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Long story short... my brother ditched an apartment I allowed him to take over after having to move across town for family issues. He promise to pay it and He paid for 6 months...then he broke the lease and never told me. Long Story short... I got sued and now have a judgment on my record.
Friday I paid the judgement... and within 30 days it should show paid.
However, I'm moving to LA in March for my new job and I have to find a place by Feb. However, all of the landlords I contacted told me that the judgment is an automatic denial... even though I explained to them what happened.
I even explained to the apartment manager what happened.
Anyhow... I paid the judgment off $4,500 cash.
Now what? I know some landlords still won't rent even after paid off.
You can dispute it. If the apartment manager doesn't confirm the dispute, it will fall off of your credit report. I would contact the apartment manager, fall on you sword, and ask him to ignore it, so that it goes away. Most small creditors relax once they've been paid. I did that with a small collection account once and it worked. Good Luck!
What I will see on a credit report is the judgement, the amount of the judgement, and how much is still owed on the judgement. If I see that a judgement of $4500 was made and the balance owed is $0, then I know it has been paid (or you went through bankruptcy, but a bankruptcy will also show on the credit report)
Also, do you have a receipt that shows it was paid in full? That will help. Will the landlord who filed for the judgement give you a good reference? That landlord should know what happened.
Some landlords won't take you (I wouldn't), but some landlords will. You have to just keep applying.
I suggest that you take the "paid" receipt when you go to apply and discuss it with the manager before you pay the application fee. There is no point in paying money to apply if the manager tells you up front that it is a deal breaker.
Long story short... my brother ditched an apartment I allowed him to take over after having to move across town for family issues. He promise to pay it and He paid for 6 months...then he broke the lease and never told me. Long Story short... I got sued and now have a judgment on my record.
Friday I paid the judgement... and within 30 days it should show paid.
However, I'm moving to LA in March for my new job and I have to find a place by Feb. However, all of the landlords I contacted told me that the judgment is an automatic denial... even though I explained to them what happened.
I even explained to the apartment manager what happened.
Anyhow... I paid the judgment off $4,500 cash.
Now what? I know some landlords still won't rent even after paid off.
The reason you are running into this problem is twofold. I'm not judging, just explaining.
1st, a prior landlord you rented from had to sue you (whatever the reason) because of choices you made. That puts you as a higher risk of future problems. The rent was your responsibility for the remainder of the lease. Your brother sounds like a real peach, but ultimately, the rent was yours to pay. Did you let the landlord know you were subletting to your brother, and gave them your information to contact you if there was a problem? If so, they should have contacted you when there was, you could have paid the amount owed and avoided being sued.
and 2nd, every single person who has ever applied for a rental who has an eviction or a landlord judgment on their credit has a story on why it happened and shouldn't be held against them. So landlords don't want to listen to them.
I would say the vast majority of people who have evictions or judgments either weren't living there at the time it happened (due to a breakup with a significant other, or a sublease like yours, or a dozen other reasons) or else had a major life event that caused their inability to pay. But ultimately, if their name was on the lease, "I didn't know" isn't an adequate excuse.
Most big landlords are not going to be willing to overlook this. You are going to have better luck looking with private owners who don't use a management company.
You can dispute it. If the apartment manager doesn't confirm the dispute, it will fall off of your credit report. I would contact the apartment manager, fall on you sword, and ask him to ignore it, so that it goes away. Most small creditors relax once they've been paid. I did that with a small collection account once and it worked. Good Luck!
This is a court awarded judgment...not an unpaid bill bought by a collection agency.
It may or may not be on their credit report, but if they run anything thru the local courthouse it will show up. Judgments are generally good for 10 yrs and can be renewed if not paid off.
I think it's great that you paid it off and should keep that documentation because there will be someone out there willing to rent to you. The question is, will you be willing to rent from them?
Judgments and evictions are a huge, huge red flag...how is a prospective landlord supposed to trust that you won't do to him what you did to your previous landlord?
I have an eviction on my record from a sublease (no judgements or monies owed) and my current LL just had me drop off a paper to my previous-LL confirming I don't owe them any money. You might find someone willing to do this with you. It's really hard though. I had to have a cosigner for the last 2 years and my current LL just took my cosigner off when we signed a new lease at a new location.
It will still show up in the public records as a judgments for years and in some places for at least 7 years or permanent and if you paid it off in full you should receive a paper that it was paid in full and be part of the judgment showing to be closed out as we did for a tenant who ended up paying. It will need to be notarized. Hopefully you have that and where we live it will show up the minute it is recorded in the public records.
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