How to Renew a Money Judgment in Minnesota

How long does a Minnesota money judgment last?

A Minnesota money judgment, and the lien it creates on the debtor’s real estate, lasts for a fixed period that starts on the date the judgment is entered. On registered land, the lien exists only if the judgment is also recorded. Minn. Stat. § 548.09, subd. 1 provides: “The judgment survives, and the lien continues, for ten years after its entry.” Check the current text before relying on that figure.

The enforcement statute uses the same measure. Minn. Stat. § 550.01 lets the creditor or an assignee “proceed to enforce the same, at any time within ten years after the entry thereof, in the manner provided by law.” Check the current text before relying on that figure. After that period, garnishments, levies, and executions on the old judgment are no longer available.

The date that matters is the entry date on the judgment itself. The docketing date and the date you first tried to collect do not move the clock. I suggest pulling the judgment from the court file and calendaring a renewal decision well before the deadline, because the renewal lawsuit takes time to prepare and serve. For the tools you use while the judgment is alive, see collecting a Minnesota judgment.

How do you renew a judgment in Minnesota?

You renew a Minnesota money judgment by suing the judgment debtor on the judgment itself, before the statutory period runs. Minn. Stat. § 541.04 sets the outer limit: “No action shall be maintained upon a judgment or decree of a court of the United States, or of any state or territory thereof, unless begun within ten years after the entry of such judgment.” Check the current text before relying on that figure.

The judgment is the cause of action. You do not prove the original debt again. In Dahlin v. Kroening, 796 N.W.2d 503 (Minn. 2011), the Minnesota Supreme Court explained that “an action on a judgment results in a new judgment, which may then serve as the basis for a subsequent action on a judgment.” The court relied on the common-law action on a judgment, finding that the text of section 541.04 “shows no intent to abrogate the common law.”

Minnesota does have a notice-based renewal, but only for child support. Minn. Stat. § 548.091, subd. 3b provides: “Child support judgments may be renewed by service of notice upon the debtor.” The court administrator then renews the judgment in the same court file as the original child support judgment. Section 548.09 refers to renewal only for that category: “Child support judgments may be renewed pursuant to section 548.091.” A business holding a judgment for unpaid invoices, a loan, or a guarantee has no administrative shortcut, so the renewal has to be a lawsuit.

When is a renewal lawsuit begun under the Minnesota rules?

A renewal lawsuit is begun when it is commenced under Minn. R. Civ. P. 3.01, and in Minnesota that happens on service, not on filing. The rule provides that “A civil action is commenced against each defendant” in three ways:

1. “when the summons is served upon that defendant”
2. “at the date of signing a waiver of service pursuant to Rule 4.05”
3. “when the summons is delivered for service to the sheriff in the county where the defendant resides,” with actual service required within the period the rule sets.

Filing the complaint with the court administrator does not commence the action. A creditor who files on the last week and serves late has not begun the action in time. Filing is still required after commencement: Minn. R. Civ. P. 5.04(a) provides that “Any action that is not filed with the court within one year of commencement against any party is deemed dismissed with prejudice against all parties unless the parties within that year sign a stipulation to extend the filing period.” Check the current text before relying on that figure.

The action can be begun at the very end of the period. In Amica Mutual Insurance Co. v. Wartman, 841 N.W.2d 637 (Minn. App. 2014), the Court of Appeals read an 1894 Minnesota Supreme Court decision to allow a renewal action commenced “on the very last day” to proceed to judgment after the original judgment expires. I suggest not planning for the last day, because a debtor who has moved may be hard to find and serve.

Service problems are the practical risk. In Shamrock Development, Inc. v. Smith, 754 N.W.2d 377 (Minn. 2008), an assignee’s renewal action against a debtor living outside Minnesota was served by newspaper publication. The Minnesota Supreme Court reversed and remanded, holding that “The essential jurisdictional facts regarding whether a defendant is a resident individual domiciliary must actually exist in order to confer jurisdiction.”

Why must the renewal lawsuit name the original judgment debtor?

A renewal lawsuit has to be brought against the party the judgment was entered against, because only a suit on the judgment against that party is an action upon the judgment. In Amica, the court held that “a judgment creditor must bring suit against the original judgment debtor,” and must do so within the statutory period. The creditor there held a judgment against a construction company. Within the period, it served a veil-piercing complaint on the company’s sole shareholder but never sued the company on the judgment.

The court held that the veil-piercing suit was not an action upon the judgment under section 541.04. The judgment against the company expired, and the creditor was left with no judgment to collect from the shareholder. The Court of Appeals later described the same rule in All Finish Concrete, Inc. v. Erickson, 899 N.W.2d 557 (Minn. App. 2017): “a creditor’s suit to pierce the corporate veil is simply ancillary to the underlying judgment and does not alter the statute-of-limitations period.”

If you are pursuing an owner on a veil-piercing theory, I suggest renewing the judgment against the company on its own track, because the veil-piercing claim rides on a live judgment against the company. Owner and heir claims are covered in collecting from an LLC’s owners or heirs. Transfers of company assets to insiders raise separate voidable transfer claims.

What does a renewal judgment give you?

A renewal lawsuit ends in a new judgment against the debtor for what is still owed, and that new judgment starts its own statutory period. The unpaid amount includes interest. Minn. Stat. § 549.09, subd. 2 provides: “During each calendar year, interest shall accrue on the unpaid balance of the judgment or award from the time that it is entered or made until it is paid, at the annual rate provided in subdivision 1.” Subdivision 1 sets the rate by the judgment’s size and type. For a judgment above its dollar line, it provides: “For a judgment or award over $50,000, other than a judgment or award for or against the state or a political subdivision of the state or a judgment or award in a family court action, the interest rate shall be ten percent per year until paid.”

The renewal complaint should therefore state the original principal, each payment received, and the accrued post-judgment interest, because the new judgment is entered for the unpaid balance you prove. A ledger showing how each payment was applied makes that proof simple. For the rate and the arithmetic, see post-judgment interest.

The new judgment can itself be renewed. In Dahlin, the judgment creditor had renewed a spousal-maintenance judgment once and sued again on the renewal judgment. The Supreme Court held: “We therefore hold that section 541.04 does not limit an action on a judgment to one renewal.” Each renewal action must be begun before the period on the judgment it renews runs out.

How does a renewal judgment become a lien on the debtor’s real estate?

A renewal judgment becomes a lien on the debtor’s real estate when you docket it in each county where the debtor owns or may acquire real estate, and on registered land only if it is also recorded.

The court administrator will not docket the new judgment until you file the identification affidavit. Minn. Stat. § 548.09, subd. 2 provides: “No judgment, except for taxes, shall be docketed until the judgment creditor, or the creditor’s agent or attorney, has filed with the court administrator an affidavit, stating the full name, occupation, place of residence, and post office address of the judgment debtor, to the best of affiant’s information and belief.” The same subdivision adds: “If the residence is within an incorporated place having more than 5,000 inhabitants, the street number of both the judgment debtor’s place of residence and place of business, if the debtor has one, shall be stated.”

Once docketed, the lien works county by county. Under Minn. Stat. § 548.09, subd. 1, “From the time of docketing the judgment is a lien, in the amount unpaid, upon all real property in the county then or thereafter owned by the judgment debtor, but it is not a lien upon registered land unless it is also recorded pursuant to sections 508.63 and 508A.63.” For other counties, “Upon a transcript of the docket being filed with the court administrator in any other county, the court administrator shall also docket it.”

Why do garnishments and levies not keep a judgment alive?

Collection activity does not extend a Minnesota judgment, because a garnishment, levy, or creditor’s bill depends on the existing judgment rather than creating a new one. Amica quoted the Minnesota Supreme Court: “It has been repeatedly held that a pending levy of an execution made during the life of a judgment will not operate to continue the life or lien of a judgment beyond the statutory period.”

Amica also quoted a 1938 Minnesota Supreme Court decision describing garnishment the same way: a garnishment proceeding “is not an independent action but merely an ancillary proceeding, to secure and make effectual any judgment recovered in the main action.” The Court of Appeals added, in its own words: “Importantly, and in contrast to a judgment-renewal action, a creditor’s bill does not operate to extend the life of a judgment.”

The practical point is timing. A creditor running a wage garnishment that is collecting monthly can feel secure, yet the judgment still expires on schedule. I suggest starting the renewal lawsuit while the garnishment continues, because the garnishment is “merely an ancillary proceeding” and does not extend the judgment.

How does the deadline work for a judgment from another state or a federal court?

A judgment from another state or a federal court that you file in Minnesota keeps its original entry date, so its Minnesota clock started in the other court. Minn. Stat. § 548.26 defines the term: “‘Foreign judgment’ means any judgment, decree, or order of a court of the United States or of any other court which is entitled to full faith and credit in this state.”

Minn. Stat. § 548.27 provides that “The court administrator shall treat the foreign judgment in the same manner as a judgment of any district court or the supreme court of this state.” It then sets the date: “For purposes of sections 548.09, 549.09, 550.01, 508.63, and 508A.63, the date of entry of a foreign judgment is the original date of entry in the foreign jurisdiction.”

A judgment that sat in another state for years before you filed it in Minnesota has that much less time left here. Section 541.04 also reaches judgments of “a court of the United States, or of any state or territory thereof,” so a renewal action in Minnesota on an out-of-state judgment faces the same outer limit. The filing steps are covered in filing an out-of-state judgment in Minnesota.

When does a debtor’s bankruptcy change the deadline?

A debtor’s bankruptcy filed before the renewal period has run can extend the deadline, because federal law then provides that “such period does not expire until the later of” the period’s own end or a date tied to the end of the bankruptcy stay. Subject to an exception for section 524 of the Bankruptcy Code, 11 U.S.C. § 108(c) applies “if applicable nonbankruptcy law, an order entered in a nonbankruptcy proceeding, or an agreement fixes a period for commencing or continuing a civil action in a court other than a bankruptcy court on a claim against the debtor.”

When that condition is met and the period has not expired at the filing, the period does not expire until the later of two dates. The first is “the end of such period, including any suspension of such period occurring on or after the commencement of the case.” The second is “30 days after notice of the termination or expiration of the stay under section 362, 922, 1201, or 1301 of this title, as the case may be, with respect to such claim.” Check the current text before relying on that figure.

While the case is pending, 11 U.S.C. § 362(a)(1) provides that the petition “operates as a stay, applicable to all entities, of” “the commencement or continuation, including the issuance or employment of process, of a judicial, administrative, or other action or proceeding against the debtor that was or could have been commenced before the commencement of the case.”

11 U.S.C. § 524(a)(2) sets one effect of a discharge. For a judgment debt that is discharged, the discharge “operates as an injunction against the commencement or continuation of an action, the employment of process, or an act, to collect, recover or offset any such debt as a personal liability of the debtor.” When the stay ends without a discharge of the judgment debt, I suggest calendaring the end of the stay as soon as you receive notice of it, because the federal window that follows the stay runs from that notice.

What Should a Creditor Do Before the Deadline Arrives?

A creditor keeps a Minnesota judgment alive by taking five steps in this order. To keep the judgment, only commencement must come before the deadline, because section 541.04 requires that the action be “begun within” the period. Under Amica, a timely suit “can proceed to trial after a judgment has expired.” The existing lien depends on different dates: Minn. Stat. § 548.09, subd. 1 provides that “the lien continues, for ten years after its entry,” while the new judgment is a lien only “From the time of docketing.” Check the current text before relying on that figure.

1. The creditor finds the entry date on the judgment, or for an out-of-state or federal judgment, the original entry date in the other court.
2. The creditor decides whether the debtor is worth pursuing for another statutory period, because a renewal lawsuit has its own cost.
3. The creditor sues each judgment debtor it wants to keep on the judgment, stating the unpaid principal and accrued interest.
4. The creditor commences that action under Rule 3.01 by service, waiver, or sheriff delivery before the deadline, and not while a bankruptcy stay bars it, because filing alone does not count. The creditor then files the action with the court within the period Rule 5.04(a) sets.
5. The creditor dockets the new judgment with the identification affidavit and files transcripts in each county where the debtor owns real estate.

A garnishment already in place can keep running only during the old judgment’s life, because section 550.01 allows enforcement only within the period it sets after entry, and the garnishment does not extend the judgment.

If you would like me to confirm the deadline on a specific judgment and tell you whom to name and serve in a renewal action, email [email protected] with the judgment, its entry date, and the payment history. More on creditor remedies is in my Minnesota business debt collection material.