Okla. Stat. tit. 16, sec 23.1

Judgment Liens

Effective Oct 1, 1993History: The standard previously numbered "12.1" was renumbered "12.2" in 1985, see 1985 Report of the Title Examination Standards Committee, 56 O.B.J., 2535, 2537 (1985). This "new" standard 12.1 was formerly standard 1.5. It was amended and renumbered to 12.1 by the 1985 Report of the Title Examination Standards Committee, see Report, supra , 2537. It was approved by the Real Property Section, November 14, 1985 and adopted by the House of Delegates, November 15, 1986, 57 O.B.J. 5 (1986). The second paragraph of the "Comment" was added by the direction of the Chair of the Committee to call attention to the case cited therein which was decided after the adoption of this standard. The 1986 Report of the Title Examination Standards Committee recommended the addition of the next to the last sentence of the first paragraph, 57 O.B.J. 2677, 2680 (1986). Typographic corrections were made from the floor and, as corrected, the amendment was approved by the Real Property Section, November 20, 1986, and adopted by the House of Delegates, November 21, 1986. A 1988 amendment to 12 O.S. § 706 required the additional act of filing an affidavit of judgment in the office of the county clerk in the county in which the land is located to perfect a judgment lien on the land. The proposal of the Title Examination Standards Committee in its 1988 Report, 59 O.B.J. 3098, 3104 (1988) to reflect this change in this standard was approved by the Real Property Section, December 8, 1988, and adopted by the House of Delegates, December 9, 1988. The enactment of 1990 Okla. Sess. Laws, ch. 251, changed the manner of perfecting a judgment as a lien against the judgment debtor's real property. To reflect ch. 251's changes, the 1990 Report of the Title Examination Standards Committee, 61 O.B.J. 2842, 2870-77 (1990), recommended a new section "A" and redesignation of succeeding sections. The Committee also recommended a new third paragraph to the Comment to call the examiner's attention generally to ch. 251's new requirements regarding form of judgments and decrees and enforcement of judgments. The Committee's recommendations were approved by the Real Property Section, November 15, 1990, and adopted by the House of Delegates, November 16, 1990, 61 O.B.J. 3058, 3064 (1990). The 1991 Report of the Title Examination Standards Committee, 62 O.B.J. 3269 (1991), proposed several modifications to the standard to accommodate legislative changes. A prefatory note was added to call attention to the extended lien provisions of the Federal Debt Collection Procedures Act of 1990. To reflect changes in the method of perfecting judgments as liens, changes were made in the body of the standard, a new paragraph "C" was added and subsequent paragraphs were relettered. Approved by the Real Property Section, November 14, 1991, and adopted by the House of Delegates, November 15, 1991, 62 O.B.J. 3531 (1991). The 1992 Report of the Title Examination Standards Committee proposed several amendments to this standard to note the effect of the Federal Debt Collection Procedures Act of 1990 and the Uniform Federal Lien Registration Act on the liens of certain judgments in favor of the United States and certain of its agencies and instrumentalities. The 1992 Report (1) added a parenthetical to except judgments subject to the Federal Debt Collection Procedures Act of 1990 from the standard's paragraph "A" and (2) added a new paragraph "F" and a Caveat to paragraph "F", 63 O.B.J. 2903, 2905-06 (10/17/92). Approved, upon recommendation of the Real Property Section, by the House of Delegates on November 13,1992. The 1993 Report of the Title Examination Standards Committee recommended amending this standard to reflect the legislature's amendment of 12 O.S. § 706, effective October 1, 1993, and to make the standard's presentation more clear, 64 O.B.J. 3245, 3246-48 (10/30/93). The Committee's recommendation was approved by the Real Property Section on November 4, 1993, and adopted by the House of Delegates on November 5, 1993, 64 O.B.J. 3409 (11/13/93). The Report of the 2004 Title Examination Standards Committee proposed amending 23.1 to add Paragraphs D & E to define duration of judgment liens in light of Oklahoma case law and to clarify how these liens are released. 75 O.B.J. 2805-2807 (10/23/04). The Real Property Law Section approved the proposal on November 11, 2004 and the House of Delegates adopted it on November 12, 2004. 75 O.B.J. 3099-3100 (11/20/04).

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Title Examination Standards
Chapter 1, App.
Chapter 23. Judgment Liens, Execution and Attachment
§23.1. Judgment Liens.

A. JUDGMENTS OF STATE AND FEDERAL COURTS [EXCEPT JUDGMENTS PURSUANT TO THE FEDERAL DEBT COLLECTION PROCEDURES ACT OF 1990].
A judgment lien, pursuant to a judgment of a court of record of this state [except judgments pursuant to the Small Claims Procedure Act which are discussed in paragraph (C) below, and except judgments for alimony which are discussed in Title Examination Standard 23.2] or of the United States [except those subject to the Federal Debt Collection Procedures Act of 1990, 28 U.S.C.A. § 3001 et seq ., which are discussed in paragraph (B) below],
1. can be created on or after October 1, 1993, on the real estate of the judgment debtor within a county by filing a Statement of Judgment in the office of the county clerk in that county; 2. could be created on or after June 1, 1991, and prior to October 1, 1993, on the real estate of the judgment debtor within a county by filing an affidavit of judgment, with a certified copy of such judgment attached to such affidavit of judgment and incorporated by reference in such affidavit of judgment, in the office of the county clerk in that county; 3. could be created on or after January 1, 1991, and prior to June 1, 1991, on the real estate of the judgment debtor within a county by filing a certified copy of such judgment in the office of the county clerk in that county; 4. could be created on or after November 1, 1988, and prior to January 1, 1991, on the real estate of the judgment debtor within a county by filing an affidavit of judgment, with a certified copy of such judgment attached to such affidavit of judgment and incorporated by reference in such affidavit of judgment, in the office of the county clerk in that county; 5. could be created on or after October 1, 1978, and prior to November 1, 1988, on the real estate of the judgment debtor within a county by filing a certified copy of such judgment in the office of the county clerk in that county; and 6. could be created, as to judgments of state courts of record, prior to October 1, 1978, (a) on the real estate of the judgment debtor within the county in which the judgment was rendered by entry of such judgment upon the judgment docket in the office of the district court clerk in that county, and (b) on the real estate of the judgment debtor within any other county in the state by filing a certified copy of such judgment with, and entry of the judgment upon the judgment docket of, the district court clerk in that county.
Note: A federal court judgment, for which a lien was sought to be created prior to October 1, 1978, was not a lien on the real estate of the judgment debtor within any county in the state, except in all counties where a permanent record of such judgment of the United States Court is kept open to the public, until a certified copy of such judgment had been filed and docketed in the office of the state district court clerk of the county in which the real estate is located.
B. JUDGMENTS PURSUANT TO THE FEDERAL DEBT COLLECTION PROCEDURES ACT.
A judgment, order or decree entered on or after May 28, 1991, in favor of the United States in a civil proceeding in a federal court regarding a debt owing to the United States arising from an obligation specified in the Federal Debt Collection Procedures Act of 1990, 28 U.S.C.A. § 3001 et seq ., shall, pursuant to the Act, be a lien for twenty (20) years on real property of the judgment debtor in a county on filing a certified copy of the abstract of a judgment, order or decree with the county clerk in the same manner as a federal tax lien, which, in Oklahoma County only, is indexed in the same manner as a financing statement.
"United States" means a federal corporation; an agency, department, commission, board or other entity of the United States; or an instrumentality of the United States. Such judgment, order or decree in favor of the United States may be renewed for one additional period of twenty (20) years after court approval upon the filing of a notice of renewal in the same manner as the judgment, order or decree. Renewal does not apply to a judgment, order or decree in favor of the United States which was entered more than ten (10) years before May 28, 1991.
Caveat: 1. The provisions of Section 3201(a) of the Federal Debt Collection Procedures Act of 1990, regarding creation of a judgment lien, appear to be limited to judgments in civil actions, notwithstanding the fact Section 3002(8) references both civil and criminal proceedings within the definition of a "judgment" as used in the Act.
2. The text of Section 3005 of the Federal Debt Collection Procedure Act, 28 U.S.C.A. § 3001 et seq ., providing for renewal of the lien of a judgment entered within ten (10) years prior to May 28, 1991, does not specifically address the effect, if any, of the Act upon a judgment which became unenforceable and ceased to operate as a lien under law existing prior to May 28, 1991.
C. JUDGMENTS PURSUANT TO THE SMALL CLAIMS PROCEDURE ACT.
A judgment lien, pursuant to a judgment rendered in the small claims division of the district court,
1. can be created on or after October 1, 1982, on the real estate of the judgment debtor within a county by filing a Statement of Judgment in the office of the county clerk in that county; 2. could be created on or after October 1, 1979, and prior to October 1, 1982, on the real estate of the judgment debtor within a county by (a) entry of such judgment upon the judgment docket in the office of the district court clerk of the county in which the judgment was rendered and (b) filing a certified copy of such judgment in the office of the county clerk in the county in which the lien was sought to be imposed, and such judgment could not be a lien until it had been both entered and filed, as described above; and 3. could be created prior to October 1, 1979, on the real estate of the judgment debtor within a county by entry of such judgment upon the judgment docket in the office of the district court clerk of the county in which the lien was sought to be imposed.
Authority: 12 O.S. § 706, Gilbreath v. Smith, 50 Okla. 42, 150 P. 719 (1915); Long Bell Lumber Co. v. Etter, 123 Okla. 54, 251 P. 997 (1927); Flanagan v. Clark, 156 Okla. 230, 11 P.2d 176 (1932).
Caveat: The examining attorney should be aware of the possibility that a judgment which has been rendered, but not filed with the county clerk, might be filed with the county clerk and become a lien after the effective date of the opinion of the examiner but before the client acquires an interest in the property.
Comment: 1. Judgments entered upon the judgment docket in the office of the district court clerk in the county in which the land is located prior to October 1, 1978, unless extinguished by release or operation of law, constitute liens upon non-exempt land and should not be disregarded, 1943 Okla. Sess. Laws, ch. 12, § 1.
2. In determining the effectiveness of the lien of a judgment filed in the office of the county clerk pursuant to 12 O.S. § 706, the examiner should take into consideration the law of the case in Will Rogers Bank & Trust Company v. First National Bank of Tahlequah , 710 P.2d 752 (Okla. 1985).
3. Note that 1991 Okla. Sess. Laws, ch. 251, § 9, contains provisions, among others, which restored, until the effective date of the 1993 act, the requirement of attaching an affidavit to any judgment to be filed with the County Clerk for purposes of making such judgment a lien on the real property of the judgment debtor and repealed the statutory prohibition on the issuance of execution or the conduct of proceedings for the enforcement of judgment within ten (10) days after the judgment is filed with the Court Clerk. It also repealed the statutory forms of judgment enacted in 1990 Okla. Sess. Laws, ch. 251, § 1, which were not restored by the 1993 legislation. However, be aware of the case of Mapco, Inc. v. Means , 538 P.2d 593 (Okla. 1975).
4. The references to "filing" in the office of the county clerk, as used in this title examination standard, means presented, with tender of filing fee, and accepted by the county clerk.
D. DURATION OF A JUDGMENT LIEN.
The lien of a judgment, pursuant to 12 O.S. § 706, runs from the date the judgment lien is created until the judgment lien is extinguished by the faulure to extend the lien of the judgment pursuant to 12 O.S. § 759.
U.S. Mortgage v. Laubach, 2003 OK 67, 73 P.3d 887
Comment: In the absence of completion of one of the listed actions under 12 O.S. § 735, the endpoint of the initial term for the enforceability of the judgment is as follows:?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /
Prior to November 1, 2002 - Five (5) years after the date the judgment is rendered in any court of record in this state.
On and after November 1, 2002 - Five (5) years after the date the judgment is filed in any court of record in this state.
The Report of the 2013 Title Standards Committee proposed amending Standard 23 I.D. to accurately reflect the provisions of 12 O.S. § 735 as to the commencement point from which the initial five-year term for the enforceability of a judgment is measured 83 O.B.J. 2211, October 13, 2012. The Real Property Law Section approved the committee’s recommendation on November 15, 2013, and the recommendation was approved by the House of Delegates on November 16, 2013.
E. RELEASE OF JUDGMENT LIEN.
A release of judgment lien, pursuant to 12 O.S. § 706, must be filed in the office of the county clerk in the county in which the lien is to be released, unless the judgment lien was extinguished as set out in Paragraph D above.
12 O.S. § 706(E)
Note: For judgment liens created pursuant to the Federal Debt Collection Procedures Act, see Section B above.
Note: See Title Examination Standards 34.1 and 34.2 regarding the effect of bankruptcy on judgment liens.

History: The standard previously numbered "12.1" was renumbered "12.2" in 1985, see 1985 Report of the Title Examination Standards Committee, 56 O.B.J., 2535, 2537 (1985). This "new" standard 12.1 was formerly standard 1.5. It was amended and renumbered to 12.1 by the 1985 Report of the Title Examination Standards Committee, see Report, supra , 2537. It was approved by the Real Property Section, November 14, 1985 and adopted by the House of Delegates, November 15, 1986, 57 O.B.J. 5 (1986). The second paragraph of the "Comment" was added by the direction of the Chair of the Committee to call attention to the case cited therein which was decided after the adoption of this standard. The 1986 Report of the Title Examination Standards Committee recommended the addition of the next to the last sentence of the first paragraph, 57 O.B.J. 2677, 2680 (1986). Typographic corrections were made from the floor and, as corrected, the amendment was approved by the Real Property Section, November 20, 1986, and adopted by the House of Delegates, November 21, 1986.

A 1988 amendment to 12 O.S. § 706 required the additional act of filing an affidavit of judgment in the office of the county clerk in the county in which the land is located to perfect a judgment lien on the land. The proposal of the Title Examination Standards Committee in its 1988 Report, 59 O.B.J. 3098, 3104 (1988) to reflect this change in this standard was approved by the Real Property Section, December 8, 1988, and adopted by the House of Delegates, December 9, 1988.

The enactment of 1990 Okla. Sess. Laws, ch. 251, changed the manner of perfecting a judgment as a lien against the judgment debtor's real property. To reflect ch. 251's changes, the 1990 Report of the Title Examination Standards Committee, 61 O.B.J. 2842, 2870-77 (1990), recommended a new section "A" and redesignation of succeeding sections. The Committee also recommended a new third paragraph to the Comment to call the examiner's attention generally to ch. 251's new requirements regarding form of judgments and decrees and enforcement of judgments. The Committee's recommendations were approved by the Real Property Section, November 15, 1990, and adopted by the House of Delegates, November 16, 1990, 61 O.B.J. 3058, 3064 (1990).

The 1991 Report of the Title Examination Standards Committee, 62 O.B.J. 3269 (1991), proposed several modifications to the standard to accommodate legislative changes. A prefatory note was added to call attention to the extended lien provisions of the Federal Debt Collection Procedures Act of 1990. To reflect changes in the method of perfecting judgments as liens, changes were made in the body of the standard, a new paragraph "C" was added and subsequent paragraphs were relettered. Approved by the Real Property Section, November 14, 1991, and adopted by the House of Delegates, November 15, 1991, 62 O.B.J. 3531 (1991).

The 1992 Report of the Title Examination Standards Committee proposed several amendments to this standard to note the effect of the Federal Debt Collection Procedures Act of 1990 and the Uniform Federal Lien Registration Act on the liens of certain judgments in favor of the United States and certain of its agencies and instrumentalities. The 1992 Report (1) added a parenthetical to except judgments subject to the Federal Debt Collection Procedures Act of 1990 from the standard's paragraph "A" and (2) added a new paragraph "F" and a Caveat to paragraph "F", 63 O.B.J. 2903, 2905-06 (10/17/92). Approved, upon recommendation of the Real Property Section, by the House of Delegates on November 13,1992.

The 1993 Report of the Title Examination Standards Committee recommended amending this standard to reflect the legislature's amendment of 12 O.S. § 706, effective October 1, 1993, and to make the standard's presentation more clear, 64 O.B.J. 3245, 3246-48 (10/30/93). The Committee's recommendation was approved by the Real Property Section on November 4, 1993, and adopted by the House of Delegates on November 5, 1993, 64 O.B.J. 3409 (11/13/93).

The Report of the 2004 Title Examination Standards Committee proposed amending 23.1 to add Paragraphs D & E to define duration of judgment liens in light of Oklahoma case law and to clarify how these liens are released. 75 O.B.J. 2805-2807 (10/23/04). The Real Property Law Section approved the proposal on November 11, 2004 and the House of Delegates adopted it on November 12, 2004. 75 O.B.J. 3099-3100 (11/20/04).