How JudgmentVault calculates Texas judgments

The interest rate Stated in the statute

For most judgments the rate is the post-judgment rate the Texas Office of Consumer Credit Commissioner (OCCC) publishes for the month the judgment is rendered: the prime rate, but not less than 5% or more than 15% a year (Tex. Fin. Code §304.003). The judgment keeps that rate for its whole life.

For a judgment on a contract that sets an interest rate, the rate is the lesser of the contract rate and 18% a year (Tex. Fin. Code §304.002). JudgmentVault supports fixed contract rates; variable contract rates are not supported yet.

Rates come from the OCCC's published table. If a month's rate is not yet in JudgmentVault's table, a judgment rendered in that month is not calculated rather than calculated with a guessed rate.

What bears interest Stated in the statute

Post-judgment interest runs on the whole money judgment, including court costs awarded in the judgment and any prejudgment interest it awards (Tex. Fin. Code §304.003(a)). Attorney's fees awarded in the judgment are part of it too.

Accrual and annual compounding Stated in the statute

Interest accrues from the date the judgment is rendered until it is satisfied (Tex. Fin. Code §304.005(a)) and compounds annually (§304.006). JudgmentVault compounds on each anniversary of the rendition date: unpaid interest is added to the balance that bears interest, and the next year's interest runs on the new balance.

Anniversaries are always counted from the original rendition date. When a month is too short for the day, the anniversary falls on the last day of that month, so a judgment rendered on February 29 has its anniversaries on February 28 in common years (Tex. Gov't Code §311.014, applied by analogy).

Interest between anniversaries Pending legal review

The statutes state an annual rate and annual compounding but no day count. Between anniversaries JudgmentVault computes interest as balance × rate × days elapsed ÷ days in that anniversary year (365, or 366 when the year contains a February 29). A full year therefore earns exactly the annual rate, never more.

The daily interest figure shown with every result is the balance × rate ÷ the days in the current anniversary year.

Rounding Pending legal review

Interest is kept exact between events and rounded half-up to the cent when it posts: at each anniversary, and at each payment or credit. Accrued interest shown on a result is the exact amount since the last posting, rounded once.

Payments and credits Pending legal review

Each payment or garnishment credit is applied first to interest accrued since the last posting, then to the balance that bears interest, then to recoverable post-judgment costs. This follows the "declining principal" method the Texas Supreme Court requires for prejudgment-interest credits (Brainard v. Trinity Universal Ins. Co., 216 S.W.3d 809 (Tex. 2006)), carried over to post-judgment interest. No Texas case applying it to post-judgment interest was found.

A credit is applied on the date entered for it. A payment dated on an anniversary is applied before that day's compounding. Anything paid beyond the full balance is shown as an overpayment; the balance never goes below zero.

Ledger entries are never edited or deleted. A mistake is corrected with a reversing entry, and the value is recomputed as if the original entry had never been made.

Post-judgment costs Pending legal review

Costs incurred after the judgment, such as writ and officer fees, are tracked separately from the judgment. They are included in the payoff figure when marked as recoverable from the debtor, but they do not bear interest. This follows the wording of Tex. Fin. Code §304.003(a), which reaches only costs awarded in the judgment, and the rules on collecting costs through a writ (Tex. R. Civ. P. 622, 629, 677).

Satisfaction and release Pending legal review

When the accrued interest, the balance and the recoverable costs all reach zero, the judgment is shown as satisfied on that date and nothing accrues after it. One cent short leaves it active. A recorded release ends accrual and records the amount left unpaid.

Dormancy Stated in the statute

A Texas judgment becomes dormant if no writ of execution is issued within 10 years after it is rendered, or within 10 years after the last writ (Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code §34.001). Each writ entered in JudgmentVault restarts that 10-year count from its issue date.

Dormancy date boundaries Pending legal review

JudgmentVault treats the 10th anniversary of rendition, or of the last writ, as the last day a writ can issue, and shows the judgment as dormant from the next day. Year counts from February 29 end on February 28. Dates are not moved for weekends or holidays, so every date shown is the earlier, unextended one.

The revival window Stated in the statute

A dormant judgment may be revived by scire facias or an action of debt brought not later than the second anniversary of the date it became dormant (Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code §31.006). JudgmentVault shows that last day.

After a revival Pending legal review

A revival entered as filed on or before the deadline is treated as on time. The next 10-year period runs from the date the revival judgment is rendered; until then the judgment is shown as dormant with a revival pending. If the window closes with nothing filed, the judgment is shown as no longer enforceable and its clocks stop.

JudgmentVault does not yet value a revived judgment.

Abstract of judgment liens, county by county Stated in the statute

A recorded and indexed abstract of judgment creates a lien in that county only if the judgment is not dormant at the time (Tex. Prop. Code §52.001). The lien continues for 10 years from recording and indexing, and ceases if the judgment becomes dormant during that period (§52.006(a)). JudgmentVault runs a separate lien clock for each county where an abstract is recorded.

A writ keeps the judgment alive but does not extend a lien (In re Rippstein, No. 05-51671 (5th Cir. 2006)). A new abstract recorded while the judgment is alive starts a new 10-year lien from its own recording date.

Lien date boundaries and revival Pending legal review

The last day of a lien is the 10th anniversary of its recording date, or the day before the judgment becomes dormant, is satisfied or is released, whichever is earliest. A lien that ends at dormancy is not restored by a revival: JudgmentVault shows no lien in that county until a new abstract is recorded.

Reminders Product setting

For every clock date, JudgmentVault schedules reminders 24, 12, 6, 3 and 1 months before it, then 2 weeks before it.