Removing a Civil Judgement from CR

[Taxed]

The facts: I filed for bk, and my debts were successfully discharged on 7/21/2009. At the same time I initially filed, my mortgage company began foreclosure proceedings; as I was surrendering the property, it wasn't a big deal - they got a relief from stay and continued the foreclosure proceedings. Utimately, the foreclosure went through (though the house has not yet been auctioned, but that is neither here nor there).

The issue: A civil judgement is being reported on my credit report in the amount of the mortgage balance. The civil judgment date is after the discharge date of my Chapter 7 bk.

The question: How the heck do I get the civil judgement removed from my credit report? Obviously, the debt was discharged in bankruptcy, so I don't owe anything, but, when the CRA goes to "investigate", the prothonotary reports that my name in on the judgement, regardless of the fact that the judgement is actually against the property and not me. It is VERY frustrating, as I have attempted to dispute this item a couple of times now only to have the CRA come back and tell me that it has been verified and the judgement is correct.

[DebtEnder]

Then you go back to those that are reporting as a judgement. If they fail to remove it then you report them. There are various court rulings in regards to credit reporting after BK. In short it is ruled as a form of collection attempt and as you know that is a clear violation of the discharge injunction.

[Flamingo]

What is happening here is the property is still in your name. Contact the attorney who handled your BK and have him/her send a letter enclosing proper copies of documents and/or discharge papers to your mortgage company (I am assuming that is who had the judgment entered). Our attorney told us that if any creditors gives us a hard time as to any account or tries to collect after our discharge to contact him immediately.

The judgment will have to be satisfied and removed by your mortgage company if that is who entered it before it will be able to be removed from your credit reports. Hopefully you have some patience...

[Taxed]

Thanks for the input. I guess I'm confused, as the CR list the prothonotary (court house) as the source verifying the judgement. Obviously, there is a foreclosure judgement, however, I was discharged from responsibility for the debt in bk, before the foreclosure occurred. My name is on all the foreclosure papers (even though the action is essentially against the property and not me). If the prothonotary is the one verifying, and not the mortgage company, how do I get rid of the judgement? This is a ridiculous mess... Also, I did contact my lawyer upon the foreclosure initially reporting, and he stated that he could draft a letter, but I delcined, as I can provide the same information (bk discharge, and creditor listing). However, it seems that even this may not be enough to get the public record removed.

[Flamingo]

You need to or have your attorney contact the party who issued the action to obtain the judgment. Get a copy of the judgment entered against you and proceed from there. All the information you need should be in the judgment itself. Your name was on all the papers because you are the owner of the property until the title changes hands.

[Taxed]

Looking at the paperwork, it is definitely an "in rem" judgement, meaning it is against the property. I'm assuming the CRAs just keep verifiying the my name is on the judgement; they don't seem to care/realize that there is no personal liability involved. Do I send copies of the judgement paperwork, highlighting the parts were it states that the action is not a judgement of personal liability? Of course, I would send another letter - explaining the situation yet again.

I just don't understand how they can mark my original dispute as verified, when, if someone actually looked at the judgement, it clearly states that it is "in rem" and the original complaint filing clearly states that an "in rem" judgement is not a personal liability.

I am correct that this should not be reporting on my personal credit report, right?

[rkraft]

Judgement Removed

I am going through the same exact issue with having a IN REM judgement removed. I did not go through a Bankruptcy as the loan in question was fraudently created. Trans Union removed the judgement based on the paperwork from the court HOWEVER experian is not cooperating with the IN REM judgement. As with the previous post the judgement specfically calls out that I am not personally liable. The issue at hand with Experian is they have no idea what IN REM means (at least the people I am speaking with) and therefore no movement to properly reflect the correct status of the judgement.


Any ideas on how I can move this along with Experian.

Thanks