§ 1710.50.Stay of Enforcement

Registration gives a creditor a fast path to a California judgment, but this section makes sure enforcement does not outrun the debtor's legitimate avenues for relief. A stay is mandatory, not discretionary, whenever an appeal from the sister state judgment is pending or still available, whenever the sister state itself has stayed enforcement, or while the debtor's motion to vacate under this chapter remains undecided. Each of these stays lasts only as long as the underlying condition does: until the appeal concludes or the appeal window closes, until the sister-state stay expires or is lifted, or until the vacate motion is decided.

A more recent addition addresses judgments obtained against someone for exercising rights the U.S. or California Constitution guarantees, or for helping someone else exercise those rights; a stay there runs until a related Civil Code limitations period expires or a related action concludes, whichever comes later. Beyond these listed situations, the court can also grant a stay whenever the interests of justice call for one, on its own motion, on an ex parte application, or on noticed motion. Whatever the ground, the court sets the stay's terms, which can include requiring an undertaking of up to double the creditor's claim, keeping an already-issued writ of execution in effect, or directing the levying officer to hold onto seized property while the stay runs.