OK, so someone I know (honest, it's not me has a judgement against them. They are ready to pay it off but I want to make sure they don't keep getting stiffed by the Collection Agency for any additional fees, etc. So far, the balance I can figure is over $1,300 (for a $600 claim) People facing judgements, this is what happens when you get a default judgement against you and don't put up any fight. It's basically a carte blanche for them to run up attorney's fees, collection fees, in addition to the statutory interest. Anyway, the court documents say to send payment directly to the CA, however, I'm wondering if there's anything that needs to be filed with the court to indicate that you've paid off the judgement amount and put something on record.. I'm sure the CA is not particularly motivated to file this (and lose their meal ticket). I'm about to dig into our court's rules, but I thought I'd tap into the net.wisdom at the same time. Thanks in advance.
You are looking for info on a Satisfaction of Judgment, which basically tells the court the judgment has been paid.
I looked into that and so far, everything I've found WRT a Satisfaction of Judgement is that it is sent by the judgement holder upon satisfaction of the debt which leaves me a little skeptical. What's worse is that the CA hasn't sent any accounting of the balance due. In reading the fine print, (again) the judgement order says to pay the judgement holder directly if the case was handled in District Court (i.e. they used a generic form) but because the case was handled in Superior Court, I'm thinking the best plan is to just go to the courthouse and pay the clerk so there is a record of payment and a receipt. What a PITA.
If you pay the holder of the judgment directly you can negotiate to get a satisfaction for a lower amount, assuming the judgment holder is a sensible outfit and believes a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush (remember, judgments expire, judgment debtors are not somehow magically stopped at the state line if they move away, and a judgment debtor could die, go to jail, or their financial situation could get worse--given those possibilities, only morons or people who know they are almost certain to get paid in full for some reason will refuse to negotiate). If you pay the registry of the court and get the court's satisfaction, there is no discount possible. They'll calculate every penny and make you pay it.
