$*@& $*(#& American Express!!!

[BxRcvor]

Hi all. It's almost 4 years now since my CH7 discharge. Things seem to be going well. And, then, I saw the following, this morning.

Every so often, I "Google" myself, just to see what it shows. When I did it this morning, I came upon a site called "UniCourt" which, apparently, is a database of Court cases as filed in various Court clerk's offices (mostly State and County courts). Lo and behold, I discovered the record for the original lawsuit case American Express Centurion Bank filed against me for the Debt Collection. Its status is "Pending - Other Pending." There is no record of any updates since the original filing in 2018. They were the only creditor that went "all the way" and filed a lawsuit. Like I said, "$*@& $*(#&".

Of course, the CH7 filing I completed in April, 2019 (discharged 07/30/2019) negated and cancelled the above lawsuit. It now shows on the County Clerk's records as "Closed." But, apparently, this "Unicourt" database didn't get the memo, and they haven't updated the record to reflect that the case was closed based on the CH7 filing. The court case does not have a status of "dismissed," meaning that the judge took action. That could be a factor, but I'm not sure. Perhaps, I could file a petition to have the case declared "dismissed," but not sure if I need to do that.

Ordinarily, this wouldn't be a big deal, with one exception. A year ago, I started a new business as a "Notary Public." I'm fully commissioned, etc. etc. And I've passed all the background checks needed for that commission as well as being a "Loan Signing Agent" which requires a background check every year. I would imagine that if my Ch7 was a problem in re: my new status as a Notary Public, I'd have been DQ'ed by now. I haven't been. Not by the State of Florida, at least.

However, when people are looking for a new Notary and they Google my name, and this UniCourt record comes up, that could very well dissuade a lot of potential customers! So, now I'm wondering what to do. I have followed Unicourt's procedure for "Name Redaction" but I don't know how successful that will be, as they seem to have a "Public has a right to know" mindset about them. I will also check with my County Clerk's office to see if they can send Unicourt an update to change the record. Short of taking "legal action" against Unicourt (for which which I have no idea as to the feasibility), I'm not sure what else I can do. I wonder if I could file suit against their practice of making the their database "indexable/searchable" to Google. I'll keep everyone posted on what happens with Unicourt. But has anyone ever had any issues with a company like this and how did you resolve them?

Regards,
Arnold.

[BxRcvor]

An Update to the above. I've spoken to my county clerk's office. Apparently, the lawyer for AMEX did file a request to dismiss the suit. The judge did sign that dismissal order, but the AMEX lawyer never paid to have the dismissal order "published" to the County Clerk's office. Therefore, the UniCourt system never picked that up. And again, "$*@& $*(#& American Express!"

But, as it turns out, the clerk's office allowed me to publish it myself (certified copy) for a nominal fee ($14.00). No sweat! So we'll see if they (UniCourt) alters the record accordingly. Still, I want my name off their record and I want it to no longer be "Google-indexable." Lot's of luck with that, I know... but...

Regards,
Arnold

[rodsren]

H

An Update to the above. I've spoken to my county clerk's office. Apparently, the lawyer for AMEX did file a request to dismiss the suit. The judge did sign that dismissal order, but the AMEX lawyer never paid to have the dismissal order "published" to the County Clerk's office. Therefore, the UniCourt system never picked that up. And again, "$*@& $*(#& American Express!"

But, as it turns out, the clerk's office allowed me to publish it myself (certified copy) for a nominal fee ($14.00). No sweat! So we'll see if they (UniCourt) alters the record accordingly. Still, I want my name off their record and I want it to no longer be "Google-indexable." Lot's of luck with that, I know... but...

Regards,
Arnold

Hey Arnold: Thank you for putting in your posting. Some time ago, when i googled my name, I found that the only ones that went
all the way" were BofA using my mother's mailing address and through the same company (thankfully not on the first page, I had to type my name and Bank Of America.). Same thing "UniCourt" status "pending." It was for some 40,000. UGLY. And I can't even get a copy of the judgment (although it is listed in the list of documents) because I am not a "member" which is a minimal $49. This is ridiculous. Mine is in a backwater county in way upstate new york. Any thoughts you might have would be most appreciated. RSR

[rodsren]

You might also want to google yourself and "Trellis law, they are in the same business as UniCourt.

[BxRcvor]

H
Hey Arnold: Thank you for putting in your posting. Some time ago, when i googled my name, I found that the only ones that went
all the way" were BofA using my mother's mailing address and through the same company (thankfully not on the first page, I had to type my name and Bank Of America.). Same thing "UniCourt" status "pending." It was for some 40,000. UGLY. And I can't even get a copy of the judgment (although it is listed in the list of documents) because I am not a "member" which is a minimal $49. This is ridiculous. Mine is in a backwater county in way upstate new york. Any thoughts you might have would be most appreciated. RSR

I wouldn't go to UniCourt for that (copy of the judgement). If you need a copy, I'd suggest a very gentle "pestering" of the County Clerk's office where it would be (or was) filed. You say it's New York State, but I see your profile state is California. A bit of a challenge, I'd imagine. Just do what you can to pester the clerk's office without pi$$ing them off.

Normally, I would not be all that concerned with what my Google Index might say about me in re: legal actions (there really aren't any.... save for the above and, maybe, the 2 traffic tickets I got in over 45 years of driving. However, given my position as a Notary Public in Florida, it is possible that being involved in an active lawsuit might compromise my position. So, I have to worry about things like UniCourt which may not say that the suit was dismissed when, in fact, it was, and it had already been dismissed before I became a Notary Public.

[rodsren]

An Update to the above. I've spoken to my county clerk's office. Apparently, the lawyer for AMEX did file a request to dismiss the suit. The judge did sign that dismissal order, but the AMEX lawyer never paid to have the dismissal order "published" to the County Clerk's office. Therefore, the UniCourt system never picked that up. And again, "$*@& $*(#& American Express!"

But, as it turns out, the clerk's office allowed me to publish it myself (certified copy) for a nominal fee ($14.00). No sweat! So we'll see if they (UniCourt) alters the record accordingly. Still, I want my name off their record and I want it to no longer be "Google-indexable." Lot's of luck with that, I know... but...

Regards,
Arnold

Great info and thanks! I got a copy of the New York State Judgment. The statute of limitations is up until December 2024, so poof to that 40K judgment oince I send in the notarization forms. The 4 I found out about, I was not properly served, tempted to contest them. Also, they seem to be duplicates (2 for around 12K, 2 for around 22K-each pair with a different attorney and judge but in the same courthouse in California -technically LA county, Chatsworth Superior Court.) The reason for the possible contest is that the statute of limitations in California is ten years, so 6 more years of that being google-able.