Derogatory Public Record!
Hi All,
I have a judgment against me on my credit report. The judgment was satisfied back in 2001 but every time I pull up my credit score, one of the reasons for a lower score is that I have “Serious Delinquency and Derogatory Public Record Filed". Or I also get "Length of time since Derogatory Public Record or Collection is too short".
What can I do to correct this and why is this still having a negative impact years after it has been paid off?
I've considered disputing it to see if it'll fall off but am worried that this will only cause it to renew itself and stay on my report even longer if it is verified? (I admit it's mine, but I don't know why it is having such an impact so many years after paying it off). What can I do about this annoying issue?
Thanks in advance for your help.
JS.
JS,
If it's legitimate, I'm not sure that there is much you can do. They aren't saying that you still owe anything. Thats what credit reports are supposed to do. Report history for 7-10 years. Just make sure you have something in writing showing that this is paid off and no more is due for the banks.
I have heard of people writing a goodwill adjustment letter, pleading your case to whomever put this on your report. They put it on there, they would be the ones to remove it. It worked for me to get a couple of late pays removed from the history on a otherwise perfect long-term credit card account.
JohnCl
Dispute it. If they verify, wait a month and dispute it again. There is no way they can legally update the date of last activity.
This could be a great time to dispute it. With the Holidays, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, and New Years here, a lot of people take time off. My belief is they have 30 days to document the info or remove it. If they are short handed by vacation days they may not be able to keep up. I used that tactic several years ago and it worked, I can't say that is why. But the point is it worked.
You made the debt right as did I, you deserve to move on. Good Luck!!
DS