New York gives full faith and credit to judgments entered in other states as required by the Constitution and under New York Civil Rules, provided the judgment was not entered on default and not entered pursuant to a confession of judgment. If you are wondering whether there is a time constraint from exemplification to domesticate a judgment in NY, read on to learn more about the process.
The process is straightforward. Assume a creditor sued the debtor in California and the debtor appeared in the action to defend the allegations in the lawsuit. After court proceedings concluded, a judgment was entered against the defendant in California for $10,000. The creditor must then obtain an exemplified copy of the judgment from California. An exemplification of a judgment is an authentication of the judgment, usually signed by two clerks and a judge from said court. This certifies that the copy of the judgment is a true and correct copy of the judgment on file with the court. The executed exemplification is affixed to the copy of the judgment and forwarded to an attorney in New York.
The New York attorney then dockets the exemplified copy of the judgment along with an affidavit executed by the judgment creditor. The New York attorney has 90 days from the exemplification of the judgment by the original court to docket the judgment with the court pursuant to New York Civil Rules. If the attorney attempts to docket the Judgment after 90 days, then it would be grounds for a debtor to vacate the entry of the judgment. However, the local attorney in the state of the Judgment’s origin is often unaware of the New York rule and forwards a copy of the exemplification obtained when the judgment was entered. Therefore, the New York attorney must always review the date of the exemplification before docketing in New York to ensure it is in compliance with New York Civil Rules.
The affidavit submitted to the New York court must state that:
- The judgment was not obtained by default in appearance or by confession of judgment (i.e., was a judgment entered on the merits)
- The judgment is unsatisfied in whole or in part
- The judgment enforcement has not been stayed
- The name and last known address of the judgment debtor.
After docketing the judgment, the New York attorney must forward a notice of the filing of the foreign judgment to the judgment debtor, with a copy of the judgment, and file an affidavit of service of said notice. The debtor then has thirty days to challenge the entry of the judgment. If the judgment is docketed with the court pursuant to the above method, then the New York Civil Rules are clear that the judgment must be docketed with the court within 90 days of exemplification. But what if the judgment in California was entered on default? Is the 90-day exemplification rule still in effect?
If the judgment was entered on default, then the New York attorney must file suit on the judgment, usually with a summons and complaint. The complaint includes an exemplified copy of the judgment as an exhibit. The debtor then would be served by a process server and would have 20 to 30 days after service to file an answer to the complaint, depending on how they were served. The New York court then determines if the original court had jurisdiction over the defendant and if so, will grant judgment in favor of the creditor. Is the exemplification attached to the complaint required to be as timely as it would if the judgment was docketed as a judgment on the merits?
Most attorneys follow the guidelines of the docketing process and attach a timely exemplified copy of the judgment (less than 90 days old) to the complaint to ensure compliance with the New York Civil rules. New York courts have, however, ruled that if an attorney files suit on a sister state judgment, then that lawsuit is not necessarily bound by the strict requirements of the provisions that would be necessary if docketing the judgment. It is, however, best practice, if necessary to sue on a judgment entered on default in another state, to use a timely exemplified copy of the judgment less than 90 days old in order to avoid any question of doubt as to the authenticity of the judgment.
If you have a debt collection matter that you need assistance with, contact Frank, Frank, Goldstein and Nager. We have the experience that pays.
