Judgement Paid, Plaintiff Refuses to File as Paid

What is the name of your state? Wisconsin

We rented a house in Dane County Wisconsin. We terminated our lease early due to mouse infestation and a job transfer. The owner overcharged us rent for a few months. We thought that we were paid up thru December and we weren't. He sold the house and closed in January. In the spring he took us to Small Claims Court for half of December's rent and January's rent, and a few other bogus charges. The judge ordered us to pay for rent for December and January. We paid him October 8. I know for a fact he received the cashier's check because I sent it UPS. He has also acknowledged on the phone that he got the check, cashed it and was going to file the papers with the court that it was satisfied on October 10th. He still has not done it. He said he is not going to so that our credit is ruined longer. How long does he legally have to report this as satisfied? What is our recourse for knowingly ruining our credit? We are trying to get a mortgage and need this cleared up by November 1st.

Also we have since moved to Illinois. If we can sue him for damages for not informing the court we have satisfied the judgement, can we sue him in Illinois?

Thanks.

Have you contacted the Court's Clerk to see if you can submit proof that this Judgment was Satisfied , so they will enter it as so ?

It is up to the Plaintiff however to advise the court that the Judgment has been satisfied. If they intentionally supply Or Willingly / knowingly allow this False information to be reported you can sue them.

Have your proof of payment of Judgment , and get the tracking info from UPS , to prove payment was made and received by the Plaintiff.

If the CRAs enter this false report, dispute it and demand it be removed.

I'd write the Plaintiff a " PLEASE BE NOTICED " letter.

That if the plaintiff willingly/knowing allows a False report to be entered against you ,you will file a lawsuit against him/her.
That the Landlord Immediately file the Satisfaction with the court.

Contact the bank and get a copy of the cashiers check, front and back. You need that to PROVE that he was paid.

Are you sure that you paid the judgment in FULL?? Based on your post, the judgment could have accrued interest from the date of judgment until paid. Did you include that in your payment.

Also, did you payment include the awarded court costs??

If yes to all the above, the first thing to do would be to send a copy of your proof to the creditor (certified RRR) and demand that he provide a signed 'Satisfaction of Judgment' to you and to the court.

If that doesn't work, then contact the court. Upon presenting proof of payment in FULL, some courts can then issue a "Satisfaction of Judgment", some courts order the creditor to file one, and some courts will allow you to force them to do so.

We did pay it in full. He told us the amount we were to pay the day I got the check. We called the court and will have to go that route. The plaintiff either won't answer our calls or when we ask him to file the papers hangs up. Can we sue him here in IL for knowingly ruining our credit by not reporting it as satisfied? He is the reason we haven't been approved for a mortgage yet. He is the only thing holding the process up. Thanks.

unix7481 said:

We did pay it in full. He told us the amount we were to pay the day I got the check. We called the court and will have to go that route. The plaintiff either won't answer our calls or when we ask him to file the papers hangs up. Can we sue him here in IL for knowingly ruining our credit by not reporting it as satisfied? He is the reason we haven't been approved for a mortgage yet. He is the only thing holding the process up. Thanks.

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My response:

You need to file a "motion to compel satisfaction of the judgment" against the Plaintiff in the court where judgment was rendered. No other State has jurisdiction to hear this matter. Where an award has in fact been paid in whole or in part, the court has power to order a complete or partial satisfaction of judgment.

Good luck.

IAAL

"Can we sue him here in IL for knowingly ruining our credit by not reporting it as satisfied?"
*** Probably. But before you can do that, you have to go through a process of 'noticing' him of your demand and give him 30 days to correct his 'error'. If he refuses, then you could file a lawsuit claiming 'defamation of credit' and 'financial injury'. Your reference caselaw is: US Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, No. 00-15946, Nelson vs. Chase Manhattan.

The problem you will have is that you will have to prove DAMAGES and at this point, you haven't suffered any.

For more on suing creditors and debt collectors, go to:
http://www.creditinfocenter.com/eBooks/PoorMansClassActionLawsuit.shtml

JETX said:

"Can we sue him here in IL for knowingly ruining our credit by not reporting it as satisfied?"
*** Probably. But before you can do that, you have to go through a process of 'noticing' him of your demand and give him 30 days to correct his 'error'. If he refuses, then you could file a lawsuit claiming 'defamation of credit' and 'financial injury'. Your reference caselaw is: US Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, No. 00-15946, Nelson vs. Chase Manhattan.

The problem you will have is that you will have to prove DAMAGES and at this point, you haven't suffered any.

For more on suing creditors and debt collectors, go to:
http://www.creditinfocenter.com/eBooks/PoorMansClassActionLawsuit.shtml

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My response:

JetX, I humbly disagree.

Our writer, despite the fact that he's now in Illinois, we need to remember that this matter was heard in Small Claims court, in Wisconsin.

Since our writer is undoubtedly unable, at this point, to show or prove damages, you have nonetheless suggested that he file a case for "Defamation of Credit" in Illinois, in Federal court - - by citing a "Federal" case. Our writer, most probably, cannot satisfy Federal Diversity jurisdiction in order to file in Illinois district court.

Therefore, I contend, that since Wisconsin has jurisdiction, that our writer will have to file a "Motion", as I suggested, in that court - - which would be easier and faster to get to where our writer needs to go - - and that is to have a "Satisfaction of Judgment" to show to his potential mortgagors.

I humbly present this to you, with all due respect and admiration, your friend,

IAAL

IAAL, I agree with you on the jurisdiction on the original case being kept by the original court.

However, I feel that the issue of 'defamation of credit' is a new claim arising solely out of the issue of the creditor failing to comply with the requirements of the FCRA. As such, the FCRA allows this NEW action to be brought in any 'competent court'.

Specifically:
§ 618. Jurisdiction of courts; limitation of actions [15 U.S.C. § 1681p]
An action to enforce any liability created under this title may be brought in any appropriate United States district court without regard to the amount in controversy, or in any other court of competent jurisdiction, within two years from the date on which the liability arises, except that where a defendant has materially and willfully misrepresented any information required under this title to be disclosed to an individual and the information so misrepresented is material to the establishment of the defendant's liability to that individual under this title, the action may be brought at any time within two years after discovery by the individual of the misrepresentation.
Source: http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/fcra.htm#616

Of course, this is offered to you purely in the context of a respectable discussion and is not meant to be derisive or confrontational.

Thanks for all the advice. Actually if this doesn't get showed as satisfied it will damage us--we might not be approved for our mortgage(one of the contingencies is that the judgement is satisfied) and we could lose our escrow payment of $2500. The other thing that is damaging us is that it has made our PMI level skyrocket to $700 a month once we are approved. So since he is being a jerk we are screwed. He told my husband that he is not going to file them in time just to screw us. Thanks again.

unix7481 said:

Thanks for all the advice. Actually if this doesn't get showed as satisfied it will damage us--we might not be approved for our mortgage(one of the contingencies is that the judgement is satisfied) and we could lose our escrow payment of $2500. The other thing that is damaging us is that it has made our PMI level skyrocket to $700 a month once we are approved. So since he is being a jerk we are screwed. He told my husband that he is not going to file them in time just to screw us. Thanks again.

Click to expand...

My response:

Actually, both JetX and I are correct - - but we're coming at your problem from two different angles. I'll explain . . .

In my argument, I'm trying to give you the quickest and easiest way from Point "A" to Point "B" - - that is, hire an attorney in Wisconsin from your new State of Illinois; in other words, GET ON THE TELEPHONE and hire a Wisconsin attorney to file your Motion (See above), and get the court to issue you a Satisfaction of Judgment that you need. This will "Mitigate" your potential damages; i.e., you'll be able to get a new mortgage and a lower PMI.

Then, if you want, you can file a NEW action from Illinois in Federal District court against the landlord (as a new Defendant), and sue him for the damages to your credit, AND for the attorney's fee and costs you expended on filing the "Motion".

But, you need to file the MOTION to have your Satisfaction of Judgment filed NOW, to "mitigate" your damages, and do so in the original court because THAT'S where the judgment is located.

Good luck to you.

IAAL

And of course, I agree with IAAL.

Based on your latest post, "time if of the essence" on this and you really can't afford to wait for a possible 'defamation' issue to be filed and resolved. Get that judgment released ASAP.