I understand that the courts verify judgments - or do they? Does anyone know who originally reports a judgment to the agencies? Do the courts send out a huge list to all three agencies every time they have a judgment filed? Or does the CA tell the CRA that there is a judgment filed against the consumer? And who verifies the judgment? Is it the CA who filed the judgment? Or is it the courts? Reason being - I have a judgment (satisfied but it doesn't show as such) - but the CA that shows as the filer is no longer in business, they have vamoosed out of town. Number not in service, no forwarding address... I called the court today to find out how to verify the court order and they said I would have to come down, request the file and then it would come in the next day and they would hold it for two weeks. They wouldn't do it over the phone. So, I can't imagine the CRAs being able to validate a judgment this way. And since they can't call the original CA - well. Trying to get a judgment out of the way!! Anyone have any experience with this area?
If the judgement holder is no longer around, why not just file a motion to vacate? If they don't show up for court to dispute it, POOF. You win by default.
It was back in 99, I think the SOL for filing a motion to vacate are past. The problem is since it's satisfied, I can't plead discovery.
Not for void judgments, most states there is no SOL. Search here for "void judgment". Were affadavits filed, were you served? Also don't rejoice too quickly in a company that got the original judgment against you being out of business. Judgments are like any other uncollected debt. Some CA or collection attorney probably bought the debt and will try to collect on it at future date. I read here that CA buy debts at no more than .04 cents on the dollar. $40 for $1000 dollars in debt...what a racket. Getting the judgment vacated should be job one. Sorry to throw cold water on you.
i have gotten judgement successfully removed from all of my reports (although I do have some remaining). You can ask the court how they respond to cra inquiriies and usually they will tell you. In many cases, you will find out that the cra's fake the verification. i am filing suit tomorrow on experian because they continue to verify a judgement that has been paid for two years. they refuse to change it. I will get deletion plus cash because they also refused to answer my request for procedures used to verify the account. so, think about how you can use the information for more than one purpose??
Kirby, Great link. Do you have personal experience with them, if you don't mind my asking? Thanks, wajaba
To answer your question: I have been told and think I read somewhere that CRAs get information pertaining to judgments and other public records via 3rd parties that search courthouse records and then sell the info to the CRAs. Courthouses do not report to the CRAs. Although, I have read that whoever obtains a judgment against you can report the judgment to the CRAs themselves. Check out this Leblanc FTC staff opinion letter Just proof that the 3rd parties do exist.
Re: To answer your question: Love is right on. The CRAs hire cadres of senior citizens to pull and report all court records (judgments, liens, bankruptcies, paid judgments, paid liens, discharges, filings, etc..) This is why it's so damn easy to get court records removed via dispute (with the exception of bankruptcies.) By the way, this was all related to me by a senior executive of Experian (and it has held up in all the disputes I've seen - which number in the hundreds of thousands.) When you dispute a tradeline negative (late payment, collection, etc.) the bureau hits the subscriber (the creditor) with a request for verification. It is the subscriber's responsibility to reply or not. About 2/3 of the time, the subscriber responds to verify. When you dispute a court record, the bureau has to send someone out just to verify. If this hasn't happened in 30 days, you're home free. In the case of bankruptcy (and this piece of info was revealed via discovery in a lawsuit against the bureaus,) the CRAs hit one of the "included in bankruptcy" creditors for verification of the bankruptcy (which is much easier then sending a senior citizen to the courthouse.) The FCRA allows the bureaus to verify with any reliable source, so they can do this. The easiest way to delete a bankruptcy has nothing to do with the person or company who filed it - it is to file a simple dispute. Unfortunately, there's no better way that I know of. (but, the good news is that it's not that hard.)
Re: To answer your question: Another question: when I disputed my judgement as Paid In Full (which it was, although the dollar amount and case # were incorrect), rather than Not Mine, did I effectively validate my own entry...then, now, and in perpetuity? In other words, did I seriously shoot myself in the foot as far as any hope of removal is concerned? Thanks, wajaba
Re: To answer your question: So, in effect, if the creditor or collection agency is not around to validate ... and one puts in a dispute against the judgment as not mine ... and they don't have a senior citiizen pottering about the area ... then there is a very strong chance it will go away. How do you recommend that one dispute them - just "not mine"?
Re: To answer your question: This is what I've been told as well. So, assuming it's true, about the only way to get a bk removed is to get all the "included in bk" accounts removed first. I don't know how hard that is to do and how you dispute them ("not mine," I would imagine). Christine over at Bayhouse.com has been researching whether or not it's even legal to keep those "included in bk" accounts on your CR -- her theory is that the purpose of bk is to "wipe the slate clean," and that isn't done with all those accounts left on your CR. I hope she can find some legal basis to back up that theory.
