Clarification of the term "vacate judgement"

[lymon]

I just discovered that there is a judgement recorded on my TU credit report. It is from 2000 and is due to a default being granted because my attny missed some fileing deadline. I cut my losses and paid the creditor after I was made aware of the judgement almost 7 years ago.

Can this be removed from a credit report? Is that what vacating a judgement means, or does it refer to reversing a judgement which has not been satisfied? Should there be some notation on the credit report that the judgement has been paid?

Thanks in advance.

[LadynRed]

If the judgment has been PAID, then you cannot now have it vacated. Vacating a judgment is the same as nullifying it, but you cannot do that once a judgment is paid. You need a letter of satisfaction from the judgment creditor saying it was paid in full and that must be filed with the court. It won't remove it from your reports, it'll just show a paid judgment.

[flacorps]

The satisfaction should reflect the date that the creditor received payment rather than the current date (although it will be attested to as of the current date). Making it clear that the monies were paid long ago will help get the judgment off your reports sooner.

Also, some states do have problematic nomenclature in that judgments are "vacated" when satisfied. Most states have a distinction however. The few with the confusing language make it difficult for those in other states to have vacated judgments entirely removed from their reports.