Credit report?

A judgement is a public record. A collection is a negative mark concerning that individual account.

A judgement is a public record as Cajun had said, and it involves a creditor suing you in court for the amount of the debt owed. A collection is when you are past due on payments, usually 90 days or more and the creditor places the account in collections.

I believe a creditor usually takes the judgment route when they have exhausted all other means on collecting the debt.

If a judgement is paid off before going to court will it still appear on a credit report?

Judgment will show up as "paid judgment" in the credit report after satisfying with the creditors. If a judgment is ordered, it will be done after going to the court only.

If a debt is paid before court,there would be no judgement to place on report unless it was a voluntary consent judgement.