How to Clear Your Credit Report of Judgments

A poor credit score will negatively affect your life. It will affect the loans you are offered in the future, the type of apartment you can rent and it can even impede your ability to secure employment. One of the factors that will negatively affect your credit score is the presence of judgments. Judgments, or court-ordered liens against you, can be removed from a credit report.

Instructions

1

Pull an updated copy of your credit report. Visit Annual Credit Report, the official, federally mandated credit report site. Pay for a copy of your FICO score, too. This three-digit number between 300 and 850 represents your creditworthiness. Scores below 600 are poor; scores above 720 are excellent.

2

Confirm the judgments on your report. These will be listed in the "Public Records" section of your report, apart from the list of open and closed trade lines. Find out if these judgments are unpaid. Unpaid judgments will reflect an outstanding balance on your report. Credit bureaus can, and often will, report paid judgments, too.

3

Contact the owners of all unpaid judgments. These are often collection companies. Obtain a payoff balance complete with a good-through date, back interest, a per diem (a daily charge past the good-through date) and a full outstanding balance.

4

Pay the judgments as agreed. Make sure to collect a paid in full letter from the credit company or collection agency.

5

Draft a goodwill letter. See Resource 2 for a sample letter. This letter is a plea to remove the paid judgments from your credit report. You must make a compelling case. Often credit bureaus will look favorably at a request if the judgment stemmed from a medical emergency--like an accident or serious illness.

6

Include all documents that support your argument with the goodwill letter. Make sure these are copies, not originals. These documents can include: medical bills, disability award letters and letters from physicians. Send this package to all three credit bureaus. See Resource 3 for the addresses.

7

Confirm that the judgments are gone, if approved, by pulling a new copy of your credit report. The credit bureaus have 30 days to respond to your inquiry, and an additional 90 days to either honor or reject the request.