I need some advice - I lived in Pittsburgh in '77-'78 (Harrisburg: insurance)

[dataguy]

Moved to be with a girlfriend.
I was young and stupid but it was worth it.
Three days before I left to move back to Upstate New York, I got in a minor fender bender in Carnegie with an old pick up truck. I was driving a 1962 VW Bug so I got the worst of it. We exchanged info, no big deal. After I left, he filed a judgment against me and won. A whopping sum or $267.00 and I was unaware that any of this had happened. Now, out of nowhere, I go to the DMV in Orlando, Florida and they tell me I can't get a Florida DL because there's a red flag in Pennsylvania. So, I make some phone calls to PennDot and other Allegheny county offices (such as the office of the Prothonotary) and NO ONE can seem to help me get this cleared up. To make matters worse, someone I was talking to told me that the person that filed the judgment may have died back in the late '80's and that's possible because when the accident occured I seem to remember that the guy was in his late 50's early 60's and that was 1978.

One kind person at PennDot told me "I don't think you are going to be able to handle this by yourself" and a Pittsburgh lawyer told me that it could cost thousands to get this cleared because of the amount of research involved. In the meantime, no drivers license. City-Data has always been one of those places where you can get answers for unusual questions. Well, here you go! Anybody got any suggestions for me? All I want to do is pay the judgment and any penalities and interest and make it go away. HELP!

[MissShona]

Originally Posted by dataguy

All I want to do is pay the judgment and any penalities and interest and make it go away. HELP!

Um don't quote me on this; but I think they can only add penalties on to a judgment...not interest. The only reason why I say this is because I used to run searches on individuals for outstanding judgments for a title insurance company, and some of them would be quite old...but still in the original amounts. Again, I don't know for sure...but I myself haven't heard of it.

[Condorll]

Can you pay the $267.00 judgement directly to the courts?
Maybe call them.

[doc_medich]

Originally Posted by MissShona

Um don't quote me on this; but I think they can only add penalties on to a judgment...not interest. The only reason why I say this is because I used to run searches on individuals for outstanding judgments for a title insurance company, and some of them would be quite old...but still in the original amounts. Again, I don't know for sure...but I myself haven't heard of it.

I know one can charge 10% annual interest on a judgement in California (I only know this due to doing some research + this is the state I currently reside in) Not sure about Pa.

You'd need a case docket number. Not sure how far back public records are kept, but you could somehow get a copy of your tri-merged credit report (maybe apply for a loan or some type of credit account)? You may or may not be declined-dependent upon whether the judgment appears. You then can immediately write to the appropriate credit reporting agency to obtain a copy of your report. This process may take up to a month though (not sure how much time you have to wait).

Do you know anyone who works for a title or escrow company (i.e. mortgage or consumer finance industry)? You could have them run a judgement and lein search for you (not sure what the charge would be).

Your greatest obstacle is this occurred 30 years ago, and that the case info more than likely was never reported to the appropriate agencies when everything was uploaded to databases. You can try the above.

Maybe you can send a certified letter to the Penndot HQ in Harrisburg PA, and request a certified driving history (under your PA DL). This info should appear on your history, since there is a record of this judgement.