How to Remove Judgments From Your Credit Report

Credit reports and credit scores are very important to most people because they are essentially a history of financial obligations and a story of how you faced them. Unfortunately, many people are faced with having Judgments on their credit report for one reason or another.

Even though these public records can stay on your credit report for 7 years or longer, there are ways to get rid of Judgments successfully! Here are some things to try if you would like to clean up your credit report and get rid of that nasty Judgment!

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Understanding Your Credit Report Judgments

1. Review your credit report and analyze why you have a Judgment of public record on your report. Make sure to note the Judgment Creditor's name, address, amount listed that you owe, and when it was recorded.

2. Consult with a private attorney or credit counselor, if desired, to discuss any concerns you may have about the consequences of trying to remove credit report Judgments or any problems that you may encounter while doing so.

3. Decide which method of removing the Judgment from your credit report is best for your situation (i.e. legally removing it, making agreements, etc) and follow through with those instructions and your decision.

Legally Removing Credit Report Judgments

4. Find out what the Statute of Limitations laws (SOL laws) are for the State in which you live for collecting delinquent credit accounts. This can be found by looking on State websites or by consulting with an attorney. If the debt has been listed on your credit report longer than the SOL laws for collections allows in your State, follow the next two Steps.

5. Dispute the listed Judgment on your credit report by writing a letter to all three of the major credit bureaus (Experian, Equifax, and Transunion) demanding that they verify that your Judgment is legally valid with the courts and not against the Statute of Limitations.

6. Give the credit bureaus thirty days to reply back to you about the Judgment on your credit report. If no response has been received within that time frame, write a second letter or call the credit bureaus to make sure the Judgment listing is deleted.

Removing Judgments Through Negotiations

7. Prepare a letter in order to negotiate with your Judgment Creditor (aka "JC" for short) if you have found out that your debt is valid and is still able to be collected and listed as such on your credit report. The letter should include the amount you owe and the amount you're willing to pay, as well as the terms of the negotiation (i.e. having your JC report to the credit bureaus that the Judgment was "paid in full" or having the Judgment removed altogether).

8. Take the letter (or mail it and follow up to make sure they received it) to your Judgment Creditor at the address that was found in Step 1 and make sure that they read the terms of the negotiation and agree to it.

9. Carry out any terms you spelled out in your negotiated terms with your Judgment Creditor by paying any amount you agreed to. Also, demand once again that your Judgment be removed altogether or listed as "dismissed" or "paid in full" on your credit report.

10. Follow up with all three of the major credit bureaus and make sure that the written agreement about your Judgment was carried out to the terms you specified.

Removing Erroneous Judgments

11. Type up and prepare a "Motion and Declaration to Vacate Judgment" for the court if you have determined that the Judgment on your credit report was awarded in error. Some reasons for erroneous Judgments include being served improperly with court paperwork, not being notified of the validity of the debt by the Judgment Creditor, illegal interest rates that were charged, and unfounded claims of debt altogether.

12. File the Motion and document you prepared with the court where the Judgment was obtained. Be sure to ask whether or not they will notify and serve the Plaintiff (the Judgment Creditor) or whether it is your responsibility.

13. Show up to to court on the date your case was scheduled. If the Judgment on your Credit Report was truly made in error, the judge will dismiss the case and prepare a document stating that the Judgment is not valid.

14. Send copies of the paperwork showing the outcome of your case to each of the credit bureaus that reported the erroneous Judgment in order for them to know to delete the public record on your report.

15. Follow up with the major credit bureaus within two to four weeks to make sure the Judgment listing on your credit report was officially removed.

Tips & Warnings

• Make copies of everything when dealing with your Judgment Creditor, including a copy of the written agreement and any receipts to show that you actually paid the debt.

Resources

• Removing Judgments
• Sample

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