Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in New Jersey

Re: judgment

You would just contact the creditor and pay them. As far as getting off your credit, I would have to see your CR, but I would guess its a little too late for that. You could call them up and see if it is possible to work it out.

Re: judgment

A judgment against you because you were sued and didn't dispute the complaint by filing an Answer or or you did file an Answer and lost the case at trial or somewhere along the line prior to that, requires you to take certain steps.

In this case you must contact the attorney who obtained the judgment for your creditor. Ask for a letter confirming the precise amount due and the date that amount must be paid by because it can be more if interest has accrued. You may also want to propose a compromise because almost any creditor would prefer to be paid sooner rather than later than later and voluntarily by you rather than having to chase you and seize your assets to sell them in satisfaction of the judgment.

Depending upon the circumstances, sometimes a creditor will accept as little as 50% of the amount due but that is most likely in the early stages. Once they turn the matter over to an attorney and obtain a judgment they are apt to want a greater percentage or the full amount but may still waive some of the accrued interest, court costs and even attorney's fees if they were included in the judgment. The worst the creditor can do is say "No" and the simple act of keeping in touch with them shows you are not trying to hide and makes them more likely to give you the time necessary to pay the amount owed and less likely to surprise you by freezing your bank account or attempting to obtain a Court Order to have a percentage deducted from your paycheck.

Once you have the attorney's letter of the amount due, if you make payment in full on or before the date due, the Atorney must provide you with a document caled a "Warrant to Satisfy Judgment" which must be filed wth the Clerk of the Court that entered the judgment. Sometimes the attorney will do ths for you without charge execpt there may be a court filing fee you have to pay.

If you do it yourself, make sure to send an original of the Warrant and a copy along with a self-addressed stamped envelope and enclose a letter along with the filing fee, if any, asking that the Clerk file the original and send you back the copy stamped "Filed." You should have ben notified when the judgment was entered and this botice will have the adresss of the of the Court on it. You can obtain more information at http://www.judiciary.state.nj.us/This is an important document to save since it shows in the public records that

the judgment has been paid. I have

seen cases in which no Warrant was filed and a person was denied credit and then had to find his receipt of the payment and follow through to make sure a Warrant was filed.

Unfortunately, even if you pay off the judgment the day after it is entered, it can still be shown on your credit report for 10 years. It will be noted as "paid" but it's still a black mark. Paying a compromised amount I discussed above is also a negative item on your credit profile so you have to decide if the money saved by compromsing is worth the negative impact.