Paid judgement reporting as judgement filed??

[teacherofec]

I have a judgement that was filed in jan. 04 it was paid in Jun of 04. I noticed that EX and EQ are reporting it as judgement filed status is blank. I sent them a letter from the plaintiff stating that it had been paid in full and a copy of the escrow closing statment showing it was paid but they just keep coming back with varifed as reporting correctly. I am trying to clean up my credit to get a mortgage so if anybody has some suggestions about how to get this corrected would be greatly appreciated. thanks

[MaxedOut]

Talk to the lawyer that filed it and find out if s/he can file a "Motion to Vacate". If both of the parties agree (don't know why they wouldn't if they got their money), the judge should have no problem vacating it. Then you will need to dispute it with the CRA's as "dismissed" or "vacated" as they will not automatically update the info. You may even need to send in the paperwork proving proof as well (I had to for one of the CRA's)

At least that is the way I did it. I called the lawyer that filed it, he told me if his client agrees, then he will do it. His client agreed, he filed, and less than a month later it was off my report. That was in WA though. Not sure of the process in your own state, but im fairly certain it is similar.

[liverichly]

I'd tell the court house which is reporting the judgment to tell them that they need to report it correctly to the CRA's. It won't matter how it is reported when you qualify for a mortgage as long as you have the judgment satisfaction (the letter from the plaintiff or the plaintiff's attorney).

[MaxedOut]

The CRA's are most likely reporting it correctly. The judgment has probably never been updated and I do not know this for sure, but I think the Plaintiff or their attorney need to have it changed to satisfied. Once that is done, you shouldn't have too much trouble getting it updated by disputing with the CRA's.

AFAIK, the court houses themselves do not report the Judgments. It is all public info and easily found online if you know where to look. I know there are companies out there that search for this info and get it reported. It may be the CA's that do it, or perhaps the CRA's have their own people who search for this stuff (I would not put it past them), who knows. Either way, call the court house and find out for sure if it is satisfied or what needs to be done in order to get the judgment satisfied.

I still think it would be best to try and get it vacated first though. Your credit will be so much better if it is removed rather than just updated to satisfied, you know? Having it satisfied may help you get approved, but the score increase could really lower those payments

[momof5]

First off, courthouses don't report to CRAs. There places like Lexis Nexus that scour court records and do the reporting for them. That being said:

I had a similar issue. I found out from the clerk that it is up to the atty who got the judgment to report when it has been paid. This atty did nothing about it. I called his office (early repair days ) and he said he was not going to report it paid. Well, state law said he had to! I reported him to the state bar association and wrote a letter to the judge.

Don't know who did what.....but the next thing I know....it is gone.

[kb9tbq]

You need to go to the court house get a copy of the release. If it is not on file then you need to tell the creditor to file it with the court house. Once that is accomplished then get a copy and forward it to the credit reporting agency.

Tell them the dispute is in connection with a mortgage loan and you are requesting that they rush processing. (sometimes they can move as fast as 2 weeks instead of waiting 30 days).

Let the credit reporting agency know the name of the mortgage lender, and that you instruct them to forward an updated copy of your credit report to them when the judgment listing is corrected.

[teacherofec]

This was a small claims judgement. Does the plaintiff have to file something in court? We refinanced our current home and I recieved from the loan agent a letter from the plaintiff saying that it was paid in full and that is it. He has agreed to take it off but I think he doesn't know any more than we do about the process. thanks for any help on this

[kb9tbq]

The plaintiff is suppose to go to the court house and complete a release form sometimes they forget to do that, but you got to ride them about it and make sure they release it.

[Ahntara]

Judgments, being legal actions, need a legal disposition. "Paid" is not a disposition, so when you dispute, it comes back verified - as it should.

The proper dispositions for judgments are: Satisfaction of Judgment and Order to Vacate Judgment.

Obtaining the first will add the dispostition to your CR and the judgment will appear (all tied up with it's little ribbon showing that it will cause no further problems) for 7 years. Obtaining the latter will allow you to begin the fight to get the entire listing removed from your CR, definitely the better option. Since it's been paid, I suggest following that advice and seeing if you can actually get the thing removed as a Vacated Public Record.

Judgments are a big deal in the world of Real Estate. Their recording in Public Records attaches them to any property you own, which may cloud title. No lender (who secures their loan to you by liening title) is going to want someone else on board, just in case they have to foreclose. So, even if this didn't appear on your CR, it would still need to be addressed.

In some states, it's legally required for the plaintiff to obtain a disposition upon PIF (NJ). You may wish to check your states statutes to see if that applies. {again, I'd suggest going for the Vacate first} Consumers can often easily obtain the Satisfaction for themselves, by following proper procedure, using proper forms and filing with the court. The Clerk of Courts may be able to advise you. Just be sure to get whatever disposition you DO obtain RECORDED. This typically involves paying a small fee to the Recording Division/Department at the courthouse.

[teacherofec]

I did a search on line for the county that the judgment was filed and found a form that says Declaration for motion to vacate(cancel) judgment. Now if the plaintiff did not ever file it satisfied and has only given us a letter on his letterhead stating that it has been paid in full, is this the correct form? I have to have it mailed by the court clerk to the plaintiff giving him the opportunity to appear at a hearing but I don't think he would want to fool with it so I think that would be ok. However, it asks for a reason and I just typed Paid date and amount. I read here some where that the reason has to be a matter of law? So do I need to put some other reason to get the court to vacate?

[MaxedOut]

However, it asks for a reason and I just typed Paid date and amount. I read here some where that the reason has to be a matter of law? So do I need to put some other reason to get the court to vacate?

If you and the OC both agree to have it removed, that is grounds enough. You only need a good reason if you are fighting it, but in your case (and mine) the judgment has been paid. If you can get the OC to agree, the judge will see no reason not to. I imagine if it is paid, the OC wouldn't mind vacating.

Their Lawyer wrote out and filed mine... this is what it says:

----------------------------------------------------

page1

STIPULATED ORDER VACATING JUDGMENT

IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED by and between the parties as follows:

1. The above-referenced judgment entered January 24, 2005 has been satisfied and resolved;

2. Plaintiff and Defendant desire to have said Judgment vacated.

DATED this 13th day of September 2007.

----------------------------------------------------

page 2

THIS MATTER having come on regularly before the undersigned Court Commissioner of the above entitled court based upon the stipulation of the Parties, and the court having reviewed the records and files herein and being fully advised; NOW, THEREFORE, it is hereby

ORDERED, ADJUDGED, AND DECREED that the judgment entered January 24, 2005 is hereby vacated forthwith; and it is further

ORDERED, ADJUDGED, AND DECREED that this matter is dismissed without prejudice and without costs.

Done in open court this ___ day of September 2007.

----------------------------------------------------

Then I signed it, the attorney for Plaintiff signed it, and the Court Commissioner signed it. I didn't even need to do anything but sign the form and mail it back to the attorney. He did the rest.

Sorry if this doesn't make sense... I just woke up!

[teacherofec]

Thanks Maxed out!! Wow I am so impressed by your scores I hope I can get in the 700's some day!!! Thanks again for all your help!!

[flacorps]

The plaintiff is suppose to go to the court house and complete a release form sometimes they forget to do that, but you got to ride them about it and make sure they release it.

That's entirely state-dependent.

Some states put the onus on the judgment creditor to prepare and file a satisfaction when they've been paid off. There are even penalties that can be imposed on them for failing to do so.

Other states leave the obtaining of a satisfaction to the debtor's wiles and diligence. A debtor who has paid up is clearly owed one, but if the debtor doesn't bother to get one, the judgment molders there on the records and the creditor faces no penalty for letting that happen.