In short, a judgment will more likely than not get reported.  However, unless the association has reporting capabilities to Experian, TransUnion or Equifax, the association will not be the entity reporting the judgment.

The credit bureaus are not generally equipped to take data regarding judgments one by one.  Experian, for example, hires vendors to monitor court dockets.  The vendor will send information found on a daily basis.

With that said, the vendors are limited to reporting judgments actually posted to a particular court docket and it can take a few weeks to see a judgment post to the court’s system.  Other challenges involve the credit bureaus verifying a judgment relates to a specific consumer.  Dates of birth and social security numbers are the most typical identifying data the credit bureaus use for reporting.  Statutes in most states do not permit the publishing of social security numbers on judgments.

So while a judgment more likely than not will be reported to the credit bureaus, there is no guarantee the judgment will impact that debtor’s credit score.  As such, associations should not rely on the possible negative impact to a debtor’s credit score as a way to recover monies owed.

More effective methods to recover on judgments include, but are not limited to, ensuring judgments are recorded in the county where the debtor resides/resided, bank and/or wage garnishments, when banking or employment information is known.  And, per a past Tip, sometimes waiting to collect on a judgment is the most effective tool of all.