Hello, this is my first post. I need some advise regarding a judgment filed against me. A brief history. In 2001 I lost my job (the only income). My wife has had several surgeries prohibiting her from working. I had a car reposessed. Once contacted by the CA I advised I am out of work and cannot make any payments. Needless to say, I found I was sued and a judgment filed against me when the county sheriff served me with forms to fill out requiring me to list personal property (including the children clothes). Was that legal? I was never notified to appear in court or a court date. Type: Judgment Status: Filed Date Filed/Reported: 09/01/2002 How Filed: Individual Reference #: 200078323 Closing Date: Court: Superior Court Plaintiff: MAZDA AMERICAN CREDIT Action Amount: $3583 Does anyone know how long this will appear in public records in North Carolina? From what I understand from reading other posts, will it drop off 09/01/2009? Can it reappear after paying the $3583 or should I wait until September 2009?
1. You owe a lot more than the $3583 because interest has accrued. That's the bad news. 2. The good news is that once a judgment expires in NC, it's dead, done and gone (no revival possible, according to a key NC case I remember seeing). I'm not sure about renewal ahead of expiry however. And I'm not sure how long they take to expire (figure 10 years). In many states (like, for instance Florida) the law of judgment expiration is a lot murkier. 3. If no one's chasing it, you may just want to rock along ... a lot of active pursuit stops after a few years, and it goes onto a wall full of paper files and nobody looks at it again unless and until the debtor comes to them. At least, that's the old way of doing things. The more sophisticated creditors may actually track those key dates by computer, do an occasional credit pull to assess collectability, you name it. 4. The FCRA allows judgments to stay on 7 years or so long as they are valid, whichever is longer; however in practice they all tend to drop off at 7 years whether they remain valid or not. Caveat: Absence from the credit report does not equal absence of validity and enforceability. YMMV
