How to Clean a Credit Report With a Default Judgment

A judgment on a credit report is bad news. Potential lenders will look at this as a serious blemish. Any judgment means that you failed to pay an obligation--probably after repeated attempts to collect the debt--and thus the original lender charged-off that debt. A charge-off means a lender has given up hope on collecting and has taken the debt as a loss. Cleaning up judgments can be simple; but for old debt, it can be a struggle.

Instructions

Cleaning a Credit Report With a Default Judgment

1

Pull a copy of your credit report. The federal government mandates that all consumers get access to one free report each year. See resources for this link. Make sure to print out a copy of your report for your records.

2

Verify the debt as outstanding. Go through your financial paperwork and determine if you've paid the debt in the past. If you have, file a complaint at the credit bureau reporting the error. The three major credit bureaus are: Trans Union, Equifax and Experian.

3

Find out the holder of the judgment debt. Often an original lender will sell a bad debt to a collection firm at a reduced price. Most often these collection companies hold the judgments on credit reports. Sometimes the name of the company will be listed on the credit report, and sometimes not. You may need to do some research or contact the credit bureau for further information.

4

Contact the holder of the debt and either pay it off or work out a payment schedule. Write up a budget that will allow you to pay off the debt quickly and responsibly.

5

Write to the credit bureau as soon as the debt is satisfied. They should remove it within 60 days.