Judgement still on credit report...not reporting as discharged.

[mauirayne]

Hello Everyone,
I was discharged chapter 7 on the 27th of this month. so.....today I was happy to see an email alert from my credit watch regarding the discharge.

little problem......

the judgement that I had on there that was included in my filing was updated 2 days after my discharge and still shows as owing ...it does not say anything about discharged in bankruptcy anywhere on it. I can see where the original account has been discharged, but the judgement linked to it is not reporting as discharged. Everything else on there is correct and reporting as discharged.

I am worried because it updated 2 days after everything else was updated to reflect the discharge.

I am going to call my attorney tomorrow, but this is really freaking me out. Anyone else have anything similar happen????

Thank you

[bcohen]

It is true that as a result of your bankruptcy discharge, you are no longer responsible for paying the actual debt. However, even though the debt itself is gone, the judgement was validly granted and must be vacated. This is a separate procedure, which requires that you file a motion with the court where the judgement was originally granted. This will likely cost money, but is well worth it because failing to have the judgement vacated could result in your wages/bank account being garnished or a lien being placed on real estate which you own or later acquire.

After the motion is granted and the judgement is vacated, it can still show on your credit report that you had a judgement, though it must be updated to say "judgement resolved through bankruptcy" and a zero balance owed. This can remain for 7 years.