Will paying old judgment now keep them on my credit 7 more years?

[Elrey26]

Ok, so here's the deal: I have an old debt about to fall off my report next month. However, the OC got a summary judgment against me about 4 years ago. If I satisfy the judgment now will it keep the listing for both the OC and the judgment for 7 more years? I'm trying to fix my credit and I want to do the right thing, but I'm worried that by trying to fix the problem I may do further damage to my credit score... Please help...

[nascar]

If I satisfy the judgment now will it keep the listing for both the OC and the judgment for 7 more years?...

no

[isislc]

Ok, so here's the deal: I have an old debt about to fall off my report next month. However, the OC got a summary judgment against me about 4 years ago. If I satisfy the judgment now will it keep the listing for both the OC and the judgment for 7 more years? I'm trying to fix my credit and I want to do the right thing, but I'm worried that by trying to fix the problem I may do further damage to my credit score... Please help...

No, it won't. Judgments usually fall off your CR 7-7.5 years from filing date. The only exceptions are judgments that are renewable, Tax/child support Liens, and BKs.

[flacorps]

It's not a cut and dried subject.

If you record a satisfaction of judgment, you will have a likelihood that it will be picked up by the companies that gather the info for the CRAs and the judgment on your reports will appear "paid" and because it's no longer a negative entry, they can leave it on there ... typically another 7 years, just like they do with paid tax liens.

However, paid judgments are considered fairly susceptible to a round or two of disputes.

Provided you can wait for the unpaid judgment to fall off at the 7 year mark, a potentially more clever way to handle the situation is to obtain the satisfaction and pocket it (get several originals, make sure they are spread around in multiple safe places as a safety measure against fire and what-have-you). If you need to show it in order to effect some transaction, you can do that. If you need to actually record it in the future for some reason, you can do that too.

Where that can go wrong is if the CRAs abandon their practice of leaving judgments on consumer reports for only 7 years (by federal law they can leave a judgment on as long as the judgment is still good, but they don't do that).

In Florida, the common view is that judgments are good for 20 years. That view is questionable (possibly it's forever, but that hasn't been tested and is probably wrong), and for some very arcane reasons it's possible judgments go dormant after only one year, but that hasn't been tested either.

http://www.floridabar.org/DIVCOM/JN/JNJournal01.nsf/76d28aa8f2ee03e185256aa9005d8d9a/079d4a7ab47ebb2b85257029006f2e54?OpenDocument

[admin]

The answer is simple, per the FCRA, a judgment stays on your credit report 7 years after it was entered, paid or not.

However, the judgment is still out there and holder of the judgment can still sue you.

[flacorps]

The answer is simple, per the FCRA, a judgment stays on your credit report 7 years after it was entered, paid or not.

That turns out not to be the case:

§ 605. Requirements relating to information contained in consumer reports [15 U.S.C. § 1681c]

(a) Information excluded from consumer reports. Except as authorized under subsection ( of this section, no consumer reporting agency may make any consumer report containing any of the following items of information:

...

(2) Civil suits, civil judgments, and records of arrest that 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.

...

(5) Any other adverse item of information, other than records of convictions of crimes which antedates the report by more than seven years.1

The latter provision is how the satisfaction can stay on an additional 7 years.

However, the judgment is still out there and holder of the judgment can still sue you.

The holder of a judgment has already sued you (or stands in the shoes of someone who already sued you). There is no need to sue again, except to renew, domesticate elsewhere under the UEFJA, or to pursue some sort of extraordinary remedy such as replevin to take your car or proceedings supplemental to drag an asset back from someone to whom the debtor has fraudulently transferred it, or to garnish wages from an employer (it's the employer that the judgment creditor sues).

Many remedies (such as liens on real and personal property and executions thereon) are not in the nature of new actions ... they are in the nature of executions carried out by sheriffs or other officials.

[Elrey26]

I just want to thank everyone that took the time to reply to my question. I feel I can take care of this now. Big thanks everyone!

[admin]

flacorps;,

oop - I just noticed that slip up. Yes, a judgment means you've already been sued. I mean collect it, go after your bank account, etc.

[flacorps]

flacorps;,

oop - I just noticed that slip up. Yes, a judgment means you've already been sued. I mean collect it, go after your bank account, etc.

But just look how sloppy I was in post #4 when I said:

...because it's no longer a negative entry, they can leave it on there ...

When 605(a)(5) was the actual answer to why a satisfaction (or payoff of a tax lien) could stay on for 7 years. It's a new piece of "adverse" information (despite the fact that it's actually good news) ... perhaps they reach that conclusion because they assume that a fair chunk of change has left your pocket and affected your asset base.