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Foreign Judgments domestication in Texas compared to Virginia
December 3, 2009 - In some jurisdictions, there are very distinct and critical issues related to the statutory requirements for domesticating a foreign judgment. One such jurisdiction is Texas. I recently had an experience with recording a Virginia judgment in Harris County, which is where Houston, Texas is situated.
The Texas Code and a case that interpreted the statutory requirements reveal a distinction with the Virginia Code requirements. Texas Civil Practice and Rem. Code ?35.003 necessitates the filing of ?a copy of a foreign judgment? to effectuate domestication. An ?abstract of the judgment,? according to the courts, fails to include many elemental items of a judgment such as the name or signature of the judge who executed the decree and verbiage manifesting the adjudication of the rights involved. See Wolfram v. Wolfram 165 S.W.3d 755 (Tex. App. 2005) where the Court stated, in pertinent part, ?The abstract of judgment cannot fit these definitions of "copy." An abstract of judgment is not identical to the original judgment. It is not a reproduction of the words of the original judgment. Indeed, an abstract is not even signed by the judge of the rendering court. Rather, an abstract of judgment is a printed form designed to give parties notice of a judicial lien upon the property of a judgment debtor. See TEX. PROP. CODE ANN. ?52.001 (Vernon 1995 & Supp. 2004-05).?
The foregoing was a distinction was expressed to me by two excellent lawyers at Wells & Cuellar, PC whose offices are in Houston, TX. Both Brent Wells and one of the firm?s associates, Adam Swonke, were very well prepared on this issue. www.wellscuellar.com We debated and analyzed these issues because we were faced with a Motion to Set Aside the Foreign Judgment couched as a challenge to the validity of the domestication of the Virginia judgment in Texas. If you are intending to domesticate a foreign judgment in Texas, be aware of this nuance and contact Brent Wells, Esquire to be your co-counsel.
In comparison, Virginia Code ?16.1-95 provides what is an abstract of judgment that arises from a judgment entered by the General District Court. In ?16.1-96, the Virginia Code explains what an abstract shall contain. Taking this one step further, ?8.01-446.1 explains the procedure for docketing a judgment in the Circuit Court, Land Records Division. ?8.01-449 refers to how judgments are docketed and specifically uses the term ?abstract of judgment? in its discourse. There is an abundance of consistency in the Virginia Code that makes it indisputable that a judgment abstract is virtually comparable to the judgment that the judge signed from General District Court. The law in Virginia does not distinguish between a ?copy of a foreign judgment? and an ?abstract of the judgment? in terms of recording a foreign judgment. The essence of the procedure in Virginia is that the creditor or the creditor?s attorney obtains an ?exemplified judgment from another state, and records it in the circuit court of any city or county in Virginia, and gives the debtor notice of that recording. The creditor must provide the clerk with an affidavit setting forth the last know address of the judgment debtor and the address of the judgment creditor. If the debtor does not respond to set aside the judgment within twenty one (21) days from the filing date, the judgment will then be enforceable as if it were a Virginia judgment. If the procedure has been correctly followed, and the judgment properly filed, the foreign judgment may be enforced in Virginia for twenty (20) years from the date of the domestication, no matter what statutory limitations applied in the state of origin. Moreover, that judgment, once filed, may be extended in the same manner as if it were a Virginia judgment, pursuant to Virginia Code ?8.01-251.
