You can attempt to settle a judgment yourself and save legal fees. If you choose to do so here is a general process you can use to settle a judgment.
Find the judgment creditor
Sometimes this is the most difficult part of the process. A copy of the judgment will need to be obtained from public records or court records in the county that it was filed. You can then contact the attorney that represented the creditor in court. The attorney may or may not be able to help settle the judgment. Usually if the attorney can not help you they can give advice on who to contact next. Sometimes the creditors that took the judgment are out of business, have declared bankruptcy, or sold the debt. You will have to find the entity that owns the judgment now and document how they own it.
Create a hardship letter
A hardship letter needs to document the reasons why the judgment creditor should reduce the amount that they are 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 client agrees to pay a price that judgment creditor wants, they will not sign off on 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 a client is willing to pay and what the judgment creditor is willing to accept.
Write a Release of Judgment (RoJ)
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.
Transfer Money and Get Release of Judgment (RoJ) 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 (RoJ) 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.
