I plan to send the following letter to a lawyer representing a company that got a default judgment against me in 1992: ____________________________________________ Dear Counsel for the Plaintiff: It has come to my attention that there exists a default judgment on file with the General District Court of XXXX County, XXXX naming you as counsel for the plaintiff, XXXX XXXX XXXX. The summary judgment was entered in default, as my case was not properly represented. I did not have an opportunity for representation, because of lack of prior notice due to insufficient service of process. However, in the interest of conserving time and effort, I am willing to establish an agreement under the terms of which I will offer to pay $ XXX to your client, which is the amount of the default judgment subtracting the amounts already paid to your client before and after the assessment of the default judgment. In exchange, I will request that your client agree to file a joint Order to Vacate and Set Aside for the default judgment with the General District Court of XXXX County, XXXX as laid out in the attached Order and release me from any and all claims relating to this matter and any accounts held or previously held with your client. Listing of the terms of the agreement: 1. I, XXXXX XXXXX, will agree to pay your client, XXXX XXXX XXXX the sum of $ XXX. 2. Your client, XXXXX XXXX XXXXX, will file a joint Order to Vacate and Set Aside for the default judgment based upon the items laid out in the attached Order. 3. You client, XXXX XXXX XXXX, will agree that this agreement remedies any and all claims and collection of debts for purposes of accounts held or previously held by me, XXXXX XXXX. 4. This agreement supercedes any and all previous contracts and/or agreements between your client, XXXX XXXX and me, XXXX XXXX. Sincerely, XXXXX XXXXX _______________________________________________ Questions: 1) Do you think I should call first? 2) General Advice
Hi mizfixit, I would advise that you do not send any letter or call the plaintiff or their attorney until you check the SOL in your state for judgments. In my state, WA, a judgment would need to be renewed after 10 years to have any teeth. After 10 years it would fall off of my credit report as well. You might lay low and do some research for now if you haven't heard from the plaintiff. Give us some more specific information and we may be able to offer more help. To answer your question though, if you do have a judgment vacated it should be easy to have it removed from your credit file.
It has been two years since the judgement and I would have to wait eight more years for it to expire and or be renewed. I don not believe that they will pursue me on this item without provocation as the company has gone out of business, but they have sold some sort of collection rights to OSI/Gulf State, which makes two nasty marks on my report. OSI has been unable to validate, but I would much rather negotiate a payment to get both items gone for good and relieve me of my stress and annoyance in this matter.
I don't believe that you will be able to get Gulf State off of your reports by settling this. If they have not been able to validate your best course is probably to force them to remove it. I know LKH has had much experience with Gulf State and could direct you better with them. If you send a letter to the plaintiff's attorney may I suggest that you write a brief letter stating you might be interested in settling the debt if the plaintiff would be willing to join you in a motion to vacate the judgment. Invite the attorney to contact you to work out the details. Keep it brief and stay away from the legalese.
Thanks for the advice. I called the att. today. He is getting back to me once he reviews the specifics on the case, since I am offering to settle, I hope that this doesn't spur a some kind of underhanded collection tactic, but whatever I am pretty much judgment proof and NC is a state that protects consumers pretty well. I think this applies even though the state of the judgment is VA.
Alternatively, you may want to dispute the judgment off of your reports as not mine. Many judgment files do not contain your SS#. The CRA's need to verify two of three pieces of information, your SS#, address( address in court file with an address listed on your credit report ), and name. Maybe you have moved and the address in the court file doesn't match any address on your credit reports? This has a high probability of working if this is your situtation. You'll have to answer the moral questions for yourself of course.
I have successfully disputed the judgements on EQ, but EX and TU keep coming back verified. I really don't want this thing looming over my head any longer. I am afraid that if it is remived it will return and cause my scores to plummet.
If it's not used properly it's best to just leave it out. Just my opinion. I'm not picking apart mizfixit's letter.
I would imagine the plaintiff is more concerned with getting their money than trashing your report. Good luck to you! Jeff
