A judgment means a creditor or debt collector is suing you for payment. This typically occurs with unsecured debt.

A judgment gives the plaintiff legal grounds to try and recover payment for up to 20 years. It is becoming common for debt collectors to renew judgments.

This means if no payment is recovered after 20 years then the plaintiff can file a renewal and be allowed to try and collect payment for another 20 years. A judgment will dramatically lower your credit score.

You should also know that if you pay a judgment it will still be a negative mark on your credit report. This is because the listing will only change to a "satisfied judgment" and this is still a negative mark.

The best way to remove a judgment is to dispute the listing. This is done directly with the credit bureaus.

You must send them a letter disputing the validity and/or accuracy of the judgment. If the judgment can not be verified then it must be removed. This is the law and it was passed by congress (Fair Credit Reporting Act).

However it is not as easy as dropping a letter in the mailbox. It is common for credit bureaus to ignore or erroneously respond to dispute letters.

This is because it costs the credit bureaus money to investigate a dispute. This is why some people have found it beneficial to hire a professional credit repair company that is familiar with the credit bureaus tactics.

It has been found that most disputed listings are removed regardless of their accuracy. This is because it costs the debt collectors money to verify a negative listing with the credit bureaus.

On the occasions when a judgment is verified then settle the judgment with the creditor and in exchange have the creditor remove the judgment from your credit report. Your payment is your leverage to get them to remove the listing from your credit report.