Renewing a California judgment: 10 years, one shot for some debts, and interest that halved in 2023

A California judgment has a hard expiry date, and the consequences of missing it are total: not merely that you cannot start new collection, but that everything already in place is extinguished.

Two 2023 changes reshaped this area, and both cut against creditors holding consumer and medical debt.

Ten years, then nothing

CCP 683.020: except as otherwise provided by statute, upon the expiration of 10 years after the date of entry of a money judgment or a judgment for possession or sale of property —

(a) The judgment may not be enforced. (b) All enforcement procedures pursuant to the judgment or to a writ or order issued pursuant to the judgment shall cease. (c) Any lien created by an enforcement procedure pursuant to the judgment is extinguished.

Subdivision (c) is the one people underestimate. A recorded abstract, an examination lien, a levy — all of it goes, not just the right to take the next step.

And it runs from entry, not from the last activity on the file. Ten years of vigorous collection does not extend it by a day.

Renewing: file the application, and the clock restarts

CCP 683.120(a): the creditor renews "by filing an application for renewal of the judgment with the court in which the judgment was entered."

Subdivision (b): except as otherwise provided, "the filing of the application renews the judgment in the amount determined under Section 683.150 and extends the period of enforceability … for a period of 10 years from the date the application is filed."

Renewal is therefore an administrative filing, not a motion. No hearing, no showing, no discretion. The act of filing does it.

Installment judgments — subdivision (d): for enforcement and later renewal, "the amount of the judgment as renewed shall be treated as a lump-sum money judgment entered on the date the application is filed."

When you may file

Lump-sum judgments — CCP 683.130(a): the application "may be filed at any time before the expiration of the 10-year period of enforceability provided by Section 683.020" — or, for an already-renewed judgment, at any time before the renewed period expires.

Any time before, but not after. There is no grace period and no relief for a late filing.

Installment judgments — subdivision (b) splits the analysis:

• if never renewed, at any time as to past due amounts not already barred by the 10-year period;
• if previously renewed, within the subdivision (a) window as to the amount previously renewed, and at any time before expiry as to past due amounts that became due after the previous renewal.

And there is a five-year cooling-off period — CCP 683.110(b): a judgment "shall not be renewed under this article if the application for renewal is filed within five years from the time the judgment was previously renewed."

Renew too early and the renewal is vulnerable — CCP 683.170(a) says it shall be vacated on that ground.

The 2023 limit: one renewal, five years

CCP 683.110(c) carves out two categories that may be renewed only once:

• (1) A judgment on a claim related to medical expenses if the principal amount remaining unsatisfied against a debtor is under two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000).
• (2) A judgment on a claim related to personal debt if the principal amount remaining unsatisfied against a debtor is under fifty thousand dollars ($50,000).

And under CCP 683.120(c), that single renewal "extends the period of enforceability … for a period of five years from the date the application is filed" — not ten. "No application may be filed if the judgment was renewed on or before December 31, 2022."

So for a qualifying consumer or medical judgment the outer limit is 10 years plus one five-year renewal, after which it expires permanently.

Who counts as a "debtor" — CCP 683.110(d): a "natural person from whom money is due or owing or alleged to be due or owing." And "due or owing" does not include debts incurred due to or obtained by tortious or fraudulent conduct, or judgments for unpaid wages, damages, or penalties owed to an employee.

Those exclusions matter. A judgment against an individual for fraud, or a wage judgment in favour of an employee, is not confined to the single five-year renewal.

What the application must contain

CCP 683.140: the application "shall be executed under oath" and shall include:

• (a) the title of the court, and the cause and number of the action;
• (b) the date of entry of the judgment and of any renewals, and where entered;
• (c) the name and address of the judgment creditor and the name and last known address of the judgment debtor — but the creditor shall omit the name of a debtor whose liability has ceased, including where that debtor has obtained a discharge under Title 11 of the United States Code and notice has been filed with the court, or where the creditor has filed an acknowledgment of satisfaction as to that debtor;
• (d) for a money judgment, the information necessary to compute the amount as renewed; for a judgment for possession or sale of property, a description of the performance remaining.

The omission duty in (c) is mandatory, and it mirrors the identical requirement for a writ of execution in CCP 699.510(c)(1).

The debtor's response: 60 days

CCP 683.170 is the debtor's remedy, and the window is short.

The grounds — subdivision (a): the renewal "may be vacated on any ground that would be a defense to an action on the judgment, including the ground that the amount of the renewed judgment … is incorrect, and shall be vacated if the application for renewal was filed within five years from the time the judgment was previously renewed."

Note the two registers: may be vacated on a defence to the judgment, shall be vacated for a premature renewal.

The deadline — subdivision (b): "Not later than 60 days after service of the notice of renewal … the judgment debtor may apply by noticed motion for an order vacating the renewal." The notice of motion is served on the creditor, personally or by mail.

What the court can do — subdivision (c): on hearing, the renewal may be vacated on any subdivision (a) ground, "and another and different renewal may be entered, including … renewal of the judgment in a different amount if the decision of the court is that the judgment creditor is entitled to renewal in a different amount."

So a successful challenge to the arithmetic does not necessarily kill the renewal — it corrects it.

Interest: 10 percent, or 5

CCP 685.010(a)(1): "interest accrues at the rate of 10 percent per annum on the principal amount of a money judgment remaining unsatisfied," except as paragraph (2) provides.

The 2023 exception — subdivision (a)(2)(A): for judgments entered on or after January 1, 2023, or where an application for renewal is filed on or after January 1, 2023, interest accrues at 5 percent per annum in the same two categories that carry the single-renewal limit:

• (i) a money judgment under $200,000 remaining unsatisfied against a debtor for a claim related to medical expenses;
• (ii) a money judgment under $50,000 remaining unsatisfied against a debtor for a claim related to personal debt.

Subparagraph (B) gives examples of qualifying transactions, including an agreement governing the use of a credit card, a conditional sale contract, and a deferred deposit transaction.

Note the trigger on renewal. An older judgment carrying 10 percent drops to 5 percent when it is renewed on or after 1 January 2023, if it falls in one of the two categories.

When interest starts — CCP 685.020(a): on the date of entry of the judgment. Subdivision (b): unless the judgment provides otherwise, for a judgment payable in installments interest accrues on each installment "on the date the installment becomes due."

Costs of enforcement — and the fees limit

CCP 685.040:

The judgment creditor is entitled to the reasonable and necessary costs of enforcing a judgment. Attorney's fees incurred in enforcing a judgment are not included in costs collectible under this title unless otherwise provided by law. Attorney's fees incurred in enforcing a judgment are included as costs collectible under this title if the underlying judgment includes an award of attorney's fees to the judgment creditor pursuant to subparagraph (A) of paragraph (10) of subdivision (a) of Section 1033.5.

The cross-reference is to fees awarded by contract. So enforcement fees are recoverable only where the original judgment awarded contractual attorney's fees — not where fees came by statute or not at all.

The timeline

A short checklist

If you hold the judgment

1. Diary the ten years from entry, not from your last collection step.
2. Renew before expiry. It is a filing, not a motion — but there is no late filing.
3. Check which category you are in. A medical or personal-debt judgment against a natural person under the thresholds gets one renewal of five years, and nothing after.
4. Check whether the fraud or wage exclusions apply — CCP 683.110(d) takes those outside the single- renewal limit.
5. Do not renew inside five years of the last renewal. CCP 683.170(a) says such a renewal shall be vacated.
6. Omit any debtor who has been discharged or satisfied. CCP 683.140(c) requires it.
7. Recompute the interest rate on renewal. Renewing a qualifying judgment on or after 1 January 2023 drops it to 5 percent.
8. Re-record your abstract after renewal, and check every enforcement lien — CCP 683.020(c) extinguishes them at expiry.

If a renewal has been served on you

1. Calendar 60 days from service of the notice of renewal. That is the whole window, and it needs a noticed motion.
2. Check the arithmetic. An incorrect amount is an express ground, and the court can enter a corrected renewal instead of vacating outright.
3. Check the date of the last renewal. Inside five years, the renewal must be vacated.
4. Check the interest rate applied, particularly if this is a credit card, conditional sale or deferred deposit debt renewed on or after 1 January 2023.

Where these sections live

• CCP 683.020 — Ten years to enforce a judgment
• CCP 683.110 — Which judgments may be renewed, and how often
• CCP 683.120 — Filing the application; length of the renewal
• CCP 683.130 — When the application may be filed
• CCP 683.140 — Contents of the application
• CCP 683.170 — Vacating a renewal
• CCP 685.010 — Rate of interest
• CCP 685.020 — When interest begins
• CCP 685.040 — Costs of enforcement
• CCP 695.010 — Property subject to enforcement
• CCP 697.310 — Judgment lien on real property
• CCP 699.510 — Issuance of a writ of execution
• CCP 1033.5 — Items allowable as costs

This page explains what the Code says. It isn't legal advice, and whether a particular debt is a "personal debt" or "related to medical expenses" within these sections is decided under case law this site doesn't cover.