tracys3sons Posted February 14, 2015 Report Share Posted February 14, 2015 I'm new to this forum but not to credit repair. I managed to clean up our reports 12 years ago so we could buy a home. Long story short, we didn't learn and they're now a mess again. It's all relatively old, 5 years or so. Many charge offs and some paid/unpaid collections. We're working on getting a new mortgage so everything will be paid by the end of the summer, either in full or w/ a settlement. I'm working on validation etc, disputing and many many CMRRR letters have been sent already. The one thing I don't know how to tackle is an unpaid judgment on my husbands reports. It's for a local refrigeration company who installed our heating system. He stupidly paid them the day before court, thinking it would be fine. They went to court anyway and got the judgment. The company has since been sold (it was once owned by a family friend which would have made this easier). I've disputed but they verify. I'm not even hoping for it to be removed, but I'd like it to show paid so we don't have to pay it again. Thoughts and suggestions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jus10 Posted February 14, 2015 Report Share Posted February 14, 2015 So the debt was paid, but is showing unpaid on the report? If he paid it the day before court, and presented proof of payment to the court, then the case would've been dismissed. did he not show proof of payment to the court? Also, how long ago was this judgement, and what exactly was the judgement? A lot of times when a judgment is made, not only is the judgment for the debt, but also for attorney fees, etc. if you don't mind me asking, was the judgment for more than the debt? if so, then that might be the case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tracys3sons Posted February 14, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 14, 2015 No, unfortunately he paid and thought it would be all set. He didn't go to court. I didn't know until recently this is how it went. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jus10 Posted February 14, 2015 Report Share Posted February 14, 2015 how long ago was the judgement filed? if it wasn't too long ago you might have an opportunity to appeal and go back to court showing proof of payment and possibly having the whole thing dropped. Also, if it was around 7 years ago, you might try to have it removed. because (depending not he type of judgment) they generally remain on credit reports for 7-10 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tracys3sons Posted February 14, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 14, 2015 2010. Do you think if I showed proof of payment we could at least get it changed to paid? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jus10 Posted February 14, 2015 Report Share Posted February 14, 2015 Well it all depends on what was included in the judgement. If it was just the initial debt, then possibly. If it was the initial debt, plus attorney's fees, court cost, etc. then you would still have a debt until all of that is paid off. Most of the time when a debt goes into judgement, attorney's fees, etc. are tacked on top of the initial debt, increasing the total judgement debt by sometimes as much as $1,000. So although the initial debt was paid, There could still be an outstanding balance because of those reasons. i would call the courthouse where the judgement was made and get more info on what all was included in the judgement and then go from there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tracys3sons Posted February 14, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 14, 2015 Thank you. It appears the judgement is for about what we paid. I just didnt know if the judgment would be need to be paid on top of what we paid. Now I need to try to find that proof! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jus10 Posted February 15, 2015 Report Share Posted February 15, 2015 If it's for about what you paid then find the proof and report it as inaccurate to the CRA's Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myscoresawful Posted February 16, 2015 Report Share Posted February 16, 2015 Something doesn't make sense. if the judgement was for what you paid (not "about' what you paid, but in full) then that creditor should NOT have let an UNPAID judgement go on your record. 'm pretty sure the judge at some point asked the creditor if you owed it and they would have had to say 'yes' which would be lying under oath. If they told the judge that you paid the debt, but they wanted to get their filing costs, etc back, then that is different. Does the amount of the judgement on your credit report match your receipt from when you paid them? You do have a receipt, right? If it shows that it was paid prior to the court date, and it matches what the judgement is for, then you might be able to do something. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tracys3sons Posted February 18, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 18, 2015 Something doesn't make sense. if the judgement was for what you paid (not "about' what you paid, but in full) then that creditor should NOT have let an UNPAID judgement go on your record. 'm pretty sure the judge at some point asked the creditor if you owed it and they would have had to say 'yes' which would be lying under oath. If they told the judge that you paid the debt, but they wanted to get their filing costs, etc back, then that is different. Does the amount of the judgement on your credit report match your receipt from when you paid them? You do have a receipt, right? If it shows that it was paid prior to the court date, and it matches what the judgement is for, then you might be able to do something. You're absolutely right, it doesn't make sense. I can't find the receipt because it was 5 years ago, but I was able to call the original creditor. They don't have a record of any balance, nor do they have a record of the judgment. She is writing me a letter saying we owe them no money, and giving me an itemized statement. There is $147 difference between their statement and the judgment, which I will likely have to pay. The best I can guess is maybe the attorney went to court not knowing the payment had been made the day before? I really don't know and it was long ago. I'm very lucky they still have record and are willing to get it to me. I can take it to the court house this week. I can try to redispute with the CRA's but I'm afraid I'm going to have to send them the letter. I'll wait to see how it's worded before I commit to doing that. I'm grateful at the very least, it'll be marked paid. Our reports won't be pretty until the end of next year when everything falls off, but I just can't have anything open on them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clydesmom Posted February 18, 2015 Report Share Posted February 18, 2015 You're absolutely right, it doesn't make sense. I can't find the receipt because it was 5 years ago, but I was able to call the original creditor. They don't have a record of any balance, nor do they have a record of the judgment. She is writing me a letter saying we owe them no money, and giving me an itemized statement. There is $147 difference between their statement and the judgment, which I will likely have to pay. The best I can guess is maybe the attorney went to court not knowing the payment had been made the day before? I really don't know and it was long ago. I'm very lucky they still have record and are willing to get it to me. I can take it to the court house this week. I can try to redispute with the CRA's but I'm afraid I'm going to have to send them the letter. I'll wait to see how it's worded before I commit to doing that. I'm grateful at the very least, it'll be marked paid. Our reports won't be pretty until the end of next year when everything falls off, but I just can't have anything open on them. The courts nor the creditor are reporting this to the bureaus. Judgments are a public record like bankruptcy and liens. Once it is marked as paid your credit reports will update to a paid judgment. Unless the creditor is willing to vacate the judgment it will stay there for another seven years past the date you send proof of payment. Try and get them to date the account/letter as paid when the judgment was granted. The bureaus have web crawling search software that find public records and match them to consumers in their files. No dispute will simply remove it as long as it is on record. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GDayMateAZ Posted February 18, 2015 Report Share Posted February 18, 2015 (edited) The courts nor the creditor are reporting this to the bureaus. It's interesting ! In my case (with SLM Education Credit) the Judgment is still in my credit reports (two weeks after its vacating 02/02/2015). Edited February 18, 2015 by GDayMateAZ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomnTex Posted February 18, 2015 Report Share Posted February 18, 2015 Probably your best bet is to pay an attorney a few hundred dollars and let him resolve it for you. Would be the quicker way and you would get it done right. Sometimes you just need to spend a few bucks to get things done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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