Capital One dilemma

[creditwoes101]

Close to 10 years ago, I was going through some tough times and allowed my credit to go into the toilet. Since then I have cleaned up my credit, opened new accounts, and basically raised my credit score to the point that I now get approved easily for cards and get CLI regularly.

 

A few years ago, I decided to look up to see if I had anything listed in my local court system. An old Capital One case popped up. I have no idea if I have a judgement from that. It shows that the case was filed in late Oct 2006. I have no idea if it is a judgement or what. There is no record of a judgement in any of my credit reports. I was never served any papers and I have lived at the same address for almost 15 years. I have heard nothing about this in the last almost 10 years. It does NOT show up in my credit reports, collections or public files.

 

I don't want to kick any sleeping bears especially since the 10 year SOL is due to expire this Oct.

 

Since it is so old, I probably will have to go down to the courthouse to see where it is kept (on the court system it says it was microfilmed. It does NOT say whether it was resolved or what happened).

 

My credit is doing well now but I am afraid to kick this "bear", especially so close to the 10 year SOL.

 

What should I do?

[cv91915]

Close to 10 years ago, I was going through some tough times and allowed my credit to go into the toilet. Since then I have cleaned up my credit, opened new accounts, and basically raised my credit score to the point that I now get approved easily for cards and get CLI regularly.

 

A few years ago, I decided to look up to see if I had anything listed in my local court system. An old Capital One case popped up. I have no idea if I have a judgement from that. It shows that the case was filed in late Oct 2006. I have no idea if it is a judgement or what. There is no record of a judgement in any of my credit reports. I was never served any papers and I have lived at the same address for almost 15 years. I have heard nothing about this in the last almost 10 years. It does NOT show up in my credit reports, collections or public files.

 

I don't want to kick any sleeping bears especially since the 10 year SOL is due to expire this Oct.

 

Since it is so old, I probably will have to go down to the courthouse to see where it is kept (on the court system it says it was microfilmed. It does NOT say whether it was resolved or what happened).

 

My credit is doing well now but I am afraid to kick this "bear", especially so close to the 10 year SOL.

 

What should I do?

 

What does this mean?

[creditwoes101]

What I meant by that was when I looked online in the local records, I found a Capital One case that dated from late Oct. 2006. I was very surprised because I had not heard a peep from Capital One ever since the chargeoff.

[mendelssohn]

I would definitely go to the courthouse and check it out.

 

Hopefully someone like ICAN will confirm this, and I am not an expert on judgements, but I do know that they are renewable. If renewed, it would be another 10 years. I would imagine that if you paid it off, the 10 year reporting period is coming to a close in October so that even if it did report, it would only be for a brief period of time.

 

That's my best take on it.

[creditwoes101]

I'm just confused as to why it never showed up in my credit reports as a judgement or court action. I guess the best thing to do is to go to courthouse to dig it up. Will that be "kicking" the bear?? I don't want to wake up the sleeping bear, especially if it is so close to the 10 yr mark. I wonder if looking up the court records at the courthouse will alert Capital One.

[breeze]

Getting the docs from the courthouse will not wake the bear, and it is the best way to find out what you need to know. Take some cash to pay for copies,

 

edit: don't mind cv he's messing with you. He only messes with people he likes.

[mendelssohn]

Definitely go check it out. You don't want to find out that there is a judgement against you when it renews. Then if it pops up on your reports, it will possibly be stuck there for 10 years.

[cv91915]

Getting the docs from the courthouse will not wake the bear, and it is the best way to find out what you need to know. Take some cash to pay for copies,

 

edit: don't mind cv he's messing with you. He only messes with people he likes.

 

Actually, I wasn't messing at all, I'm genuinely curious. I've always wondered what kind of records are left behind when you are sued but you couldn't be served - or the matter was never heard in court for whatever reason.

 

After some amount of time, I'm wondering if it just gets purged from the records. I'm guessing like most legal matters it varies by jurisdiction.

[creditwoes101]

Well, I am back. I went to the courthouse and got the records. I'm kind of confused about the whole thing. It seems Capital One filed summon/notice of case assignment in October/2006 and said I owed $320. I never got the summons (that I do know). Then in November, there was a hearing for "Failure to File Certificate of Service, and in late Dec. the Plaintiff's attorney filed for case dismissal due to "breach of contract".

 

After reading this, I think the case was dropped in late Dec. and there is no judgement. Legal documents are hard to read and understand.

 

I guess I should be relieved.

[cv91915]

Well, I am back. I went to the courthouse and got the records. I'm kind of confused about the whole thing. It seems Capital One filed summon/notice of case assignment in October/2006 and said I owed $320. I never got the summons (that I do know). Then in November, there was a hearing for "Failure to File Certificate of Service, and in late Dec. the Plaintiff's attorney filed for case dismissal due to "breach of contract".

 

After reading this, I think the case was dropped in late Dec. and there is no judgement. Legal documents are hard to read and understand.

 

I guess I should be relieved.

 

I would definitely take some relief from that research. Glad it turned out this way for you.

[tweak]

After some amount of time, I'm wondering if it just gets purged from the records. I'm guessing like most legal matters it varies by jurisdiction.

 

Generally, public records stick around forever.

 

For example, I got rid of all evidence of my fed tax lien on LexisNexis, EX, EQ, and TU.

But anyone who went to the relevant courthouse can still pull the filing, release, and withdrawal documents in perpetuity.

 

I suspect the same is true for the OP's case. Glad to hear the case was dropped.

[breeze]

Yep, Home free. Nothing to fear. No telling why they couldn't serve you. The record of the filing and dismissal is just how cases like this are handled. The record will stay there, but cannot be reported.

[creditwoes101]

Thanks everyone for your advice and support!