Did you know that most court judgments don't last forever?
Most people are familiar with the concept of the statute of limitations (SOL). If not, I will certainly be discussing this issue in further detail in future posts. In a nutshell, the statute of limitations limit the time from which an event occurred to when it is actionable in a court of law for relief. The SOL serves important interests that will be addressed in future discussions.
But what about if you have already done your due diligence, sued a party and obtained a judgment against them for monies? Many judgment holders would be surprised to learn that if they don't make collect arrangements to enforce their judgment they potentially run the risk of the judgment "expiring." In Nevada, judgments expire six (6) years from being issued by a Judge or Justice of the Peace. NRS 70.010(1)
Once expired, the judgment is, for all intensive purposes, useless and cannot be legally enforceable by any means. So what happens if your judgment is almost six (6) years old and it hasn't yet been paid? Fortunately, in most jurisdictions, their is a voluntary legal mechanism in place that can prevent your valuable judgment(s) from expiring and being rendered worthless. In Nevada, the process is called Judgment Renewal and is accomplished by filing an "Affidavit of Renewal" and complying with the specific requirements set fourth in NRS 17.214.
The Judgment Renewal process in Nevada is not complicated, but it does require the strict compliance with various time, filing and mailing requirements. If done correctly, the Judgment Renewal process will renew the judgment and outstanding judgment balance for another six (6) years. In theory, you can continually renew a judgment every six (6) years into perpetuity. It's important, however, to keep in mind the the primary purpose of obtaining a judgment is to collect the monetary value of the judgment in as short as period as possible.
That said, if you find yourself in legal possession of an aging judgment it is critical that you timely renew the judgment in accordance with the judgment's jurisdictional requirements to prevent the potential irrevocable expiration of the judgment.
PLEASE BE ADVISED THAT THE INFORMATION DISSEMINATED ON THIS BLOG IS FOR GENERAL INFORMATION PURPOSES AND IS NOT INTENDED OR TO BE CONVEYED AS LEGAL ADVICE.