How to Settle a Judgment with Unifund CCR Partners yourself?

Because we work with the same judgment creditors periodically, we know how to work with them best and what they are usually willing to settle.

• Find out who to settle with Sometimes finding who to settle with can be most difficult part of the process. A copy of the judgment will need to be obtained from public records or the court it was taken in.  The attorney that represented the creditor in court needs to be contacted first. They may or may not be able to help settle the judgment. Sometimes  the judgment creditor is out of business, has declared bankruptcy, or sold the judgment to another company. Sometimes judgments have been sold to several different companies. You will have to find the company that owns the judgment now and document how they own it so you make sure you are paying the right owner of the judgment. To make settling more difficult, judgment creditors may not want to deal with  the consumer directly so they outsource the negotiation to another company or law firm. From our experience, every company and law firm has their own way of negotiating.
• Create a hardship letter A hardship letter needs to document the reasons why the judgment creditor should reduce the amount that they are owed. (They are not required to take one penny less than what is owed.) A good hardship letter should be able to provide details of a job loss, divorce, medical issues, or any other event out of the ordinary that inhibits your ability to pay the full amount due.
• Negotiate A judgment creditor has all the power in a settlement negotiation. Until the consumer agrees to pay a price that judgment creditor will accept, they will not sign the release of judgment. A good hardship statement and correct documentation may persuade the creditor to reduce the amount of money they are demanding. The perfect settlement price is what the client is willing to pay and what the judgment creditor is willing to accept.
• Write a Release of Judgment This is the document that after signing will be sent to the court and recorded in public records proving that the judgment is released. If this is not written correctly or signed off appropriately, then it may be invalid.
• Help Transfer Money and Get Release of Judgment Signed It is imperative that you make sure that if you send money to a judgment creditor, they will release the judgment as agreed. If they do not then you may have to take more expensive
• File Release of judgment in the correct county The settlement process is not complete until you file an original copy of the release of judgment inside the county that the judgment was taken. Most counties charge a small fee to file documents into the public record.
• Inform any Credit Reporting Agencies The final step is to let the credit reporting agencies know the status of the judgment as released.