Moving a judgment to another county or state

Another county

Count on filing county by county, because the reach of one filing stops at the county line more often than creditors expect.

New York moves by transcript. Once a judgment is docketed in the county where it was entered, filing a transcript of that docket with the clerk of any other county dockets it there, with the same effect as a judgment entered in the supreme court within that county. CPLR 5018¹ says both halves out loud. Florida and Texas move by paper instead. In Florida a certified copy recorded in a county's official records or judgment lien record makes the judgment a lien there, under Fla. Stat. 55.10², and a Texas abstract reaches only real property in the county where it is recorded and indexed under Tex. Prop. Code 52.001³. Land in the next county over needs the recording done again, in that county's office, before anything attaches to the ground there.

That pattern holds across the country, with the office changing name from one state to the next. A certified copy goes to the county recorder in Arizona (A.R.S. 33-961⁴). Colorado records a certified transcript in any county of the state (C.R.S. 13-52-102⁵). Nevada records with the county recorder (NRS 17.150⁶), Oregon in the County Clerk Lien Record (ORS 18.152⁷), Michigan with the register of deeds for the county where the property is (MCL 600.2803⁸), Kentucky and Oklahoma by filing with the county clerk (KRS 426.720⁹, 12 O.S. 706¹⁰). Arkansas is not a lien on land in another county until a certified copy is filed with that county's circuit clerk (Ark. Code 16-65-117¹¹). The full county-by-county map lives on the page about how a judgment becomes a lien in all fifty states and DC.

That second-county lien can die when the first one does. Oregon ties it directly: when the lien expires in the county of original entry, it expires in every county where the judgment was recorded (ORS 18.152). Ohio lets the second-county lien lapse unless, within five years, an execution issues, a certificate is refiled, garnishment runs, or a proceeding in aid of execution is under way (Ohio Rev. Code 2329.07¹²). In Montana the lien from a filed transcript runs 10 years from entry of the judgment unless satisfied sooner (MCA 25-9-302¹³).

Some routes these statutes leave for another page. Nebraska binds lands outside the county of entry from the time they are seized in execution (Neb. Rev. Stat. 25-1504¹⁴). South Dakota requires a judgment to be docketed in the county where the land is before it becomes a lien there (SDCL 15-16-7¹⁵), though how the docketing is done in a county other than the one where the judgment was rendered is not something this page covers. Rhode Island and Wisconsin sit outside this page's law on how the lien travels to a second county, and for those the route is one this page does not reach.

Another state

Crossing a state line is its own act, separate from crossing a county line, and it starts with full faith and credit.

A sister-state or federal judgment entitled to full faith and credit counts as a foreign judgment in the state where it is taken. Florida defines it that way for its act (Fla. Stat. 55.502¹⁶), and New York defines it the same way but carves out two kinds: a judgment obtained by default in appearance, or by confession of judgment, cannot use the filing route at all (CPLR 5401¹⁷). Those go by an older road, which the next paragraph names. What the Constitution requires of the receiving state, and the federal authentication statute behind it, sit outside this page's law, so it states the route and not its source.

Florida records and waits. The certified copy goes to the clerk of the circuit court of any county, who files, records and indexes it as a Florida judgment with the same effect, under Fla. Stat. 55.503¹⁸, and the creditor records an affidavit of the names and last known addresses under Fla. Stat. 55.505¹⁹. Then the clock. The clerk mails notice to the debtor, no execution issues until 30 days after that mailing and payment of the service charge (Fla. Stat. 55.505), and the judgment does not operate as a lien until 30 days after it either (Fla. Stat. 55.507²⁰). A debtor who sues to contest the judgment within 30 days and records a lis pendens stays enforcement and the lien (Fla. Stat. 55.509²¹).

New York files and waits. An authenticated copy may be filed with any county clerk within 90 days of authentication, with the creditor's affidavit that the judgment was not obtained by default or confession, is unsatisfied in whole or part, states the amount unpaid, and is not stayed, under CPLR 5402²². The clerk then treats it as a supreme court judgment (CPLR 5402(b)). The creditor mails notice of filing within 30 days, and execution proceeds are not distributed until 30 days after proof of service is filed (CPLR 5403²³). The court stays enforcement on proof of a pending appeal or stay and of the security the rendering state requires (CPLR 5404²⁴).

That old road is still open in both states. In Florida a creditor may bring an action on the judgment instead of filing under the act (Fla. Stat. 55.502), and in New York may proceed by an action or a motion for summary judgment in lieu of complaint under CPLR 5406²⁵. One thing the Florida act does not do is buy more time: it does not alter, modify or extend the limitation period for enforcing foreign judgments (Fla. Stat. 55.502). New York's article 54 is the Uniform Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act by its own name (CPLR 5408²⁶). Which other states enacted that uniform act, and with what local waiting periods, is a question this page does not answer. Two other states name foreign judgments in their lien statutes with their own timing: in Illinois a registered foreign judgment is a lien only from the filing of the affidavit or memorandum with the recorder (735 ILCS 5/12-101²⁷), and in Iowa a foreign judgment under chapter 626A, 626B or 626D does not attach as a lien until proceedings to challenge it have concluded and the court finds it entitled to recognition (Iowa Code 624.24²⁸).

A federal judgment

Two separate powers live in a federal judgment, and creditors mix them up constantly: one lets it move districts, the other makes it a lien.

The lien comes from 28 U.S.C. 1962²⁹. In its state a federal district court judgment is a lien in the same manner, to the same extent and on the same conditions as a judgment of that state's court of general jurisdiction, and it ceases to be one in the same manner and time. It borrows the state's rules whole. And it does not apply to judgments entered in favor of the United States (28 U.S.C. 1962). A state's demand that a judgment be recorded or docketed in a particular office reaches a federal judgment only if state law lets federal judgments be recorded or docketed that way (28 U.S.C. 1962).

Registration is the other power. Under 28 U.S.C. 1963³⁰ a money or property judgment may be registered in any other district by filing a certified copy once it is final by appeal or the expiry of the time to appeal, or earlier by order for good cause; a judgment for the United States may be registered any time after entry. That registered judgment has the effect of a judgment of the district where it is registered, and registration is in addition to the other procedures for enforcing judgments (28 U.S.C. 1963). Registration gives the judgment a home in the new district. It is 1962, not 1963, that turns it into a lien.

Several states name federal judgments in their own lien statutes. Alabama lets the owner of a federal judgment held in the state file a certificate with the judge of probate of any county (Ala. Code 6-9-210³¹). Alaska records a certified copy of a federal court judgment with the recorder of a recording district (AS 09.30.010³²). Kentucky, Ohio, Virginia and Washington each fold federal court judgments into their creation statutes (KRS 426.720, Ohio Rev. Code 2329.02³³, Va. Code 8.01-458³⁴, RCW 4.56.200³⁵). Montana takes a certified transcript of a federal judgment's docket with the district court clerk of any county (MCA 25-9-303³⁶). Louisiana ranks a federal judgment, or one registered under 28 U.S.C. 1963, as a judicial mortgage when it is recorded in a parish's mortgage records (La. R.S. 13:4204³⁷). And a transcript of a federal judgment rendered or filed within New York may be filed with any county clerk, who dockets it like a supreme court judgment in that county (CPLR 5018).