Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in California

Judgments can be renewed before 10 years have elapsed. You might check with the court in Southern California to find out if, in fact, there is a judgment against you. If so, then you'll have to either pay it off, negotiate a settlement, or discharge your debt(s) in a bankruptcy. If the judgment expired and was not renewed, then it would be uncollectable. If there was no judgment, the statute of limitation would have run two years after you defaulted on the payment.