It is fairly common to enforce a foreign judgment in Connecticut, although it can be unexpectedly difficult sometimes. There are two major different types of foreign judgments:
- Those from sister states (another state within the United States, excluding the forum state…usually Connecticut in our cases) and
- Those from foreign countries (not just foreign states from within the United States).
The procedure to enforce them is different.
At common law, a judgment was merely evidence of a debt. It was (and remains) possible to simply sue on a judgment. That is most often done to renew the judgment (because all judgments have a statute of limitations period). In Connecticut, a small claims judgment (the maximum size claims a small claims session will hear is $5,000) is good for ten (10) years. A small claims judgment may be renewed by suing on it within fifteen (15) years. An ordinary Connecticut Superior Court judgment for money damages may be enforced by an execution for twenty years. The judgment may be renewed by suing on it within twenty five (25) years. If a judgment can still be enforced by an execution, it can be extended by a motion to revive without the necessity of bringing a separate suit. The statute reads:
§52-598. Execution or action upon judgment for money damages
(a) No execution to enforce a judgment for money damages rendered in any court of this state may be issued after the expiration of twenty years from the date the judgment was entered and no action based upon such a judgment may be instituted after the expiration of twenty-five years from the date the judgment was entered, except that there shall be no time limitation on the issuance of such execution or the institution of such action if the judgment was rendered in an action to recover damages for personal injury caused by sexual assault where the party legally at fault for such injury was convicted of a violation of section 53a-70 or 53a-70a.
(b) No execution to enforce a judgment for money damages rendered in a small claims session may be issued after the expiration of ten years from the date the judgment was entered, and no action based upon any such judgment may be instituted after the expiration of fifteen years from the date the judgment was entered.
(c) With respect to a judgment for money damages rendered in any court of this state, including, but not limited to, a small claims session, a motion to revive such judgment may be filed with the Superior Court prior to the expiration of any applicable period of time to enforce such judgment as set forth in this section. The court may grant the motion to revive the judgment if the court finds that the applicable time period to enforce the judgment under this section has not expired. No order to revive a judgment may extend the time period to enforce a judgment beyond the applicable time period set forth in this section.
Enforcement of foreign country judgments is governed by Connecticut’s enactment of the 1962 Uniform Recognition of Foreign-Money Judgments Act, which is codified at Connecticut General Statutes §50a-30, et seq. Houston Putnam Lowry testified in support of this bill as it was considered by the Connecticut General Assembly Judiciary Committee in 1988.
Enforcement of sister state judgment is governed by Connecticut’s enactment of the 1964 Uniform Enforcement of Foreign Judgment’s Act, which is codified at Connecticut General Statutes §52-604, et seq. Connecticut’s act does not allow appearance default judgments (among others) to be enforced using its expedited procedures (which differs from the Uniform Act).
Judgments can also be registered pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §1963. A copy of the federal form can be found at www.uscourts.gov/file/458/download.
Houston Putnam Lowry has lectured on the recognition of foreign judgments. A copy of one of his papers on the topic is available, which includes sample forms. He also made comments on May 31, 2002 to the American Law Institute‘s March 29, 2002 draft statute on the enforcement of foreign judgments, which was ultimately approved by the American Law Institute.
While almost any attorney can get a judgment, not a lot of attorneys know how to enforce their judgments. A number of mechanisms are available to enforce judgments, such as executions, charging orders, and turnover orders. There are also security measures, such as personal and real property postjudgment liens (and Connecticut judgments normally accrue interest set by the trial judge, although federal judgments accrue at a lesser rate).
An additional outline on the subject by Houston Putnam Lowry can be found here.