Judgment liens in Oklahoma

What to file, and where

What makes the lien is not recording the judgment. It is filing a Statement of Judgment.

In an Oklahoma county, a money judgment becomes a lien on the debtor's real estate only from and after a Statement of Judgment, made by the creditor or the creditor's attorney in substantially the form the Administrative Director of the Courts prescribes, is filed in the office of that county's county clerk. 12 O.S. 706¹ says so. The lien begins at that filing, not on the day the court signed anything.

And recording the judgment itself does nothing to the land. On or after October 1, 1993, filing or recording the judgment with a county clerk does not create a general money judgment lien, though a certified copy may still be recorded to give notice of its contents. 12 O.S. 706 draws that line itself. So the certified copy a creditor records may put the world on notice and still carry no lien at all.

What it reaches

The lien attaches to all the debtor's real property named in the Statement, homestead included, with one consequence attached.

Under 12 O.S. 706, the lien attaches to all real property of the judgment debtors whose names appear in the Statement of Judgment, including the homestead. But a judgment lien on a homestead is exempt from forced sale. So the lien is on the homestead and cannot be executed against it, which is a stranger state of affairs than it sounds.

That section covers more than state judgments. It applies to money judgments of Oklahoma courts of record and of United States courts of record not subject to the Uniform Federal Lien Registration Act, even where the judgment also grants other relief. 12 O.S. 706 names both. The money award is what the lien runs on, and the rest of the order rides along.

How long it lasts, and renewing it

Five years, measured from an act rather than from the calendar, and the clock resets each time the creditor acts.

Within five years of its filing, a judgment filed in a court of record becomes unenforceable and of no effect unless the creditor does one of four things: an execution issued by the court clerk and filed with the county clerk, a notice of renewal filed with the court clerk, a garnishment summons issued by the court clerk, or a certified copy of a notice of income assignment sent to a payor of the debtor. 12 O.S. 735² lists the four. Do one and the judgment lives.

Each act restarts the five years. A judgment becomes unenforceable if more than five years have passed since the last execution filed with the county clerk, the last notice of renewal filed with the court clerk, the last garnishment summons issued, or the sending of a certified copy of a notice of income assignment to a payor of the debtor. 12 O.S. 735(B) counts from the most recent of them. How long a lien lasts across the states is the same mechanism told many ways, which is the subject of a separate page on duration and renewal.

Ending the lien in the record is a filing of its own. Unless the lien has become unenforceable by operation of law, it is released only on the filing with that county clerk of a Release of Judgment Lien, or a court-certified copy. 12 O.S. 706(E) requires that filing. And where a judgment has been satisfied in full, vacated, or gone dormant or otherwise unenforceable and the creditor has not released it, the court shall release the lien on written motion. 12 O.S. 706(E)(2) provides that route.

Land in another county

The lien is built one county at a time.

An Oklahoma judgment lien reaches the debtor's real estate within a county only once a Statement of Judgment has been filed with the county clerk of that county. 12 O.S. 706 ties the lien to the county of filing. Filing in one county does nothing to land in the next. For a creditor whose debtor owns parcels in several counties, that is several filings, each with its own date.

Homestead here, in one paragraph

The homestead is reachable by the lien and unreachable by the sale, and Oklahoma measures it in acres.

Under 12 O.S. 706 the lien attaches to the homestead, yet judgment liens on a homestead are exempt from forced sale under 31 O.S. 1 and Article XII, section 2 of the Oklahoma Constitution. Acreage is set by statute. For a person not within a city or town the homestead is not more than 160 acres, in one or more parcels, selected by the owner. 31 O.S. 2(A)³ gives that figure.

In a city or town the homestead, owned and occupied as a residence only or used for both residential and business purposes, is not more than 1 acre, selected by the owner. 31 O.S. 2(C) sets it. And the use test has teeth: at least 75 percent of the total square foot area of the improvements must serve as the principal residence, and if more than 25 percent goes to business purposes the exemption amount may not exceed $5,000. 31 O.S. 2(C) states both thresholds. How homestead works elsewhere is the subject of a separate page.

Where the records live

One office holds the lien, and it is not the courthouse.

The county clerk is where the Statement of Judgment is filed and where the lien attaches to land in that county. 12 O.S. 706 names that office. The court clerk is a different officer for a different task: a renewal notice goes there, a garnishment summons issues there. What makes the lien lives with the county clerk, county by county.

And a certified copy recorded with the county clerk is not the lien either. Since October 1, 1993, that recording gives notice of the judgment's contents and creates no general money judgment lien on real estate. 12 O.S. 706 keeps the two apart. What sits on the shelf and looks like a lien may be a notice. How a judgment becomes a lien varies by state, which is the subject of a page covering all fifty and DC.