When credit agencies look for judgments to attach to credit reports, they may only have the name on the judgment to match to a potential debtor or individual. Individuals with common names (or unique names) may find a judgment from an eviction attached to their credit and reach out to you, the Landlord/Creditor, to have it removed.
First, you cannot remove a judgment from someone’s credit. The Credit Agency must do so. What you can do, and what you should do is work to confirm with the credit agency if the information you have for your tenant/debtor matches the information they have for their individual with the credit report issue. You may confirm whether or not the last four numbers of the social security match or do not match; you can confirm middle initials; you can confirm birthdates.
Do not provide a prior tenant’s social security number to anyone, credit agency or someone claiming a judgment shows on their credit report. Only confirm information with an appropriate representative of a credit agency such as date of birth, full name and last four of social security. Do not provide someone calling with any personal information for a prior tenant including date of birth, full name etc.
If you are unsure what to do, reach out to your attorney for advice and guidance.