About The Internet Civil Judgment Registry
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The Internet Civil Judgment Registry is a
private company that publishes civil judgments awarded by any court in
any county in the United States. The judgments are submitted to
the Registry by the Plaintiff, an attorney for the Plaintiff or a
judgment recovery agent (a collector) that is representing the Plaintiff
in an attempt to locate and seize assets of the Defendant.
All judgments published in the Registry appear in public records in the
offices of the county recorder or county clerk in the county where the
judgment was awarded. In some cases, these records can be searched
online, but in many cases, they can be only be located by a physical
search of the records. In order to search judgment records, many
people pay a skip tracing firm to search for them. Unfortunately,
even a thorough search of county records is not all-inclusive.
There are many counties that are not available in skip tracing databases
and the professional skip tracer is required to charge the client for
the time required to search records in all counties where the Defendant
is known to have lived.
Credit reports often contain judgments if the judgment has been entered
by an attorney or judgment recovery agent. Sometimes the bureaus
will find judgments while searching county records to update information
on an individual. However, because a judgment does not appear in a
credit report does not mean one does not exist. Individuals and
companies who are not members of a credit bureau do not have access to a
credit report on another individual without that person's permission or
a court order. Therefore, if a judgment does appear in a credit
report, it may not be accessible to someone who needs to know.
The Internet Civil Judgment Registry is the only FREE searchable
national database of civil judgments. The Registry is growing
daily as more professional debt collectors and individuals realize that
quick, easy and free public access to a Defendant's judgment record can
influence the debtor's decision to pay.
The judgments entered in the Registry remain
active for a full year (or, if selected, for five years) from the date entered. They may be renewed
at the end of the subscription period.
When a judgment is entered, the Plaintiff can also order an optional
address update on the Defendant which is e-mailed automatically on a quarterly basis.
A judgment is not published in the Registry until a letter
is sent to the Defendant advising of the pending publication. If
the Registry does not receive a Satisfaction of Judgment from
the Defendant within 30 days of receipt of the letter, the
judgment is published.
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