Tampa Bay Credit Dr.  

   Whoever said, "what you don't know can't hurt you" didn't know what they were talking about. I'm in the finance, mortgage, credit business and I hear stories all the time about the different ways people can get their credit scores dinged, dented, damaged, etc. and not be aware of it.

   If you ever become involved in a civil court action be extra cautious about paying attention to all the intricasies of the case. Here is just one example of how you can be injured by the system. I had a contact who was involved in a divorce action that began way back in 1991. All aspects of the case have been long settled and the party in question, long since removed from the State where the proceeding began.

   One day a collection letter arrives stating that the party has had a "judgment issued" by the Court of Common Pleas for the County in question for an amount of less than $21.00 !!! As incredible as that sounds it did indeed happen and here's how it likely came about. The guess here is that once all monies were paid, there could have been a recording fee owed that our friend knew nothing about. The agency that had been collecting funds knew where the party was residing, but you can guess they never informed the court.

  Imagine that the court sends out a notice to the defendant at the original address where the case began over fifteen years ago, and it goes back to the court, as the post office will not forward mail after a specified period of time.
  The court date is scheduled, defendant completely unaware, is not there and BOOM goes the gavel. Justice, once again, has been served. Do you think? From here the likely event is that the "judgment" and a "collection" will soon show up on the parties credit report. Be aware readers, this is real world stuff out there, and this is only one way you can be harmed on your credit report.

 The lesson to be learned here is that you should always " follow up" even when you think things are settled. You see my friend learned that when you are dealing with a government agency, court proceeding, or some other sort of administrative action, there is always "one more thing!"