't settle because it's court ordered. If they refuse to work with you on a payment plan, you can request a hearing to force them into one  good luck.

[silver_idle]

To add to @Brian_Earl_Spilner statement, look to see if you been served. This information is usually available at the court house (and if available, online at the court of clerks). If you dont see any information regarding a case between them and the estate of your husband, and/or you, then they be blowing smoke and could probably end up in trouble if they presented any papers to you about a judgement thats invalid, but if you do but you never were served properly, you can possibly look to have the judgement thrown out or to have the case brought back to court, which would give you a chance to get a settlement (you may want to contact an attorney for your options). I would also look into the statute of limitations and see if the suit occured outside the SOL and if so, you could easily bring that back to court and file (or have an attorney file) an motion to vacate summary judgement due to the suit occuring outside the SOL.

[Anonymous]

I got something like this about 4 months ago, and I decided to send a certified letter asking them to verify the debt (without claiming it as mine), they stopped and haven’t heard back.