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ohioneedinghelp · Oct 30, 2008, 06:44 AM

2 years ago I was sued regarding a medical debt, after contacting the attorney we agreed to payments. They said I would not have to go to court and there would be nothing in my credit report if I paid as required. The last payment is about to be made and I noticed that they filed a judgement on my credit report. Any way of removing??

Fr_Chuck · Oct 30, 2008, 07:18 AM

If there was a actual judgement made at the courthouse, silly you for not showing up with an agreed to payment plan, ** you listened to "THEIR" attorney.

But if the judgement was given at the court house, it is public record and can not be removed normally

ScottGem · Oct 30, 2008, 07:24 AM

Yep, sounds like you were scammed a bit. What I suspect happened, is you got a summons. Instead of submitting an Intent to Defend to the court, you contacted the plaintiff's attorney and reached a settlement agreement. So you never answered the summons. The plaintiff then went to court and got a default judgement because you didn't show up. As long as paid according to agreement they had no reason to use the judgement. But had you missed a payment, they would have used it immediately.

The mistake you made was to get it in writing that they would drop the suit and then follow-up.

Because the judgement was obtained and became a matter of public record, it was picked up by the credit bureaus. The only thing you can do now is make sure the plaintiff enters a notice that the judgement was paid

excon · Oct 30, 2008, 07:34 AM

Hello Ohio:

You have the right to challenge any entry on your credit report if it's not correct. I would. The worst that can happen is it stays on.

excon

ohioneedinghelp · Oct 30, 2008, 09:58 AM

Silly me for being sick, on oxygen, home bound due to in home nursing care, trying to sort through $400,000 in medical bills and not being able to handle all of it... I guess it was too much to ask that I could trust someone on their word. I feel very taken advantage of by this attorney but that's par for the course. I missed this one bill thinking my insurance would handle it, even making payments to the hospital in the interim but none of that mattered in the end, oh well live and learn. I do know that I will never use that particular hospital again...

ScottGem · Oct 30, 2008, 10:06 AM

The plaintiff was just protecting his interests, though in a somewhat underhanded way. I've heard of plaintiffs agreeing to a payment schedule, then getting the default judgement and immediately freezing bank accounts. The plaintiff kept his word about not reporting it, it was picked up the bureaus when the judgement became public record.

excon · Oct 30, 2008, 10:06 AM

Hello again, ohio:

I don't know know your situation other than what little you've allowed us to learn. However, if you're overwhelmed with $400K in medical bills, and you can't pay, then just include this judgment in your bankruptcy.

Your credit won't be any worse off.

OR, if you're an elderly person who's not going to be buying a house or shopping at the mall, you're judgment proof, and nobody is going to sue you or be able to collect anything either.

Of course, I made some BOLD assumptions about you. But, what I'm trying to say is, depending upon your situation, there ARE things you can do, including going after that bum lawyer.

excon