wa-law.org > bill > 2025-26 > SB 5993 > Original Bill

SB 5993 - Medical debt interest

Source

Section 1

  1. Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, every loan or forbearance of money, goods, or thing in action shall bear interest at the rate of twelve percent per annum where no different rate is agreed to in writing between the parties: PROVIDED, That with regard to any transaction heretofore or hereafter entered into subject to this section, if an agreement in writing between the parties evidencing such transaction provides for the payment of money at the end of an agreed period of time or in installments over an agreed period of time, then such agreement shall constitute a writing for purposes of this section and satisfy the requirements thereof. The discounting of commercial paper, where the borrower makes himself or herself liable as maker, guarantor, or indorser, shall be considered as a loan for the purposes of this chapter.

2.Interest may not be charged or collected on new or unpaid medical debtafter the effective date of this section.

  1. A lease shall not be considered a loan or forbearance for the purposes of this chapter if:

    1. It constitutes a "consumer lease" as defined in RCW 63.10.020;

    2. It constitutes a lease-purchase agreement under chapter 63.19 RCW; or

    3. It would constitute such "consumer lease" but for the fact that:

      1. The lessee was not a natural person;

      2. The lease was not primarily for personal, family, or household purposes; or

      3. The total contractual obligation exceeded twenty-five thousand dollars.

Section 2

  1. Except as provided in subsections (2), (3), and (4) of this section, the party in whose favor a judgment of a court has been or may be filed or rendered, or the assignee or the current holder thereof, may have an execution, garnishment, or other legal process issued for the collection or enforcement of the judgment at any time within 10 years from entry of the judgment or the filing of the judgment in this state.

  2. After July 23, 1989, a party who obtains a judgment or order of a court or an administrative order entered as defined in RCW 74.20A.020(6) for accrued child support, or the assignee or the current holder thereof, may have an execution, garnishment, or other legal process issued upon that judgment or order at any time within 10 years of the 18th birthday of the youngest child named in the order for whom support is ordered.

  3. After June 9, 1994, a party in whose favor a judgment has been filed as a foreign judgment or rendered pursuant to subsection (1) or (4) of this section, or the assignee or the current holder thereof, may, within 90 days before the expiration of the original 10-year period, apply to the court that rendered the judgment or to the court where the judgment was filed as a foreign judgment for an order granting an additional 10 years during which an execution, garnishment, or other legal process may be issued. If a district court judgment of this state is transcribed to a superior court of this state, the original district court judgment shall not be extended and any petition under this section to extend the judgment that has been transcribed to superior court shall be filed in the superior court within 90 days before the expiration of the 10-year period of the date the transcript of the district court judgment was filed in the superior court of this state. The petitioner shall pay to the court a filing fee equal to the filing fee for filing the first or initial paper in a civil action in the court, except in the case of district court judgments transcribed to superior court, where the filing fee shall be the fee for filing the first or initial paper in a civil action in the superior court where the judgment was transcribed. The order granting the application shall contain an updated judgment summary as provided in RCW 4.64.030. The filing fee required under this subsection shall be included in the judgment summary and shall be a recoverable cost. The application shall be granted as a matter of right, subject to review only for timeliness, factual issues of full or partial satisfaction, or errors in calculating the judgment summary amounts.

  4. [Empty]

    1. A party who obtains a judgment or order for restitution pursuant to a criminal judgment and sentence, or the assignee or the current holder thereof, may execute, garnish, and/or have legal process issued upon the judgment or order any time within 10 years subsequent to the entry of the judgment and sentence or 10 years following the offender's release from total confinement as provided in chapter 9.94A RCW. The clerk of the superior court, or a party designated by the clerk, may seek extension under subsection (3) of this section for purposes of collection as allowed under RCW 36.18.190, provided that no filing fee shall be required.

    2. A party who obtains a judgment or order for court-ordered legal financial obligations other than restitution, pursuant to a criminal judgment and sentence, or the assignee or the current holder thereof, may execute, garnish, and have legal process issued upon the judgment or order any time within 10 years subsequent to the entry of the judgment and sentence or 10 years following the offender's release from total confinement as provided in chapter 9.94A RCW. The clerk of the superior court, or a party designated by the clerk, may seek extension under subsection (3) of this section for purposes of collection as allowed under RCW 36.18.190, only if the court finds that the offender has the current or likely future ability to pay the nonrestitution legal financial obligations. A person does not have the current ability to pay if the person is indigent as defined in RCW 10.01.160(3). No filing fee shall be required for filing a petition for an extension pursuant to this subsection (4)(b).

  5. "Court" as used in this section includes but is not limited to the United States supreme court, the United States courts of appeals, the United States district courts, the United States bankruptcy courts, the Washington state supreme court, the court of appeals of the state of Washington, superior courts and district courts of the counties of the state of Washington, and courts of other states and jurisdictions from which judgment has been filed in this state under chapter 6.36 RCW.

  6. The perfection of any judgment lien and the priority of that judgment lien on property as established by RCW 6.13.090 and chapter 4.56 RCW is not altered by the extension of the judgment pursuant to the provisions of this section and the lien remains in full force and effect and does not have to be rerecorded after it is extended. Continued perfection of a judgment that has been transcribed to other counties and perfected in those counties may be accomplished after extension of the judgment by filing with the clerk of the other counties where the judgment has been filed either a certified copy of the order extending the judgment or a certified copy of the docket of the matter where the judgment was extended.

  7. Except as ordered in RCW 4.16.020 (2) or (3), chapter 9.94A RCW, or chapter 13.40 RCW, no judgment is enforceable for a period exceeding 20 years from the date of entry in the originating court. Nothing in this section may be interpreted to extend the expiration date of a foreign judgment beyond the expiration date under the laws of the jurisdiction where the judgment originated.

  8. The chapter 261, Laws of 2002 amendments to this section apply to all judgments currently in effect on June 13, 2002, to all judgments extended after June 9, 1994, unless the judgment has been satisfied, vacated, and/or quashed, and to all judgments filed or rendered, or both, after June 13, 2002.

  9. Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, if a judgment includes any amount of medical debt as defined in RCW 19.16.100, execution, garnishment, or any other legal process for enforcement of the judgment may be issued only within six years from the date of entry.

    1. The extension procedure authorized under subsection (3) of this section does not apply to judgments that include medical debt as defined in RCW 19.16.100.

    2. After expiration of the six-year period, the judgment is unenforceable and no execution, garnishment, renewal, revival, or other legal process may issue.

    3. A judgment includes medical debt if any portion of the principal amount of the judgment at the time of entry consists of medical debt as defined in RCW 19.16.100.

Section 3

The real estate of any judgment debtor, and such as the judgment debtor may acquire, not exempt by law, shall be held and bound to satisfy any judgment of the district court of the United States rendered in this state and any judgment of the supreme court, court of appeals, superior court, or district court of this state, and every such judgment shall be a lien thereupon to commence as provided in RCW 4.56.200 and to run for a period of not to exceed ten years from the day on which such judgment was entered unless the ten-year period is extended in accordance with RCW 6.17.020(3), or unless the judgment results from a criminal sentence for a crime that was committed on or after July 1, 2000, in which case the lien will remain in effect until the judgment is fully satisfied. As used in this chapter, real estate shall not include the vendor's interest under a real estate contract for judgments rendered after August 23, 1983. If a judgment debtor owns real estate, subject to execution, jointly or in common with any other person, the judgment shall be a lien on the interest of the defendant only.

Personal property of the judgment debtor shall be held only from the time it is actually levied upon.

However, if a judgment includes any amount arising from medical debt as defined in RCW 19.16.100, the lien continues for no more than six years from the date of entry and may not be extended.

Section 4

  1. Except as provided in subsections (2) , (3), and (4) of this section, after the expiration of ten years from the date of the entry of any judgment heretofore or hereafter rendered in this state, it shall cease to be a lien or charge against the estate or person of the judgment debtor. No suit, action or other proceeding shall ever be had on any judgment rendered in this state by which the lien shall be extended or continued in force for any greater or longer period than ten years.

  2. An underlying judgment or judgment lien entered after July 23, 1989, for accrued child support shall continue in force for ten years after the eighteenth birthday of the youngest child named in the order for whom support is ordered. All judgments entered after July 23, 1989, shall contain the birthdate of the youngest child for whom support is ordered.

  3. A lien based upon an underlying judgment continues in force for an additional ten-year period if the period of execution for the underlying judgment is extended under RCW 6.17.020.

  4. A lien arising from a judgment that includes any amount of medical debt as defined in RCW 19.16.100 expires six years from the date of entry of the judgment and may not be renewed, revived, or extended. The extension procedure under RCW 6.17.020(3) does not apply to such liens.

Created by @tannewt. Contribute on GitHub.