3 Ways to Remove Civil Judgments From Your Credit Report

When you owe money to a credit card company, utility company, bank, or any other creditor, you could be sued in civil court and have that judgment entered on your credit report.  Obviously, having a civil judgment on your credit report can be devastating to your overall rating, especially if you are trying to rebuild your credit or move forward with your life. The good news is that, with the right procedure and representation, you can have civil judgments removed from your credit report.

As South Florida’s premier consumer protection law firm, The Law Offices of Jibrael S. Hindi has the experience and knowledge to thoroughly review your credit report and remove potentially harmful information that is negatively impacting your rating.

How Do Civil Judgments Affect Your Credit Report?

If you are sued by a creditor, it is classified as a civil case, not a criminal case. If the judge rules in the creditor’s favor, there will be a judgment entered against you, usually ordering you to pay the amount of the bill plus other applicable charges.  The judgment then will show up on your credit report.

What this means is that lenders will see that you have a history of missing payments. It will also more often than not significantly lower your overall credit score. The major downside, though, is that lenders will view you as more of a risk when lending money. When that happens, lenders will not offer you favorable terms, if they lend to you at all. Thus, it’s very important to respond to any summons you receive and avoid getting a civil judgment against you. However, in the event that a judgment is entered against you, there are ways to get them removed from your credit report.

3 Ways to Have Civil Judgments Removed From Your Credit Report

Because a civil judgment remains on your credit report for up to seven years from the date it was filed, having judgments removed is extremely important to the overall health of your credit score moving forward. Even though the negative impact dissipates as time goes on, it’s still in your best interest to work with a skilled credit attorney like Jibrael Hindi. With the help of attorney Hindi and our staff, you can have civil judgments removed in one of the following ways:

Appeal the Judgment

Appealing the civil judgment and any resulting court orders is probably the most often used tactic for removing it from your credit report.

Winning an appeal requires a skilled, experienced attorney, but also relies on following the proper procedure.  If you can show that the creditor didn’t follow the proper procedure in filing the suit or if they missed the statute of limitations, you could potentially win the appeal and have the judgment removed from your credit report.  However, there is also the chance that the creditor could file the suit again.

Have the Court Validate the Judgment

You could also have the court validate your judgment. This is a common tactic in these types of cases, wherein you contact the court directly through the submission of a validation request letter to the judge. The purpose of the letter is to have the judge officially verify that all the details and information in the judgment is accurate.

In the event that the court refuses to validate the judgment, or simply takes no action, you can request that the judgment information be disputed and removed by one of the credit reporting agencies under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).

Pay the Debt

The most straightforward way of having the judgment removed from your credit report is to never have it listed in the first place. In order for that to happen, you can work with the creditor to pay off the debt-either all at once or through a payment plan. If possible, make your payment to the creditor contingent upon the creditor helping you remove the debt from your credit report.

Work With a Top-Rated Ft. Lauderdale FCRA Attorney

When late or missed payments end up on your credit report by way of a civil judgment, you need a skilled attorney to fight for you.  The Law Offices of Jibrael S. Hindi is consistently rated among the top FCRA attorneys in Florida, making sure every one of our clients has the tools to rebuild their credit. We only take cases on a contingency basis, whereby the firm does not get paid unless a recovery is obtained on your behalf. If you would like to schedule a free consultation, reach out to our office today at (954) 907-1136 or through this confidential contact form.

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