Revival of Colorado Judgment Lien Based on Foreign Judgment

The Colorado Supreme Court recently held that, in order to revive a judgment lien recorded in Colorado based on a foreign judgment domesticated in Colorado pursuant to the Uniform Foreign Enforcement of Judgments Act, C.R.S. secs. 13-53-101 et seq., the judgment creditor must revive both the foreign judgment in the jurisdiction in which it was originally issued and the domesticated foreign judgment in Colorado before filing a transcript of the revived domesticated judgment in the county where the orginal transcript was recorded. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., v. Kopfman, 08SC783 (March 15, 2010).

In this case, the judgment creditor attempted to revive a judgment lien based on a foreign judgment domesticated in Colorado by simply reviving the foreign judgment in Arizona, where it was originally issued, and recording an affidavit of renewal in the county in which the original transcript of judgment for the domesticated judgment was recorded. The trial court ruled that the judgment lien was properly extend. The Court of Appeals reversed, and the Supreme Court granted certiorari and affirmed.

Under Colorado law, a judgment lien is valid for a period of six years after entry of judgment, and may be revived prior to expiration of the six-year period by reviving the judgment "as provided by law" and recording a transcript of such revived judgment in the county in which the original judgment was record. C.R.S. sec. 13-52-102(1). With respect to foreign judgments, "the six-year period begins to run from the date the foreign court entered the original judgment. " Kopfman, supra, p. 10.

The Supreme Court held that, when read together with C.R.C.P. 54(h), which provides the procedure for reviving a judgment, and the Uniform Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act, the term "as provided by law" in C.R.S. sec. 13-52-102(1) requires that the judgment be revived first in the original foreign jurisdiction and then in the jurisdiction in Colorado in which it was domesticated.

Posted By: Brent W. Houston, Esq.