Bad credit???

[panteramatt 27]

So I went to cabelas yesterday to pick up a gun cause for some reason my nics was delayed. Anyway I applied for the cabelas card and was accepted. Handed my wife the paperwork and while waiting to pickup my rifle my wifes says to me haha my credit score is higher than yours. I said your funny and she shows me my score, 670!!! @ years ago my score was 820. I looked at kredit carma and it seems the civil lawsuit I had against me a year ago which I paid really screwed things up on my credit which I thought was stupid. IS there anything you can do about your credit score to get it higher? Ive NEVER been late on a payment in my life so Im pretty bummed and pissed about my score. 

[Howard 538]

How does a judgement WHICH YOU PAID impact your credit score?  I could see it having an impact had you not paid it, but not if you paid it.  Makes no sense.

[panteramatt 27]

Sure dont!!!

[Sandy 44]

Dispute it , they only have something like 30 days to prove it belongs there or it goes bye bye.

[panteramatt 27]

Ok how do I dispute it? 

[T Bill 649]

Civil judgements are used on your credit report. It will remain there for seven years whether you like it or not.  Most are not subject to being removed as credit companys see them as a something like a bad debit you did't pay. Not that you have not settled the judgement, just that the judgement is there in the first place.

 

Good Luck disputing it, it will most likely be denied.  Just make sure it has been reported as satisfied.

[panteramatt 27]

Yea I read that too and its not right. How do I prove its been paid though? I have a copy of the check I used to pay it off. 

[T Bill 649]

Report should show original amount and balance, and current status.  If not check with credit company. 

[panteramatt 27]

Status says filed. Does this mean its been paid?

[T Bill 649]

To me it dont. To me it would say Judgement Satisfied or something to that effect.  I would check to be sure.

[Springfield1911 22]

It will take 7 years for that line to disappear as long as you paid it but you should at least have a letter of satisfaction as paid from the court. 

[kman 56]

Make the lawyer who represented the Plaintiff file a "Satisfaction of Judgment" with the court clerk of the court where the judgment was entered.  That is how you prove a judgment has been paid.  Otherwise, that judgment will appear to the world as an unpaid and defaulted debt of yours.

[panteramatt 27]

There were no lawyers. It was just a small civil lawsuit from an accident I had. 

[Hailskins 0]

I deal with credit reports every day.  You will not be able to remove the line, as others have said.  You do want to make sure the item is correctly showed as "satisfied" though.  Get a copy of the court documents (a letter from your attorney usually is not enough - the credit bureaus want the official court paperwork) showing the judgment is satisfied/paid.  On your credit report there should be contacts for the three bureaus - Transunion, Experian and Equifax.  You'll need to contact them directly for a dispute form and send it in with the supporting court docs.  

Otherwise if everything else on the credit is good to go, it will simply take time for the score to go up.  Some items to consider that affect the credit score are number of open and active accounts as well as credit balances compared to the credit limits (as a percentage).  Try not to go over 30% of the limit with your balances.  So if you have a credit card with a 1k limit, try and keep the balance on that card under 300.  

[panteramatt 27]

Ok so to get those docs I need to contact the court? 

[Hailskins 0]

Yes unless the attorney has a copy of them.  If not it should be easy enough to walk in and request it.  If you have any other questions about the credit feel free to PM me.  

[panteramatt 27]

Thank you !!!

[Barms 98]

Hey Hailskins: My wife had a credit card that went DQ 180 and sent to collections. She promptly paid the collection agency in full. On 2 of the bureaus the collection account doesn't even show up. Only the card charge off. So basically she paid off the debt of a collector that doesn't even show up on the report. So it's worst of both worlds right now, she has a card that says sent to collections, but that debt was paid in full, but now not showing credit for it.

 

We try to dispute and show the PAID IN FULL to the bureaus but they don't do anything because they just call the original credit card and they confirm " sent to collections"

 

Any advice?

[Hailskins 0]

It sounds like the credit report is actually correct in this case.  The credit card did go to collections and that's how it shows up, right?  You won't be able to change how that credit card status reads.  Just make sure a zero balance is reflected even if it does say "sent to collections".  

 

The collection agency not showing up on 2 of 3 bureaus is a blessing.  What I would do is just make sure that the 3rd bureau that IS reporting the collection account correctly shows a zero balance since the debt is paid in full.  Often times collection companies do not update the reporting after they get paid (it's an extra step and what do they care if they already got paid, right?).  If it's still showing a balance you'll want to submit a dispute directly to the bureau with evidence of your payment.  A receipt from the collection agency would do the trick.  

 

Beyond that, the #1 thing that will heal that credit report is just time (and good management of credit from here on out of course).  

 

I hope this helps!  Feel free to PM me if you have any other questions. 

[Hailskins 0]

Just so everyone knows what my credentials are, I am a licensed mortgage loan originator in the business over 13 years.  I've seen a lot of credit reports and am happy to advise.  Disclaimer being that your credit is your own and I cannot take responsibility for the actions you take regarding your credit report.  

 

Ok now I feel better.