Does a credit report show restitution and court fines?

If you have been making your payments regularly and on time, restitution and other court-ordered debt shouldn’t show up on your credit report.[2203] However, once you begin missing payments, the court can sell your debt to a collection agency that will likely report the debt to the credit bureau.[2204] Additionally, if you don’t pay off your debt, a creditor or debt collector can sue you to collect. If they win, the court will attempt to enforce the debt as a civil judgment against you.[2205] Unlike criminal judgments, civil judgments (such as child support payments and money owed after losing a lawsuit) do show up on credit reports. Civil judgments are categorized in the public records section of a credit report, and are generally listed as “judgments.”[2206] Thus, it is unlikely that anyone (such as a landlord) could use your credit report to see information about your criminal conviction. Still, it’s a good idea to get a copy of your credit report to make sure. For more information about how to get your credit report, see page 731. For information on how to get and keep a good credit score, see Appendix J  on PG. 710.

  1. 2203

    Credit Karma, “Will Civil Judgments Be Reflected on my Credit Report?,” https://www.creditkarma.com/article/civil-judgments-on-credit-report; Sup. Court of Santa Clara County, Santa Clara Civil Grand Jury Inquiry into the Collection of Adult Restitution (2003-2004), http://www.scscourt.org/court_divisions/civil/cgj/2004/CollectionofAdultRestitution.pdf. ↑

  2. 2204

    Credit Karma, “Will Civil Judgments Be Reflected on my Credit Report?,” https://www.creditkarma.com/article/civil-judgments-on-credit-report; see also CreditCards.com, “How a DUI can tank your credit,” http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/dui-drunk-driving-credit-score-impact-1267.php. ↑

  3. 2205

    Cal. Penal Code § 1214. ↑

  4. 2206

    Credit Karma, “Will Civil Judgments Be Reflected on my Credit Report?,” https://www.creditkarma.com/article/civil-judgments-on-credit-report. ↑