Last April I had some financial troubles, and was late on my rent. I was taken to court in April and the judge gave me some time(can't quite remember the exact amount), to pay the April rent. It was paid(late fees and court costs included), by the deadline, but in turn made my May rent late. I eventually got back on schedule and moved out on July 1, 2008. At the end of July, I received notice that not only was I not getting my deposit back, but that I owed an additional $34.40. I paid that on August 15, 2008 and thought I was done with it. Fast forward to April 2009, and all of a sudden, there is a judgement on my credit report for the original $1150 from April of last year! I contacted the previous landlord and he said that I still owed the $34.40! I told him that I did not and relayed to him that I'd paid it. He said he had to check his records and get back with me. Then I get an email stating that he apologized and saw where I'd paid it on 8-15-08! He said he was going down to the court and "taking care of it immediately". I would like to know if it was legal for them to still file the judgement if they got the money before the deadline that the judge gave me and since I'd paid my fees for "damages"? Do I have any legal recourse? All I have is an email chain between myself and them where he admitted, "after the fact" that he saw where I'd paid the $34.40, not the $1150 that was reported on the credit report.
