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How does a court order judgment work and when and how long does it stay on a credit report?

October 16th, 2008
Alias asked:


I just recently received a judgement from small claims court for a medical bill debt of $500. When will it be reported to the credit bureau and is there a way to prevent this should I come up with the money to satisfy the debt?

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  1. pamela L
    October 16th, 2008 at 14:30 | #1
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    You need to repost this question in the “law” section.

  2. donald e
    October 17th, 2008 at 21:31 | #2
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    now that there is a judgement it will get reported to the credit bureaus, and it will remain there for at least 7 years, even if you pay it now. if you own property real estate, it can be attached as a lien against the property and you will not be able to sell or refinance without settling the judgement at closing. they will take it fro the proceeds. almost all lenders will require that it be paid during a refi, it most definitely will affect your credit score and rates that you are offered in the future, if you are now willing to pay it you should have done so before it became a judgement. and no there is no way to prevent it from being reported even if you come up with the money now.

  3. SPIFIMAN1
    October 17th, 2008 at 21:57 | #3
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    The second poster is correct, once judgments are issued by the courts there is no way to prevent them from becoming part of your credit report.

    It will continue to show weather you pay it or not for 7-years or until the statute of limitations runs out whichever is longer.

  4. Robert
    October 19th, 2008 at 08:17 | #4
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    Once a judgement has been filed against you, it can be reported to the credit bureaus immediately. Once there, if you do not work to have it removed (yes, contrary to popular myth, you can remove judgements under certain circumstances) it can be reported for up to 10 years, 15 in some states. Paying it off will not remove it from your report. However, you can get it to show that it has been paid.

    If the way the judgement was reported to the credit bureaus violates the Fair Credit Reporting Act in any way, it MUST be removed from your report. It is not too difficult to show that it violates at least one of the over 300 provisions in the FCRA. Read the FCRA or hire a professional credit repair company. Read my article about how to find a legitimate and reputable company before going this route, though. The link is provided below.

    If you have any other questions regarding credit issues, please feel free to contact me at

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