Chapter 14 : Judgment and Execution

• Library: Standards for Examination of Real Estate Titles in Arkansas (2021 Ed.)

CHAPTER 14: JUDGMENT AND EXECUTION

Standard 14.1 Judgments

1. Under applicable state law, a judgment entered prior to June 27, 1985, against any titleholder constitutes a judgment lien for a period of three years from the date of judgment, subject to revival for successive periods of three years. Ajudgment entered after June 27, 1985, against any titleholder constitutes a judgment lien for a period of 10 years from the date of judgment, subject to revival for successive periods of ten (10) years. A title examiner should require release or satisfaction of any such judgment.²⁰⁷

Caveat: An examiner should be aware that judgments in favor of the United States are enforceable for varying time periods, depending upon the statute under which such judgment is rendered.²⁰⁸

2. Judgments upon which execution sales of real property are based should be set out in the abstract with sufficient information to determine whether the court had jurisdiction of the person and subject matter of the lawsuit. If so, and if the execution sale followed the applicable statutes, title is acceptable subject to the 12-month redemption period running in favor of the judgment debtor in accordance with Ark. Code Ann. § 16-66-502. This is likewise true with respect to judgments out of which an attachment was issued since an attachment is a form of execution.²⁰⁹
3. Decrees of a chancery²¹⁰ or circuit court divesting the interest of one party and vesting the interest in another party should be accepted where there is a sufficient showing that the court had jurisdiction of the person and subject matter of the lawsuit, with the judgment or decree itself being a basis for title even though the parties did not execute instruments required by the court's order.

Standard 14.2 Judgment Liens

The date upon which any judgment of the Arkansas Supreme Court, a circuit court, a United States district court or a United States bankruptcy court²¹¹ within this state becomes a lien upon the real estate owned by the judgment debtor is as follows:

1. A judgment shall be a lien on real property of the judgment debtor in the county judicial district of rendition and in any other county judicial district of this state from the date of rendition as to any person who has actual notice of the judgment;²¹² otherwise,
2. Ajudgment shall be a lien on the real property of the judgment debtor in the county judicial district in which the judgment was rendered from the date of its rendition, if the clerk of the court maintains a permanent office within such county judicial district where records of its judgments are continuously kept and maintained, and the judgment has been filed with the circuit clerk in a manner that provides reasonable notice to the public;²¹³
3. A judgment rendered in a county judicial district where the clerk of the court does not maintain a

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