What Is A Credit Card Judgment?
A credit card judgment is a court order that acknowledges that a customer owes a debt, and gives a creditor the right to seize assets in repayment for this debt. This article looks at what a judgment means for your credit and how you can recover from it.
An example of a way in which a judgment can come about is if a cardholder has not been meeting their minimum credit card repayments, and has ignored repeated requests from the card provider to rectify their account.
Ideally you should not let a debt get to the stage of a judgment. If you have outstanding payments to be made, the first step is to go to the credit card operator. They may be willing to settle for a reduced amount if you pay the balance off in full, or agree to a set monthly payment for a specified period of time.
If you fail to make an agreement, the debt may then be passed on to a collections agency. This means that you can no longer able to deal with the credit card provider. Debt collection agencies will often still try to avoid going to court, as it costs them significant time and money just to recover a relatively small amount, so they may still be willing to settle for an agreed lump sum or monthly payment.
If it does eventually come to the stage of a judgment, you have a right to appear at your hearing and plead your case. If the debt is not yours, or the seizing of assets would place you in serious difficulties, then the judge has it in their power to alter the ruling, though this looked at on an individual basis.
Not all assets can be seized, and the judge will detail exactly what assets can be taken. Alternatively the judgment can rule that funds will be taken out your bank account to repay the debt, set a ruling to garnish your wages (subject to state law), or even file liens on your property if you own one.
A Credit card judgment is bad news for your credit report. It will flag up as a significant black mark on your credit report, meaning that if and when you apply for another credit product in the future, you are unlikely to be accepted for it, or will be offered an alternative product that carries a significantly worse interest rate.
A judgment can also have further reaching implications, and may flag up when potential employers carry out a job search or if you apply for home or car insurance. In summary, it will make your life more difficult and expensive.
The best advice is always to pay the debt off as quickly as possible. You could put a percentage of your wages aside to make a payment off the amount every week, or pay a monthly lump sum. Once the amount has been paid off you are able to contact the credit reporting bureaus and have the judgment deleted or updated on your credit report – and a paid judgment looks a lot better to future creditors than an unpaid one.
Failing all else, the black mark will eventually be removed from your credit report after around seven years, but it is strongly suggested that you do not let it get to this stage.
For more about a credit card judgement or online credit repair visit us.