Judgments - How You Can Remove from Your Credit Report
Judgments are also called default judgments or credit card judgments. These terms all have the same meaning.
You have been found to be legally responsible for a debt. This will happen in a court of law.
Your creditors’ attorneys went to court and filed a lawsuit against you and won. This means that you wages can be garnished to pay this debt.
This is a very bad mark to have on your credit and will cause your credit score to be lowered. Often collection agencies will try and win a judgment. Judgments can happen with any form of unsecured debt.
This mark will remain on your credit file for 7 - 10 years. It depends upon what state the case was filled in and what the statutes of limitations are in that state. It is also common for lenders to seek a renewal judgment if the debt has not been repaid at the end of 7 or 10 years.
This makes it possible to never be able remove a judgment. However with some savvy credit repair attorneys and a little luck you may be able to remove a judgment without paying it.
I suggest the first step you take is to dispute the judgment. This is done by writing a dispute letter in which you explain why the judgment is inaccurate and then you mail this letter to each credit bureau.
The bureaus then must conduct an investigation into the disputed listing. They will try to verify the existence of the debt and the amount of it.
If the debt is inaccurate or is not verified then the bureaus must remove it from your credit. Frequently investigations result in a negative listing being removed.
However judgments are more often verified, this is because the lender has taken steps to ensure repayment. This usually means you will not be able to remove the mark.
However in some instances a judgment is wrong and inaccurate. Thus it should legally be removed from your credit.
This is the time when you should consider a credit attorney. They have an expert knowledge of credit laws and the ability to go to court if necessary to prove that the judgment is wrong and should be removed from your credit.
Credit attorneys do not have to be paid thousands of dollars. You can actually hire them at a reasonable rate. A very popular credit repair service Lexington Law has over 20 attorneys and can be hired for as little as $39 a month.
