Stay of enforcement of judgment in California

A stay of enforcement of a judgment in California is the topic of this blog post.  Code of Civil Procedure section 918 is the statutory authorization for a trial court to stay the enforcement of any judgment but only for a limited period of time.  For most California judgments such as money judgments the trial court can stay the enforcement for no more than 10 days beyond the last date on which a notice of appeal could be filed.

A request for a stay of enforcement of a California judgment requires that the moving party file a notice motion or ex-parte application for what is known as a stay of execution of the judgment.

Any parties in California that have had had a money judgment entered against them in California need to realize the vital importance of immediately seeking a stay of execution of any money judgment as soon as possible after the judgment has been entered as Code of Civil Procedure section 683.010 states that, “Except as otherwise provided by statute or in the judgment, a judgment is enforceable under this title upon entry.” This means that California law states that a judgment creditor can begin collection proceedings to enforce the judgment as soon as the judgment has been entered by the clerk of the court, in some cases that may be the same day!

In cases where the judgment creditor appears to be particularly aggressive and a party believes that they may begin collection efforts right away they may wish to file an ex-parte application for a stay of execution.

The period of time in which the execution of a judgment may be stayed varies depending on whether the case is a limited civil or unlimited civil case and whether or not a notice of entry of judgment has been served by either the clerk of the court or any other party to the action. Therefore every case is unique and this is the reason there are several different deadlines for filing a notice of appeal for both limited civil case and unlimited civil cases. Examples of the different deadlines will be given below.

California Rule of Court 8.822 governs the deadline for filing a notice of appeal in limited civil cases.

For most limited civil cases in which the clerk of the court or any party has served a notice of entry of judgment on the defendant the deadline to file a notice of appeal is 30 days from the date that the notice of entry of judgment is served on the defendant.

For most limited civil cases if no notice of entry of judgment was served on the defendant the deadline to file a notice of appeal is 90 days from the date that the judgment is entered by the clerk of the court.

California Rule of Court 8.104 governs the deadline for filing a notice of appeal in limited civil cases.

For most unlimited civil cases in which the clerk of the court or any party has served a notice of entry of judgment on the defendant the deadline to file a notice of appeal is 60 days from the date that the notice of entry of judgment is served on the defendant.

For most unlimited civil cases if no notice of entry of judgment was served on the defendant the deadline to file a notice of appeal is 190 days from the date that the judgment is entered by the clerk of the court.

Although the trial court has the power to stay enforcement of the judgment whether or not a notice of appeal has been filed the truth is that there are some judges who may only grant a stay of enforcement in the following situations:

The moving party had a judgment obtained against them through default and they have filed or will file a motion to vacate that judgment that shows valid grounds for vacating the judgment.

The moving party has already filed a notice of appeal or will file a notice of appeal and can show at least facially plausible grounds for appealing the judgment and the moving party can make a strong showing that they will suffer irreparable injury if execution of the judgment is not stayed.

The moving party should include a detailed declaration with specific facts and evidence detailing the irreparable harm they will suffer if a stay of execution is not granted and should also include any relevant documents as exhibits.

Possible grounds could include that the judgment was obtained by default and the moving party has filed or will file a motion to vacate the judgment, enforcement of the judgment will cause the sale of a key asset of significant value, would destroy an ongoing business or would precipitate insolvency or bankruptcy.

Attorneys or parties in California that would like to view a portion of a sample 17 page ex-parte application for of execution of judgment containing includes brief instructions, a memorandum of points and authorities, sample declaration, sample declaration regarding ex-parte notice and proposed order sold by the author can use the link shown below.

Ex-parte application for stay of execution of judgment in California

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The author of this blog post, Stan Burman, is an entrepreneur and freelance paralegal that has worked in California and Federal litigation since 1995 and has created over 300 sample legal documents for California and Federal litigation. If you are in need of assistance with any California or Federal litigation matters, Mr. Burman is available on a freelance basis. Mr. Burman may be contacted by e-mail at DivParalgl@yahoo.com for more information. He accepts payments through PayPal which means that you can pay using most credit or debit cards.

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DISCLAIMER:

Please note that the author of this blog post, Stan Burman is NOT an attorney and as such is unable to provide any specific legal advice. The author is NOT engaged in providing any legal, financial, or other professional services, and any information contained in this blog post is NOT intended to constitute legal advice.

The materials and information contained in this blog post have been prepared by Stan Burman for informational purposes only and are not legal advice. Transmission of the information contained in this blog post is not intended to create, and receipt does not constitute, any business relationship between the author and any readers. Readers should not act upon this information without seeking professional counsel.