Court judgments creditors hold after winning a lawsuit against you don't only leave you subject to garnishment and asset seizure, they also hurt your credit. A civil judgment is a public record maintained through the court system indicating that you previously ignored your financial obligations to a creditor. Depending on your situation, you may have the right to demand that the credit bureaus remove the civil judgment from your records.
Credit Bureau Rights
Each credit bureau has the ability to modify data within your credit files at any time. Creditors typically report your debts to the credit bureaus via reporting software and your credit report updates automatically. A credit bureau representative can, however, access your credit report and manually update it to delete a judgment record.
Just because the credit bureaus can delete the civil judgment tarnishing your credit history, that does not mean that they will. The credit bureaus must focus on accuracy when maintaining consumer reports. Thus, although your judgment may be unpleasant and the only black mark on an otherwise unblemished credit record, if you legitimately owe the judgment the credit bureaus can leave it alone until the reporting period expires.
Reporting Period
Unless you successfully have the judgment record removed early from your credit report, it can remain there for up to 20 years, depending on where you live. While the credit bureaus delete most derogatory entries from your credit files after 10 years, judgments are governed by how long your state gives the creditor to collect by force. One the judgment itself expires, so does the credit trade line reflecting it.
Disputing the Judgment
Credit reporting laws in the FCRA that each credit bureau must adhere to require that the credit bureaus provide consumers with disputing options. You can dispute any item on your report -- including a judgment.
The credit bureau that receives your dispute contacts the courthouse that awarded the judgment and inquires about its validity. Should the court note that the judgment is valid, the credit bureaus will not remove it. If the court does not respond to the inquiry or verifies that the information on your credit report is inaccurate, the credit bureaus will remove the judgment from your report.
Vacating a Judgment
If you chose not to fight the collection agency in court when you received your initial summons, you can redeem yourself -- and force the credit bureaus to remove the judgment, by filing a Motion to Vacate with the court that originally heard the case. You must have legal grounds for filing a Motion to Vacate, such as never receiving a summons or complaint. The judge will then give you the opportunity to present your case. If you are successful overturning the court's previous ruling, the credit bureaus will remove the judgment from your credit report.
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