After You Pay the Judgment

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After you pay the judgment in full, the creditor must:

  • File an Acknowledgment of Satisfaction of Judgment (Form SC-290 or Form EJ-100); and
  • Remove any liens he or she has placed on your real and personal property.

If the creditor does NOT file the Acknowledgment of Satisfaction

If the creditor does not automatically file the Acknowledgment of Satisfaction of Judgment (Form SC-290 or Form EJ-100) when you pay him or her, you can:

  • Send a letter to the judgment creditor by certified mail with return receipt requested. In the letter, tell him or her that the law requires that he or she file an Acknowledgment of Satisfaction of Judgment within 15 days of receiving payment. If he or she does not do this, you can sue the creditor for $50 plus damages. For more information, check out Code of Civil Procedure section 116.850.

You can also:

  • If you have proof that you paid the judgment, fill out and file a Declaration of Judgment Debtor Regarding Satisfaction of Judgment. This is usually a local form you can get from your clerk's office or from your court's website. Fill out the form, attach your proof of payment, and file it with the court. The clerk will enter a satisfaction of judgment in your court record. If you cannot find this form or your court does not have one, write your request on a Declaration (Form MC-030) and add the words "Declaration of Judgment Debtor Regarding Satisfaction of Judgment" as the title. Make sure you attach your proof of payment to this form before you file it with the court.

  • If you do not have proof that you paid and the creditor has not filed a Acknowledgement of Satisfaction of Judgment (Form SC-290 or Form EJ-100), fill out a Request for Court Order and Answer (Form SC-105). On the form, say that you want to have the court "Enter Satisfaction of Judgment."
    • File your form with the clerk.
    • The clerk may schedule a court date and let you and all other parties know.
    • If the court is convinced that you have paid, the court will enter the satisfaction of judgment.

Update your credit report

Once you have a satisfaction of judgment, you should update your credit report so that it shows that you have paid the debt.

To update your credit report:

  1. Get 3 certified copies of the Acknowledgment of Satisfaction of Judgment from the clerk's office (you may have to pay a fee); AND

  2. Mail a certified copy to each of the 3 major credit reporting agencies: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.