The Internet Civil Judgment Registry is a private company that publishes civil judgments awarded by any court in any county in the United States.  The judgments are submitted to the Registry by the Plaintiff, an attorney for the Plaintiff or a judgment recovery agent (a collector) that is representing the Plaintiff in an attempt to locate and seize assets of the Defendant.

All judgments published in the Registry appear in public records in the offices of the county recorder or county clerk in the county where the judgment was awarded.  In some cases, these records can be searched online, but in many cases, they can be only be located by a physical search of the records.  In order to search judgment records, many people pay a skip tracing firm to search for them.  Unfortunately, even a thorough search of county records is not all-inclusive.  There are many counties that are not available in skip tracing databases and the professional skip tracer is required to charge the client for the time required to search records in all counties where the Defendant is known to have lived.

Credit reports often contain judgments if the judgment has been entered by an attorney or judgment recovery agent.  Sometimes the bureaus will find judgments while searching county records to update information on an individual.  However, because a judgment does not appear in a credit report does not mean one does not exist.  Individuals and companies who are not members of a credit bureau do not have access to a credit report on another individual without that person's permission or a court order.  Therefore, if a judgment does appear in a credit report, it may not be accessible to someone who needs to know.

The Internet Civil Judgment Registry is the only FREE searchable national database of civil judgments.  The Registry is growing daily as more professional debt collectors and individuals realize that quick, easy and free public access to a Defendant's judgment record can influence the debtor's decision to pay.

The judgments entered in the Registry remain active for a full year (or, if selected, for five years) from the date entered.  They may be renewed at the end of the subscription period.

When a judgment is entered, the Plaintiff can also order an optional address update on the Defendant which is e-mailed automatically on a quarterly basis.  

A judgment is not published in the Registry until a letter is sent to the Defendant advising of the pending publication. If the Registry does not receive a Satisfaction of Judgment from the Defendant within 30 days of receipt of the letter, the judgment is published.