What methods do the credit reporting agencies use to obtain records of judgments, bankruptcies, divorces and other legal actions?
My understanding is that they hire people in major metro areas to sit at the courthouses and go through the records. They make notes and report back to the cra's.
I have worked in several different court clerk offices over the years so I have some insight on this. Basically it depends on the particular court clerk's office. One I worked in had an automated system that would search the records when a request was received, if the system "hit" on a name the record would then be pulled and the information provided for a fee to the CRA. This was the exception rather than the norm as the automated systems are considered low priority budget items. In other offices, an individual did come in, provide a list for which they were searching and we would search the records for the case and/or name. In no instance was someone allowed to actually perform the physical search themselves, although they could browse through a computer database to pull up name matches and request to view those files. The older a judgement is, the more difficult it is to locate - generally records over 3-4 years old are archived in a storage location and once a request is submitted it can take 14 days on average for the record to be returned.
I would have to agree with Hal. I am in a smaller town and anything over 3 yrs old gets put into storage and then it costs the person requesting the file $15 dollars per case. They have talked about getting the files all onto a computer system but it seems they dont really want to spend the money on it just yet. I am trying to get all my derog public records off befor this happens. It is just a matter of time to let them reach the point that they get put into storage. Casper72
So, the credit reporting agencies are on-- real time-- with the courthouses databases, and when each individual infile is pulled, that's when the CRAs get that information for that individual report? Or do they download the stuff on a periodic basis-- say monthly-- and keep it on their servers? If the more sophisticated areas have easier ways for the CRAs to obtain the records, and a judgment for someone in one of those areas is in the CRA database, but the same type of judgment from an area not as sophisticated isn't in the CRA records, well... ... there are implications.
If they have a duty to report information correctly and accurately,there could be implications. Unlike the creditor's reporting, where we (the consumer) have other recourses like validation. In my case, I am sure they checked Pacer or verified that the case was filed. that stuff will match up..... they still are not reporting the current status of the account (paid) and I believe that requesting that they divulge the procedures used in these matters will prove useful. They still have some accountabilit in these type of matters.
I am not certain the automated system was considered "real time" as we would get a list of name hits and provide the information to the CRA for a fee - it was not always done immediately as these types of requests had low priority. I believe they should be accountable for correct information - however, having said that it seems that they only agree to be held accountable when they are challenged and held to task. I had a judgement on my credit record that was not mine, I discovered it after moving back to Maryland, the "Proof of Service" had an illegible signature scrawled on it for the party that accepted the documents at an address I had not lived for 4 years (I was in California). I had the judgement dismissed on this basis, no one from the attorney's office that filed even bothered to show up and it was dismissed with prejudice. It took me almost a year to get the CRA's to remove it and they only did it then when I forwarded them an unfiled copy of a small claims lawsuit giving them 5 days from receipt to comply. Prior to that, I had written, called, faxed, contested, provided proof of the dismissal etc. and they always replied "Verified". When taken to task they crumbled quickly.
I know my tax liens and the judgment that I had vacated, were put on my report after a "full background" check for an insurance job. In my area (large metropolitan area) it is automated, however, when I called the court to get info about it, they could not pull it up. I would pursue it but it's so old now it isn't really affecting me. When I faxed TU a copy of the court docs bacating the judgment, they removed it within a couple of days. We know that there are CRA people who read this board, perhaps one of them would be so kind as to email one of us the answer?
