Hello all, this question pertains to Ohio.
I checked my credit report a few months ago and found that it was good. Nothing negative on it. Recently, I enrolled in a credit monitoring program in which I'd found that in the few months since checking my report, I'd had a judgement against me for just under $1,000 for student loans I'd had about ten years ago. I had never received any court summons or supporting documentation regarding the case. Upon further investigation, they had sent letters to an address in which I never lived. To the best of my knowledge, I'd paid those (federal) loans off via garnishments in 2004 so I disputed them. Two weeks ago I got the dispute back saying the debt was valid and the next week received a letter regarding the charges (most likely because of the dispute updating the records with correct information). I called the school and confirmed that indeed the charges are valid (the garnishments were for separate loans - this one was for a private loan through the school) and that's fine, I'll pay them. My question is that if I wasn't given any notice (due process?) about this court date, do I have any recourse as far as having the judgement removed from my record? I made a call and left a message for the attorney collecting the debt and work out payment with them. I hope I can do something since had I know about this, I would have paid immediately thus avoiding the negative impact to my public record/credit report. I don't assume the collector could/would be willing to help with that. I've seen the court dockets showing the incorrect address so I can prove that I wasn't served correctly. It looks like the judgment was granted in October 2009.
If I work out payment with the firm, can they file to withdraw the judgment against me? If not, what should be my first step? What should I file? I'd like to settle if possible, which sounds realistic since there's a chance the judgment can be reversed -and- there is a chance that I will be unemployed within the next few months (I read that they cannot garnish unemployment benefits, so perhaps that's a bargaining chip). Regardless, my number one priority is keeping my credit report/public record clean.
Thanks in advance for any help on this matter. I'll be watching this thread very closely so if I need to elaborate on anything I'll be sure to do so right away.What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?
I checked my credit report a few months ago and found that it was good. Nothing negative on it. Recently, I enrolled in a credit monitoring program in which I'd found that in the few months since checking my report, I'd had a judgement against me for just under $1,000 for student loans I'd had about ten years ago. I had never received any court summons or supporting documentation regarding the case. Upon further investigation, they had sent letters to an address in which I never lived. To the best of my knowledge, I'd paid those (federal) loans off via garnishments in 2004 so I disputed them. Two weeks ago I got the dispute back saying the debt was valid and the next week received a letter regarding the charges (most likely because of the dispute updating the records with correct information). I called the school and confirmed that indeed the charges are valid (the garnishments were for separate loans - this one was for a private loan through the school) and that's fine, I'll pay them. My question is that if I wasn't given any notice (due process?) about this court date, do I have any recourse as far as having the judgement removed from my record? I made a call and left a message for the attorney collecting the debt and work out payment with them. I hope I can do something since had I know about this, I would have paid immediately thus avoiding the negative impact to my public record/credit report. I don't assume the collector could/would be willing to help with that. I've seen the court dockets showing the incorrect address so I can prove that I wasn't served correctly. It looks like the judgment was granted in October 2009.
If I work out payment with the firm, can they file to withdraw the judgment against me? If not, what should be my first step? What should I file? I'd like to settle if possible, which sounds realistic since there's a chance the judgment can be reversed -and- there is a chance that I will be unemployed within the next few months (I read that they cannot garnish unemployment benefits, so perhaps that's a bargaining chip). Regardless, my number one priority is keeping my credit report/public record clean.
Thanks in advance for any help on this matter. I'll be watching this thread very closely so if I need to elaborate on anything I'll be sure to do so right away.What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?