S-1967

AN ACT Relating to enforcement of judgments; and amending RCW 6.17.020, 4.16.020, 4.56.200, and 6.36.025.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

Sec. 1. RCW 6.17.020 and 1997 c 121 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) Except as provided in subsections (2), (3), and (4) of this section, the party in whose favor a judgment of a court ((~~of record of this state or a district court of this state~~)) has been or may be filed or rendered, or the assignee or the current holder thereof, may have an execution, garnishment, or other legal process issued for the collection or enforcement of the judgment at any time within ten years from entry of the judgment or the filing of the judgment in this state.

(2) After July 23, 1989, a party who obtains a judgment or order of a court ((~~of record of any state,~~)) or an administrative order entered as defined in RCW 74.20A.020(6) for accrued child support, or the assignee or the current holder thereof, may have an execution, garnishment, or other legal process issued upon that judgment or order at any time within ten years of the eighteenth birthday of the youngest child named in the order for whom support is ordered.

(3) After June 9, 1994, a party in whose favor a judgment has been filed as a foreign judgment or rendered pursuant to subsection (1) or (4) of this section, or the assignee or the current holder thereof, may, within ninety days before the expiration of the original ten-year period, apply to the court that rendered the judgment or to the court where the judgment was filed as a foreign judgment for an order granting an additional ten years during which an execution, garnishment, or other legal process may be issued. If a district court judgment of this state is transcribed to a superior court of this state, the original district court judgment shall not be extended and any petition under this section to extend the judgment that has been transcribed to superior court shall be filed in the superior court within ninety days before the expiration of the ten-year period of the date the transcript of the district court judgment was filed in the superior court of this state. The petitioner shall pay to the court a filing fee equal to the filing fee for filing the first or initial paper in a civil action in the court, except in the case of district court judgments transcribed to superior court, where the filing fee shall be the fee for filing the first or initial paper in a civil action in the superior court where the judgment was transcribed. ((~~When application is made to the court to grant an additional ten years, the application shall be accompanied by a current and~~)) The order granting the application shall contain an updated judgment summary as ((~~outlined~~)) provided in RCW 4.64.030. The filing fee required under this subsection shall be included in the judgment summary and shall be a recoverable cost. The application shall be granted as a matter of right, subject to review only for timeliness, factual issues of full or partial satisfaction, or errors in calculating the judgment summary amounts.

(4) A party who obtains a judgment or order for restitution, crime victims' assessment, or other court-ordered legal financial obligations pursuant to a criminal judgment and sentence, or the assignee or the current holder thereof, may execute, garnish, and/or have legal process issued upon the judgment or order any time within ten years subsequent to the entry of the judgment and sentence or ten years following the offender's release from total confinement as provided in chapter 9.94A RCW. The clerk of superior court, or a party designated by the clerk, may seek extension under subsection (3) of this section for purposes of collection as allowed under RCW 36.18.190, provided that no filing fee shall be required.

(5) "Court" as used in this section includes but is not limited to the United States supreme court, the United States courts of appeals, the United States district courts, the United States bankruptcy courts, the Washington state supreme court, the court of appeals of the state of Washington, superior courts and district courts of the counties of the state of Washington, and courts of other states and jurisdictions from which judgment has been filed in this state under chapter 6.36 or 6.40 RCW.

(6) The perfection of any judgment lien and the priority of that judgment lien on property as established by RCW 6.13.090 and chapter 4.56 RCW is not altered by the extension of the judgment pursuant to the provisions of this section and the lien remains in full force and effect and does not have to be rerecorded after it is extended.

(7) Except as ordered in RCW 4.16.020(2), no judgment shall be enforceable for a period exceeding twenty years from the date of entry in the originating court.

Sec. 2. RCW 4.16.020 and 1994 c 189 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:

The period prescribed for the commencement of actions shall be as follows:

Within ten years:

(1) For actions for the recovery of real property, or for the recovery of the possession thereof; and no action shall be maintained for such recovery unless it appears that the plaintiff, his or her ancestor, predecessor or grantor was seized or possessed of the premises in question within ten years before the commencement of the action.

(2) For an action upon a judgment or decree of any court of the United States, or of any state or territory within the United States, or of any territory or possession of the United States outside the boundaries thereof, or of any extraterritorial court of the United States, unless the ((~~ten-year~~)) period is extended ((~~in accordance with~~)) under RCW 6.17.020((~~(3)~~)) or a similar provision in another jurisdiction.

(3) Of the eighteenth birthday of the youngest child named in the order for whom support is ordered for an action to collect past due child support that has accrued under an order entered after July 23, 1989, by any of the above-named courts or that has accrued under an administrative order as defined in RCW 74.20A.020(6), which is issued after July 23, 1989.

Sec. 3. RCW 4.56.200 and 1987 c 202 s 117 are each amended to read as follows:

The lien of judgments upon the real estate of the judgment debtor shall commence as follows:

(1) Judgments of the district court of the United States rendered or filed in the county in which the real estate of the judgment debtor is situated, and judgments of the superior court for the county in which the real estate of the judgment debtor is situated, from the time of the entry or filing thereof;

(2) Judgments of the district court of the United States rendered in any county in this state other than that in which the real estate of the judgment debtor to be affected is situated, judgments of the supreme court of this state, judgments of the court of appeals of this state, and judgments of the superior court for any county other than that in which the real estate of the judgment debtor to be affected is situated, from the time of the filing of a duly certified abstract of such judgment with the county clerk of the county in which the real estate of the judgment debtor to be affected is situated, as provided in this act;

(3) Judgments of a district court of this state rendered or filed as a foreign judgment in a superior court in the county in which the real estate of the judgment debtor is situated, from the time of the filing of a duly certified transcript of the docket of the district court with the county clerk of the county in which such judgment was rendered or filed, and upon such filing said judgment shall become to all intents and purposes a judgment of the superior court for said county; and

(4) Judgments of a district court of this state rendered or filed in a superior court in any other county in this state than that in which the real estate of the judgment debtor to be affected is situated, a transcript of the docket of which has been filed with the county clerk of the county where such judgment was rendered or filed, from the time of filing, with the county clerk of the county in which the real estate of the judgment debtor to be affected is situated, of a duly certified abstract of the record of said judgment in the office of the county clerk of the county in which the certified transcript of the docket of said judgment of said district court was originally filed.

Sec. 4. RCW 6.36.025 and 1994 c 185 s 6 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) A copy of any foreign judgment authenticated in accordance with the act of congress or the statutes of this state may be filed in the office of the clerk of any superior court of any county of this state. The clerk shall treat the foreign judgment in the same manner as a judgment of the superior court of this state. A judgment so filed has the same effect and is subject to the same procedures, defenses, set-offs, counterclaims, cross-complaints, and proceedings for reopening, vacating, ((or)) staying, or extending as a judgment of a superior court of this state and may be enforced, extended, or satisfied in like manner.

(2) Alternatively, a copy of any foreign judgment (a) authenticated in accordance with the act of congress or the statutes of this state, and (b) within the civil jurisdiction and venue of the district court as provided in RCW 3.66.020, 3.66.030, and 3.66.040, may be filed in the office of the clerk of any district court of this state. The clerk shall treat the foreign judgment in the same manner as a judgment of the district court of this state. A judgment so filed has the same effect and is subject to the same procedures, defenses, set-offs, counterclaims, cross-complaints, and proceedings for reopening, vacating, ((or)) staying, transcribing, or extending as a judgment of a district court of this state, and may be enforced, transcribed, extended, or satisfied in like manner.

(3) The lien of any judgment filed under subsection (1) or (2) of this section shall be governed by chapter 4.56 RCW and RCW 6.17.020.