Paid Judgment Battle

[tadmartin223]

Hey, all,

I've been trying to get a paid judgment off of my credit report for some time now. I'm in NY and I actually got a hold of the county clerk via E-mail to discuss the judgment being removed. Here is his E-mail back to me regarding my judgment. This E-mail is straight from Westchester County Clerk Leonard Spano. You may find it interesting and informative....

"Thank you for your recent e-mail. The five year rule is not applicable to court documents, it only applies to private industry reporting standards. New York State Law states that court documents are permanent with respect to docketing. The only way a file can be removed is through a court order. You will need to speak with the company who issued the credit history to discuss the five year rule. This office does not disseminate information to any person. Our records are public record and any person or business is free to review them"

Is this true? If I understand correctly, paid judgments will be removed after 5 years in NYS, correct? It sounds like he's saying that the 5 year rule does not apply.

[flythai834]

judgements remain on crs for 10 years, (not really sure where your getting the 5 year rule, never even heard of it), and in nys they can file an extension for another 10 years. I actually had amex file a judgment and win against me. For some reason it was on my crs a little over 5 years ago. But as of recent it is no where to be found on my reports and called the clerk over at the court and found out my file which had my judgment was sent to off-site storage. Guess, I'm in the clear for now, haven't paid it yet. why should i if its not reporting right? oh and btw, i live in ny, also, brooklyn.

[Robert Nashville/Savannah]

Court proceedings never "go away"...they are and remain public records forever.

What does change is whether they are actively reported to anybody and how long they can stay on your credit history...and as you've already been told, most public records such as judgments, bankruptcy, etc stay on for 10 years.

Now...you may be successful in getting such things removed from your credit histories if you are willing to be very persistent (and probably lie as well) but that's a matter of how important this is to you and your conscious.

[Recovering Attorney]

There is a law in the NYS GBL about paid judgments coming off your credit report. Essentially, it requires the CRAs ( or whoever reported the judgement in the first place) to go back from time to time and look at the file and if the judgment has been paid, delete it. It was intended to assist people who honor their obligations. It is one case where a local law trumps the FCRA.

What the County Clerk is saying is he can't change his records, which you really don't care about. It is how the judgment, now paid, is being reported, that concerns you.

I might get a trasncript from Spano showing the judgment satisfied, attach a copy of the GBL section, and write the CRAs and tell them they have to delete it.

How old is the judgment? When did you pay it off?

[tadmartin223]

One judgment was paid in 2003 and another most recently in July 2005. I have another being paid as we speak. Two judgements in question are from Westchester County DSS and one is from NYC Civil Court (grand larceny charge).

I will do that. By the way, what is GBL and where would I find this info? Thanks for the advice, Recovering....

[tadmartin223]

Ok, I found the GBLs and the sections about public records. But I'm quite confused about what section I should be sending to the CRAs. Here's what I found:

§ 380-g. Public record information. A consumer reporting agency which

compiles and reports items of information on consumers which are matters

of public record shall:

(a) at the time such public record information is reported to the user

of such consumer report, notify the consumer of the fact that public

record information is being reported by the consumer reporting agency,

together with the name and address of the person to whom such

information is being reported; or

( maintain reasonable procedures designed to insure that whenever

public record information is reported it is complete and up to date to

the extent practicable. It shall be deemed a reasonable procedure for a

consumer reporting agency to accurately report the status of public

record information as of the date recorded in its files provided such

information is updated on a regular basis.

© When conducting a reinvestigation as required by subdivision (a)

of section three hundred eighty-f of this article, a consumer reporting

agency shall promptly record and report the current status of the public

record.

[Recovering Attorney]

That's not the statute I was thinking of

[tadmartin223]

Well, please explain which one that you are... That is the only one I found. Thanks.

[hubbys_nightmare]

Try this site....may at least help you with Eq.

http://www.equifaxguide.com/credit-report/Equifax-credit-report.htm

[Recovering Attorney]

The section is General BUsiness Law 380-j(f)((1)(ii), which states in pertinent part:

(f) (1) Except as authorized under paragraph two of this subdivision,

no consumer reporting agency may make any consumer report containing any

of the following items of information.

(ii) judgements which, from date of entry, antedate the report by more

than seven years or until the governing statute of limitations has

expired, whichever is the longer period; or judgments which, from date

of entry, having been satisfied within a five year period from such

entry date, shall be removed from the report five years after such entry

date;

IN other words, if the judgment was entered in 2000 and paid in 2002, it should be removed ( by NYS law, not the FCRA) when it is paid, but no later than 2005.