Thе State of Oregon brought a declaratory action for damages, plus interest, in the Circuit Court for Marion County against DeLong Corporation and its surety, Travelers Indеmnity Company. On May 23, 1969 the court entered a judgment in favor of plaintiff and against both defendants, which, in pertinent part, provided as follows:
"3. Plaintiff shall be and hereby is granted judgment against the defendants and each of them in the amount of $1,719,864.19, bearing interest at the rate of 6% per annum on the respective portions thereof from the respective dates set forth below:
AMOUNT Bearing Interest From:
$ 278,554.38 June 22, 1965
602,720.42 July 19, 1965
242,647.01 Aug. 27, 1965
21,062.83 Oct. 26, 1965
19,719.74 Nov. 18, 1965
69,412.50 Nov. 24, 1965
9,356.05 Dec. 16, 1965
8,283.31 Feb. 7, 1966
3,691.50 Feb. 15, 1966
6,346.20 Mar. 14 , 1966
3,266.00 Apr. 14, 1966
117,114.86 Aug. 29, 1966
7,807.76 Sept. 14, 1966
4,151.23 Sept. 16, 1966
78,615.55 Oct. 22, 1966
73,172.59 Nov. 22, 1966
9,720.54 Dec. 22, 1966
2,800.37 Feb. 15, 1967
156,534.88 Mar. 16 , 1967
4,886.47 Apr. 5, 1967
$1,719,864.19
"4. Plaintiff shall be and hereby is granted judgment against the defendants and each of them in the further sum of $952,000.00, without interest prior to judgment;” (emphasis added).
The judgment was affirmed by the Court of Appeals, State Highway Com. v. DeLong Corp.,
On June 11, 1973, Travelers Indemnity Company, on bеhalf of DeLong, paid plaintiff the sum of $4,036,540.80, which was the total amount of the judgment of $1,719,864.19, plus interest at the rate of six per cent per annum on the "respective рortions [of the judgment] from the respective dates set forth [in the judgment]” to the date of payment plus the balance of the judgment plus interest on such balance from the date of thе judgment to the date of payment.
On June 14, 1973, the plaintiff filed a satisfaction pro tanto of the May 23,1969 judgment and authorized the clerk of the court "to enter this satisfaction pro tanto of record forthwith.” The plaintiff did nоt satisfy the judgment in full because it contended that it was entitled to payment of interest on the interest awarded in paragraph 3 of the May 23, 1969 judgment, from May 23, 1969 until payment, in addition to the other sums awarded by the judgment.
On May 3,1974 the defendants moved the court for an order providing "that the judgment entered herein on May 23, 1969, has been fully satisfied.”
On September 9, 1974 the circuit court entered an order providing "that defendants’ motion is allowed and the judgment entered herein on May 23, 1969, is hereby declared to be satisfied in full, tоgether with any attorney’s lien created thereby.”
The plaintiff appealed to the Court of Appeals from the order of September 9, 1974 contending that sаid order deprived it of post judgment interest on the pre
There is no dispute about the right of the plaintiff to prejudgment interest as provided in paragraph 3 of the May 23, 1969 judgment. This court has consistently held that interest on unliquidated damages for breach of contract is proper where the exact amount of damages is eithеr ascertained or is readily ascertainable and the time from which the interest runs is easily ascertained. Kreig v. Union Pacific Land Res. Corp.,
The prejudgment interest in this case was awarded pursuant to ORS 82.010(l)(a) or ORS 82.010(l)(b), which, in pertinent part, read as follows:
"(1) The legal rate of interest is six percent per annum and is payable on:
"(a) All moneys after they become due; * * *
"(b) Judgments and decrees for the payment of money from the date of the entry thereof unless some other date is specified therein, * *
It makes little difference in this case whether the prejudgmеnt interest was allowed under ORS 82.010(l)(a) or ORS 82.010(l)(b) and we need not burden this opinion by considering that question. See, however, Gow v. Multnomah Hotel, Inc.,
This court in Graham v. Merchant,
This court held that plaintiff was entitled to inter
Defendants concede in their brief that a review of the authorities cited by plaintiff
"* * * support the proposition that a judgment may be entered by a trial court which contains an award for pre-judgment interest in such a manner that the entire amount of that judgment (including pre-judgment interest) will bear post-judgment interest. As indicated above, defendants do not quarrel with this rule, believing that the case of Graham v. Merchant, supra, stands for exactly this proposition. * * *”
Defendants then argue, in effect, that because the trial court did not compute the interest due on thе portions of the judgment listed in paragraph 3 thereof from the dates listed after each item and enter judgment for the total sum of principal and interest that рlaintiff is not entitled to post judgment interest on prejudgment interest. We quote again from defendants’ brief:
"* * * However, the question before the court at this time presents а much more direct and narrow issue which does not call for the application of the general rule advanced by the plaintiff. The question before the сourt at the present time is not whether an Oregon court can or should enter a judgment which would provide for the payment of post-judgment interest on an award of рrejudgment interest. The issue before this court is whether the judgment of May 23,1969, when construed in light of the provisions of ORS 82.010, directs the payment of post-judgment interest on pre-judgment intеrest? * * *”
We think defendants’ argument is a mere quibble.
We attach no importance to the fact that the triаl court did not calculate the prejudgment interest and add the amount thereof to the judgment, since such calculation was merely an arithmetical comрutation which could be done at any time by anyone interested.
The weight of authority favors the allowance of post judgment interest on prejudgment interest. The rule is stated thus in 49 CJS 199, Judgments § 77:
"Ordinarily interest due on the demand on which the action is brought should be calculated and the judgment rendered for the aggregate amount of the demand and interest, and, sometimes by virtue of statutory provisions, the fact that this results in allowing compound interest has been held no objection; * * *”
In 47 CJS 34, Interest § 21 b the rule is stated thus:
"* * * However, while there are some decisions to the contrary it has generally been held that a judgment bears interest on the whole amount thereof, although such amount is made up partly of intеrest on the original obligation, and even though the interest is separately stated in the judgment. * * *”
From 45 Am Jur 2d 71, Interest and Usury § 78, we quote:
"Although compound interest generally is not allowable on a judgment, it is estаblished that a judgment bears interest on the whole amount from its date even*358 though the amount is in part made up of interest, and this rule applies also to a decrеe in equity. * * *”
In Boscus v. Bohlig, 173 Cal 687,
"It was proper that by the judgment interest due prior thereto should be added to the principal, and that the aggregate amount should thereafter draw interest. íjí iji
We also quote from Rochester Carting Co. v. Levitt,
"Interest on a claim or judgment is largely a creature of statute or Constitution. Only with respect to a narrow category of claims does one find a 'legal right’ to prejudgment interest at the common law. [Citations omitted.] As for interest on a judgment, there is no common law right [citations omitted]. Post-judgment interest, owing its existence to statute, is subject to reasonable statutory regulation limited only by constitutional interdiction.
''Prejudgment interest is awarded, in the case of injury to, or the loss or destructiоn of property, on the theory that it is necessary to give full compensation for the loss sustained [citations omitted]. Post-judgment interest, on the other hand, is awarded on a different theory, that is, as a penalty for delayed payment on the judgment [citation omitted]. Typically, then, all interest to which an aggrieved party is entitlеd as part of his 'full compensation’ is incorporated and merged in the judgment.”
See, also, Mitchell v. Flandro,
The judgment of the Court of Appeals is affirmed.
Notes
In Graham v. Merchant the legal rate of interest was 8% until October 14, 1898 and 6% thereafter until the judgment of September 12, 1902 was entered.
The allowance of prejudgment interest in an action is not a matter of judicial discretion, but is required by ORS 82.010(l)(a) on "all moneys after they become due.”