When do civil judgments expire?

Answer 1

Judgments are expunged from credit reports after seven years. However, the judgment itself is generally valid until it is paid in full or satisfied in accordance with the judgment holder's agreement.

Judgments both domestic and foreign (meaning outside the state of residency not the U.S.) are valid from 5 to 20 years and the majority are renewable. This allows the judgment to be interminable and to be executed at any given time without notification to the person to whom the judgment is against. A judgment that has been perfected as a lien against real property may permanent until paid and may not have to renewed, however in other states it may have a definite term and may only be renewed a limited number of times.

As an example, in the State of Florida a judgment lien on real property is good for 10 years and may be renewed for another 10 years. If the underlying judgment is about to expire, the judgment creditor in Florida can sue again to get a new judgment, but that judgment's real property lien(s) does not result in "tacking" to the real property lien(s) under the original judgment, and the loss of lien priority may mean that the judgment creditor doesn't get any proceeds from the property. In addition, the new judgment cannot be used to create a Florida lien on personal property (which are limited to 5 years and 5 years and cannot be renewed any further under any circumstances).

State judgment and lien laws are subject to many, many quirks and even experienced attorneys and courts themselves are often confused by them.