Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in New Jersey

I am in the process of buying a house and one of the conditions for the mortgage was to pay off an open judgement. I contacted the law firm representing the creditor and negotiated an amount to satisfy the open judgement. Upon receipt of my payment the creditors law firm faxed me a copy of the civil action warrant to satisfy judgement which they sent to the court. I submitted that copy of the civil action warrant to satisfy judgement to my mortgage company and my mortgage company is claiming that they need a copy which has been signed off by the judge. I inquired with the court and was told that it will take a month or more for it to actually become signed off by a judge. In addition I also submitted to the mortgage company a letter from the creditors law firm indicating that the judgement has been resolved and that they will not seek any further action in regard to the case. Is what I have submitted to the mortgage company sufficient to show that the judgement has been satisfied?


Asked on 4/02/16, 1:15 pm

1 Answers from Attorneys

John Corbett Corbett Law Firm LLC

Assuming that you are talking about a judgment that is docketed in the Superior Court of New Jersey, there will be no action by a judge on the warrant. It will be received and filed by the court clerk and the release on the record will show up online in 4-6 weeks. However, the mortgage company should be satisfied with a copy of the warrant to satisfy with an original signature by the creditor's attorney. If something goes wrong in the process, the mortgage company can always file that to clear the judgment.

See also: http://info.corbettlaw.net/lawguru.htm

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Answered on 4/03/16, 7:02 am
Jeffrey Walters Law Offices of Jeffrey S. Walters, LLC

I agree with the preceding answer and offer the following additional comments. As the prior poster indicated, Warrants to Satisfy Judgment are merely entered by the court clerk, not signed by a Judge. Perhaps what the mortgage lender wants to see is a file-stamped copy. As you realize, that may take several weeks and may not be accomplished prior to your real estate settlement. Your mortgage lender is concerned with 2 things: (1) That the judgment has been paid; and (2) That it will be marked as cancelled with the Superior Court. The creditor's law firm has provided a letter verifying that it is paid in full, so that should satisfy #1. As for #2, you should be providing the copy of the Warrant to Satisfy to your title company, along with the letter from the creditor's attorney saying that they already sent it to the court for filing. As the prior poster noted, it would not be a bad idea for you to obtain another ORIGINAL from the law firm. That will satisfy the title company that they have what they need to get the judgment cancelled in the event it is not done as things stand. The title company will issue an endorsement to your title commitment removing the judgment as an exception. The endorsement should satisfy #2. Lenders never file these anyway, they are filed by the title company in instances when they are not filed by the creditor's attorney as is the case here. Your lender should be satisfied so long as the title company is satisfied, which the endorsement will demonstrate.

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Answered on 4/04/16, 6:24 am


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