Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Georgia

is there a statute of limitations, in Georgia, to file a judgement against a person or their property, you cosigned a bank loan for, the person defaulted on the loan and the cosigner paid the loan in full?


Asked on 10/02/15, 2:34 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

The statute of limitations is a court defense ONLY and applies to the timeframe that a creditor has to bring an action. Generally, it runs from the date of last payment on the debt and is 4 to 6 years.

Judgments last FOREVER. There is no statute of limitations. However, in terms of enforceability of a judgment, that is somewhat different. Judgments in Georgia are enforceable for a period of 7 years (meaning the creditor can seek to garnish wages, levy bank accounts or seize any other assets owned free and clear) any number of times within that enforcement period. The judgment, if not paid off within that timeframe, can be renewed and a creditor has up to 3 years after a judgment goes dormant (after the 7 years) to revive it. So its really 10 years. See below statutes.

In your example, it is not clear. if you co-signed a loan and paid off the debt, did you sue the primary borrower and recover a judgment against him/her? Or were you sued by the creditor (along with primary borrower perhaps) and you paid off the judgment?

My questions (you do not need to answer me but you need to answer for yourself) is when did the loan go into default, what happened and when did the co-signer pay off the loan? The statute of limitations would apply to the co-signer's against the primary borrower and would begin to run from the time you paid off the debt to the creditor. Am guessing that it would probably be 4-6 years here from the time that the loan was paid off . You need to see a collections attorney who practices in the county/state where the borrower resides. My answer is premised on Georgia law assuming both the primary borrower and co-signer are there. If the borrower is now elsewhere this may make a difference.

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OCGA � 9-12-60. When judgment becomes dormant; how dormancy prevented; docketing; applicability

(a) A judgment shall become dormant and shall not be enforced:

(1) When seven years shall elapse after the rendition of the judgment before execution is issued thereon and is entered on the general execution docket of the county in which the judgment was rendered;

(2) Unless entry is made on the execution by an officer authorized to levy and return the same and the entry and the date thereof are entered by the clerk on the general execution docket within seven years after issuance of the execution and its record; or

(3) Unless a bona fide public effort on the part of the plaintiff in execution to enforce the execution in the courts is made and due written notice of such effort specifying the time of the institution of the action or proceedings, the nature thereof, the names of the parties thereto, and the name of the court in which it is pending is filed by the plaintiff in execution or his attorney at law with the clerk and is entered by the clerk on the general execution docket, all at such times and periods that seven years will not elapse between such entries of such notices or between such an entry and a proper entry made as prescribed in paragraph (2) of this subsection.

(b) The record of the execution made as prescribed in paragraph (1) of subsection (a) of this Code section or of every entry as prescribed in paragraph (2) or (3) of subsection (a) of this Code section shall institute a new seven-year period within which the judgment shall not become dormant, provided that when an entry on the execution or a written notice of public effort is filed for record, the execution shall be recorded or rerecorded on the general execution docket with all entries thereon. It shall not be necessary in order to prevent dormancy that such execution be entered or such entry be recorded on any other docket.

(c) When an entry on an execution or a written notice of public effort is filed for record and the original execution is recorded in a general execution docket other than the current general execution docket, the original execution shall be rerecorded in the current general execution docket with all entries thereon. When an original execution is so rerecorded, a notation shall be made upon the original execution which states that it has been rerecorded and gives the book and page number where the execution has been rerecorded. When an original execution is so rerecorded in the current general execution docket, it shall be indexed in the current general execution docket in the same manner as if it were an original execution. Nothing in this subsection shall affect the priority of any judgment or lien; and no judgment or lien shall lose any priority because an execution is rerecorded.

(d) The provisions of subsection (a) of this Code section shall not apply to judgments or orders for child support or spousal support.

OCGA � 9-12-61. Dormant judgments renewed by action or scire facias; time of renewal

When any judgment obtained in any court becomes dormant, the same may be renewed or revived by an action or by scire facias, at the option of the holder of the judgment, within three years from the time it becomes dormant.

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Answered on 10/02/15, 4:58 pm


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