how to deal with civil judgement on credit report?
5 years ago i shared an apartment with a friend. He had trouble paying
the rent one month. The landlord was told that rent would be late and
was paid when my friend got the money together. That was that. Or so I
thought. Fast forward 5 years and I have obtained a copy of my credit
report and it turns out that the landlord got a judgement aganst me 5
years ago for the rent. First I have heard of this!! Both of our names
were on the lease.
So, if I wait a few years this crap will go away on its own(7 year
limit) anyway but is their any way I can take care of this on my credit
report now!?
you signed a contract. you defaulted, didn't show up in court
(or had moved, but still owed rent) and the landlord got a
default judgment.
a court judgment is a matter of *public* record, available to
anyone who wants to search court records. and no, there is no
way to get it off your credit record.
treat this as a lesson: when you sign a contract where you are
jointly liable with another person, you are liable for the entire
amount if the other party doesn't pay. if you sign a joint
lease, make sure that the landlord releases you from the lease IN
WRITING if you decide to move.