I have a judgment on my credit report from Erin Capital Management for an old Citibank credit card debt.
The judgment on my credit report from ECM was from the summer of 2006. I was never served, or anything of the kind, yet my credit report shows this judgment. The last time I corresponded with anyone regarding this debt was January of 2004.
(Subsequent research informs me that this is not an unusual practice with ECM; they apparently serve papers to an address you once held, even if you no longer reside there, and so when you don't show up in court, the judgment is against you, by default.)
Just recently, I received a letter from a collection agency (Northland Group Inc.) assigned to this debt by the creditor, Erin Capital Management.
The letter states that Erin Capital Management is the creditor of my account and that Northland Group Inc. has been assigned the account.
Now, I want to do whatever I can to make good on this debt. I don't want to do the Statute of Limitations thing, even though that's approaching in 9 months.
Mostly, I hope to have the judgment removed from my credit report via a Pay for Delete.
But I don't know if I'm supposed to strike a "Pay for Delete" deal with Northland Group (the collection agency apparently assigned to this account by Erin Capital Management), or if I am supposed to settle this account with Erin Capital Management, who apparently still owns this account.
Is my very first step Debt Validation with Northland Group Inc.?
After debt validation, is my next step a Pay for Delete request to Northland Group Inc.?
I don't want to validate and pay this debt with Northland Group if Northland Group has no power to remove a judgment from my credit report placed there in July of 2006 by Erin Capital Management, who apparently still owns this account to this very day.
Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.
A judgment is a public record and it can never be removed from your credit report before the period of seven years. The creditor has not sold the debt to the collection agency. It has only given them the right to collect the debt. You can definitely ask for debt validation, but the creditor will not agree to delete judgment from your credit report through pay for deletion agreement.
Yes, since your creditor Erin Capital Management has already brought judgment against you to recover the debt, even they do not agree to remove any negative item from your report, you have to pay it off, else the creditor can garnish your wage or your bank account to recover the same. Debt validation should always be the first step before you pay off a debt because through DV, you can become sure whether the CA that demands the debt actually owns your debt or not.
Thank you, both, for your replies.
Yes, I understand that this is a public record, but isn't it possible to have anything removed from a credit report--public record, or not?
I'm not asking that the public record be stricken from the municipal court system of the State of New York. I'm just hoping for the trade line to be removed from my personal credit report.
Neither of you are thinking that's possible, huh?
Doesn't Erin Capital Management have a certain power over what they put on my credit report and what they remove?
In other matters:
Should I ignore Northland Group and simply write to Erin Capital Management, who is still the creditor of the account (according to Northland Group)?
I could write something to the effect of, "I see a judgment against me by you from July of 2006 on my credit report. Blah, blah, blah..."
I could approach it in a Pay for Delete manner. And by that, I mean that my letter would state that I am not acknowledging this debt as my own, but see this judgment on my credit report and would like to propose paying $XXXX.XX to bring the matter to closure and to have the item removed from my credit report.
Even if Erin Capital Management refuses to remove the trade line (or, by law, is actually unable to), perhaps they will accept this offer and bring the matter to closure?
And if they do not do even that, then I would begin the Debt Validation process with Erin Capital Management.
Bottom line: I would like to sidestep Northland Group, if possible.
Or is my first step still debt validation with Northland Group?
Even if Northland Group can't validate my debt, I still want to bring this matter to closure with Erin Capital Management, so what's the point of even approaching Northland Group?
Or might I possibly get a better settlement deal with Northland Group because they are a party once removed from Erin Capital Management?
I don't want to go through the process of sending Northland Group a lump sum settlement only to someday have Erin Capital Management continue to pursue me...
Having written all of that, I just did some online research and I think I actually need to pursue "Vacating a Judgment."
Erin Capital Management never served me. I wasn't even residing in the State of New York at the time of this process.
My next bit of research is to determine if the laws of the State of New York state that one must be served either in person, or via Certified/Registered Mail. Because that most definitely did not occur.
However, if regular first class mail is sufficient (which I understand it can be, in some states), then it will be more difficult to prove that I was not served.
One step at a time...
I continue to welcome any assistance.