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. Continued perfection of a judgment that has been
transcribed to other counties and perfected in those counties may be
accomplished after extension of the judgment by filing with the clerk of the
other counties where the judgment has been filed either a certified copy of the
order extending the judgment or a certified copy of the docket of the matter
where the judgment was extended.
(7)
Except as ordered in RCW 4.16.020 (2) or (3), chapter 9.94A RCW, or chapter
13.40 RCW, no judgment is enforceable for a period exceeding twenty years from
the date of entry in the originating court. Nothing in this section may be
interpreted to extend the expiration date of a foreign judgment beyond the
expiration date under the laws of the jurisdiction where the judgment
originated.
(8)
The chapter . . ., Laws of 2002 (this act) amendments to this section
apply to all judgments currently in effect on the effective date of this
section, to all judgments extended after June 9, 1994, unless the judgment has
been satisfied, vacated, and/or quashed, and to all judgments filed or
rendered, or both, after the effective date of this section.
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.
