Had a $1200 judgement in a personal dispute with another individual in 2006. Lost the case and paid immediately. My lawyer sent the other lawyer a check and there is no question it was paid however the other side did not report to Justice (small claims) Court in Mississippi that the judgement had been satisfied and it now shows as N/A on my credit reports as to whether it was paid or not which says it is "potentially" negative on the reports from the CRAs. The judgement was never entered in the Judgement Roll in the county court system. Tried just disputing the judgment through the CRAs but the Justice Court confirmed it pretty quick so that didn't work so next had my lawyer handle it and the court has been updated by the other other attorney and they sent me three letters from the court with one to be sent to each of the CRAs that I'm supposed to send. Don't want to do anything without some thoughts on the best approach. Should we request it be removed based on the fact it was not entered on the Judgement Roll? Should it just be updated as paid in full immediately (within 10 days actually)? Should I have my attorney see what laws apply to this situation in Mississippi? Any input is much appreciated. This is the only potentially negative item on my credit reports and have read enough here to know not to do anything without knowing what I'm doing. Thanks! Lake
I would definitely recommend looking closely at your state's laws regarding judgments first. I'm not a lawyer, but I do know that many states have statutes governing how long judgment creditors have to file a satisfaction of judgment with the court. Speak with your lawyer about what kind of options you might have since it sounds like yours was not handled correctly. If you just want to get your credit report updated to show a "Paid Judgment", which is still very damaging to your credit scores, send the notarized letters from the court to the CRAs and they should update your reports accordingly. Remember, it may still take awhile before it appears correctly on your credit reports.
