How Do Credit Bureaus Find Out About Judgments?

After a creditor sues you for an unpaid balance, the court judgment it receives becomes a part of your credit record. Lenders, employers, insurance providers, landlords and any other company that requests your credit record can then see that you were sued by a former creditor. A judgment on your credit report damages your credit rating and can make qualifying for future loans and lines of credit difficult.

Electronic Records

The judgment does not appear on your credit report immediately after the court awards it. The court must first "docket" the judgment by officially entering it into your county's public record. If your court participates in the Public Access to Court Electronic Records program, the judgment appears in the PACER database as soon as the court dockets it. The credit bureaus regularly scan PACER for new court records, such as judgments, that are relevant to an individual's financial dependability. Upon discovering your judgment within PACER, the credit bureaus add the judgment to your credit report.

Manual Reviews

Not all courts upload court records to PACER. Judgments, however, are public information whether or not they are part of the national electronic database. The credit bureaus employ representatives that regularly review the records of courts that do not participate in the PACER program. When the representative uncovers the record of your judgment, the credit bureaus update your credit file accordingly.

Time Frame

Depending on how your court maintains its records, the judgment may appear on your credit record quickly or take several months or longer to appear. The credit bureaus update consumer information independently of one another. Thus, the judgment might appear on one report sooner than it appears on another.

Once the judgment shows up on your file, the Fair Credit Reporting Act mandates that it remain there for your state's full judgment enforcement period or seven years---whichever is the longer time frame.

Considerations

Paying off a judgment on your credit report does not benefit your credit score. Judgments are negative entries, regardless of whether they appear as "paid" or "unpaid." Certain lenders, however, will require that you pay off any outstanding judgments that appear on your credit history before approving you for a loan.

The credit bureaus will remove the judgment after the enforcement period in your state or the seven-year mandatory reporting period passes. Just as paying a judgment does not result in its removal from your credit file, leaving the judgment unpaid does not cause it to linger on your credit record for longer than the federal reporting period allows.