Judgement! Should this be mine???

[ktlo]

Hello there. (I originally posted this elsewhere, but thought it may be better here. sorry for the double post.)

First off. I have what I would consider excellent credit. Unfortunately what I think is excellent is not reflected in my FICO score!! Inagine that. I have never had a late payment or any derrogatory marks on my CR. It is perfect in that manner. However, I do have high balances on credit cards and lots of credit. I own my own company as a Sole Proprietor so a lot of this credit is due to my company. Such as buying equipment etc.

Now, here's where it gets tricky for me. Just recently had a judgment reported on my CR. We own a trucking company. There was a traffic accident with one of our trucks. It went to our Insurance company and they denied the claim stating that it was less than 50% if not at all our fault. So they didn't pay. Then the guy takes our insurance to arbitration. Again, our insurance company wins and doesn't pay.

Then the guy takes us personally to small claims. We are served by the sherriff. Court date listed and all. It says that we can request a date change. We made the request as I was going to be out of town as this was during our business time of year for trucking.

We never hear back from the court and never hear back. Finally I call the small claims court as a few months have gone by and they tell me that they had our wrong address and that the date change denial letter was returned as undeliverable. The guy went to court, we didn't show, and he won. The court had mailed the date change denial to our physical street address. WE DO NOT RECEIVE ANY MAIL HERE. We live in the boonies and only have a PO BOX.

Anyway, to the point. Now our insurance co. is involved again and since we haven't paid the have a public protection obligation to pay called P.U.C. So they have to pay it and then will come after us to pay them.

Here's my question? If I let the insurance pay the claim, can the judgement still be on my personal credit report? Wouldn't they have to remove it since we did not pay the plaintiff a totally different party did???

My credit score has dropped from nearly 700 to 575 and this is really screwing with my business. Also, how many inquiries are too many and how can I get them removed. I think this is hurting quite a bit too since my business requires lots of buying and selling of equipment. We are also in the Excavation business as well as trucking.

Sorry so long, I sure hope someone has some advice on the judgement. That has got to come off.

P.S. I live in OREGON

Thanks a ton.

[chincheck]

See my reply to your other post

http://www.debt-consolidation-credit-repair-service.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=29956&highlight=

[breathing_easier]

Welcome to the CIC, ktlo.

The court had mailed the date change denial to our physical street address. WE DO NOT RECEIVE ANY MAIL HERE. We live in the boonies and only have a PO BOX.

Did you make this clear in your letter to the court?

Here's my question? If I let the insurance pay the claim, can the judgement still be on my personal credit report? Wouldn't they have to remove it since we did not pay the plaintiff a totally different party did???

Unfortunately, since you are the named defendant and the judgment was issued against you, then the court was not wrong in reporting it as yours to the CRAs.

You will see a "Vacating Judgments" link at the top of this page. Read everything under that link for some very useful information. Since the date change denial letter was sent to the wrong address by the court, and if you made your proper address known to the court in your date change request letter, then you may have grounds for having the judgment vacated.

Just a gentle word to the wise (and this is addressed to everyone who is involved in a court proceeding, not just ktlo). Whenever you are involved in a court proceeding it is best to check on the status of the case on a regular basis, e.g. once a week. Just because you haven't heard from the court or the plaintiff doesn't mean that nothing is going on. Especially if you're the defendant you have the most to lose and so you must be proactive. Being sued is upsetting and more than a little scary sometimes, but "ignorance is bliss" definitely doesn't apply to court cases, especially if you're the defendant! Not criticizing anyone, just trying to be helpful.