Judgment creditors are only allowed to enforce a money judgment for 10 years. This is because money judgments automatically expire after 10 years. Once the judgment expires, the judgment creditor can no longer collect any unpaid judgment amounts. In order to extend the time to collect on a judgment after 10 years, a creditor can file to renew California judgment. It is important for the judgment creditor to renew the judgment prior to the 10 years running out. Read on to learn more information about how to renew a California judgment.
Why Renew a California Judgment?
A California money judgment will expire 10 years from the date it was entered. The judgment creditor is required to renew their California judgment to retain their right to collect money from the judgment debtor beyond this 10 year period. Once a judgment is renewed, the judgment creditor will be able to resume their collection efforts. For example, if the judgment creditor has a wage garnishment to enforce their judgment, they will need to provide the levying officer with a certified copy of their Application for and Renewal of Judgment to continue the enforcement without interruption.
Deadline to Renew California Judgment
Money judgments automatically expire after 10 years. In order to prevent a judgment from expiring, the judgment creditor must file a request for renewal of the judgment before the 10 years runs out. If the judgement is not renewed in time, the judgement creditor will lose their opportunity to collect any remaining money owed on the judgment. After you get a judgment, you should immediately calendar the California judgment renewal deadline!
It should be noted that many courts are extremely slow in processing a renewal of a California judgment. For example, the last Judgment Renewal we filed in Los Angeles Superior Court took almost 4 months to process. Another recent Application to Renew Judgment filed in Ventura County took more than 5 months! For this reason, it is critical that the California judgment renewal process be started at least six months before the expiration date. This should give you enough time to get your judgment renewed, allowing for any processing delays by the court clerk.
Once the judgement has been renewed, the judgment creditor will have another 10 years to collect the judgement. The judgment can be renewed for 5 more years within the 10 year term. Any interest that is accrued can be added to the principal balance. Interest will continue to add to the amount owed.
At A People’s Choice, we recommend the judgment creditor renew the California judgment at least six months before the 10 years runs out.
Overview of Process to Renew California Judgment
California Code of Civil Procedure sections 683.010 through 683.220 provides detailed procedures on how to renew a California judgment. In order to collect post judgment costs and interest, the judgment creditor must file a Memorandum of Costs after Judgment. This must be served on the judgment debtor before filing. Service must be made by a 3rd party who is 18-years of age or older. Service can be made personally or by mail. The server must complete the Proof of Service on the MC-012.
Next, the judgment creditor must prepare and file an Application and Renewal of Judgment in the court where the judgment was issued. The judgment creditor will be required to pay a filing fee and provide the judgment debtor with notice of the application for renewal. The judgment creditor will be required to serve the judgment debtor with a Notice of Renewal of Judgment by having a 3rd party personally serve it as instructed above. Proof of service must be filed with the court.
Forms to Renew California Judgment
The following California judgment renewal forms are required to be filed in the court where the Judgment was originally ordered to renew a judgment:
- Application for and Renewal of Judgment – Form EJ-190
- Notice of Renewal of Judgment – Form EJ-195
- Memorandum of Costs after Judgment – MC-012 (If applicable)
The Application for and Renewal of Judgment requires the following information:
- Name and address of the judgment creditor or assignee of record.
- The judgment debtor’s name and last known address.
- Information regarding the original judgment such as the case number, the date the judgment was entered, the county in which it was entered, and the instrument #.
- The judgment creditor will also have to disclose whether the judgment has been previously renewed and the new renewed total judgment sum.
If a lien was created at the time of the original judgment, it must be renewed as well. The judgement creditor must record a certified copy of the Application for and Renewal of Judgment with the county recorder to extend the real property lien. Note, judgment liens on personal property end at 5 years.
Although the forms seem simple, it is easy to make a mistake which could result in a delay in approving the judgment renewal and, in the worst case situation, the expiration of your judgment! You don’t need to hire an expensive attorney to help you; but low-cost, non-attorney professional help is available. A People’s Choice has over 35 years experience in helping people with their legal document preparation. Call us at 800-747-2780 today to see how we can help renew your California judgment.
Is there a form for adding interest on a judgment I got seven years ago?
Yes there is. You usually submit it at the same time of renewal.
Hi Sandy. I have an attorney fee money judgment order. The order was issued by the Judge in LA Superior Court on Feb18, 2011 in a Minute Order. When I applied for a writ, I was required to get the Court to issue a FL-340 Findings and OAH. This was stamped Dec 21, 2017. Does the 10 year period that the Judgment is valid start from Feb18 2011 or Dec 21 2017?
Hi Andrew – Unfortunately California law prevents us from answering these types of questions as that would be considered giving legal advice. I would run it by a lawyer to be sure.
Hi Sandy
I have a judgment and a judgement lien, resulting from a case in Ventura County. The judgement was obtained in 2011, so we’re still well within the 10 year period. Recently I ran a property report on the debtors property against which the lien was filed. The property report showed the property and all of the mortgages/trust deeds encumbering the property, but did not show my judgement lien. I was under the impression that a judgement lien on the debtors property would show up on a property report just like any other mortgage encumberance??
thanks
bern
That does sound odd. Are you sure an Abstract of Judgment was recorded in Ventura County?
Hi Sandy,
I have conformed copies of my Application for Renewal of Judgment and Memorandum of Costs and a Received stamp from the clerk of the Notice of Renewal of Judgment. Do I wait until the Notice of Renewal of Judgment is returned to me in the self-addressed stamped envelope I provided to serve on the judgment debtor?
Thanks,
Unfortunately under Californis law our office is not allowed to advice or direct people on how to process their own paperwork.
Hi Sandy,
I was out of the country when my Judgement expired , is there a way of renewing my judgement due to this..i lost
thanks
Susan
I don’t think so but you can always ask a lawyer…
does a california judgement have to be renewed in california if the judgement is domesticated in a sister state?
Or does the statue of limitation to renew start again in the sister state?
thank you
ashley andrews
I would suggest you present this question to a lawyer.
That’s a legal question that needs to be answered by a lawyer.
Hi Sandy, the judgement that was filed against me more than 10 years ago has been renewed – I never received the notice for it and found out by chance going through the court database. I looked it up and saw that the address they sent the notice to was where I lived 10 years ago, which by the way was the property owned by the plaintiff, who is my former landlord. The third party who is doing this for my former landlord has my new address, as they have pulled my credit twice in the past two years. Why they sent the notice to the place that they new, for sure, I wouldn’t get it?
I got the judgement in a tricky way in the first place. In a case of unlawful detainer me and my former landlord reached an agreement for me to pay rent for two more months before moving out and he forgave past few months of rent as I had to drop the case against him with the tenant board. Two weeks before moving out I noticed after collecting money for rent from me, he had put a judgement on me behind my back. I rushed to do the paperwork to contest the judgement and the hearing before a judge on my very last day of staying is his place ended in my favor and the judgement was set aside. But I still had to move out the same day (on a friday) I talked to the landlord to pay for few more days to complete the moving out – as i was all consumed to fight the judgement for two weeks paying for it too – he said he will get back to me shortly but first thing on Monday morning he filed a judgement on me again, this time for more money.
Can I now file to vacate the judgement based on not being properly served for the renewal? Should I bring up the case, for the same behavior, in placing the judgement in the first place? Should I use form SC – 135.
Wish you all the best.
It sounds like you need legal advice. I would suggest talking with an attorney. Sometimes you can also submit an inquiry through Avvo.com and get answers from attorneys at a low cost per question. Once you have a plan of attack you can get back in touch with us if you need help preparing the paperwork.
Hi Sandy
My ex-husband want a judgment against me in an unlimited civil case in 2011. My wages have been garnished since the judgement. I received a renewal of judgment in October 2016. However when I look up the activity records in the Alameda county Superior Court of California the activity records end in 2014. There is no record of the judgement renewal. I thought the renewal had to be entered into the court records? They made an error regarding the amount in the first renewal I received back in October 2016 and a few weeks later I received a second Renewal of judgment. Could this be why it’s not entered into the court records? Is the renewal in effect if it’s not listed as part of the court activity records? Also is it true that in California a creditor can renew a judgement endlessly?
Unfortunately we cannot offer you legal advice. You may want to talk to an attorney regarding this matter.
Is it possible to renew a judgment that has expired? It’s past the ten years. It was involving a divorce and money owed once the divorce was finalized. Thanks for your help in advance.
David
Hi David – I am not sure if divorce judgments are under the same rules as a civil judgment. I would suggest you talk to an attorney first to see what they say. I would think there would be difficult rules but cannot say for sure.
I need your help Sandy in order to renew a judgement. The judgement that expires in late July. I am a probate attorney and the judgement was for fees. Joel (714)366-4650
I called you and left message. Give the office a call at 800-747-2780. I would be happy to assist you with your judgment renewal.
My ex-wife resides somewhere in FL, and every year I’m required to mail a certified document to her but it’s always returned as undeliverable, or Moved. I truly do not believe she lives at that address. …how can I renew a judgment if I can not get a hold of her and is it my responsibility to know where she lives? My ten year judgment was first on filed 23 March 2007…So hopefully I have a bit of time to renew.
Thanks.
Full Steam Ahead!!
Not sure why you are mailing something every year but the renewal notice simply is mailed to last known address. The renewal of the judgment typically has nothing to do with receiving notice of the renewal. Let us know if you would like our help. You should get on it right away!
My judgement expires 12.19.16 based on everything I just read, I assume its too late for me to file my application to renew my judgement, especially since I dont know where the debtor lives etc, so havent served anything on him at this time. So if I did I would be mailing/serving and filing docs on the same date the judgement expires….today?
Unfortunately this is not a one day process.