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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#44546A'>Doug, <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#44546A'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#44546A'>Not sure what is meant by suddenly, but I assume you mean upon receiving a copy of the preliminary title report. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#44546A'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#44546A'>Assuming, without knowing, the judgment is less than the sale price, why not ask your title company (escrow) to hold back the amount of funds from the judgment out of closing and hold onto it until October 20<sup>th</sup> (or whatever date) and if the judgment isn’t renewed by then they can pay it out to the estate. Or they can interplead it into the Court registry and let you fight over it later. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#44546A'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#44546A'>Sincerely,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#44546A'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#44546A'>Tom<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#44546A'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#44546A'>Thomas J. Westbrook<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#44546A'>Attorney at Law<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#44546A'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#44546A'><img width=170 height=67 id="Picture_x0020_3" src="cid:image001.jpg@01D2FD87.B86C8E20" alt="cid:image001.jpg@01CFC835.0D3988D0"></span><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#44546A'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#44546A'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#44546A'>Rodgers, Kee & Card<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#44546A'>324 West Bay Drive NW, Suite 201<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#44546A'>Olympia, Washington 98502<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#44546A'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#44546A'>Phone: 360-352-8311<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#44546A'>Facsimile: 360-352-8501<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#44546A'>Email: tjw@buddbaylaw.com<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#44546A'>Skype: thomas.westbrook<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#44546A'>www.buddbaylaw.com<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#44546A'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#44546A'>The information contained in this email and attachment(s) are for the exclusive use of the addressee(s) and may contain private, privileged and/or confidential information. If you are not the addressee, you are strictly prohibited from reading, photocopying, distributing or otherwise using this email or its contents in any way. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by telephone at 360-352-8311 or by e-mail to <a href="mailto:reception@buddbaylaw.com">reception@buddbaylaw.com</a>, and destroy the original message from your electronic files.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#44546A'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#44546A'> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#44546A'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #B5C4DF 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>From:</span></b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'> wsbapt-bounces@lists.wsbarppt.com [mailto:wsbapt-bounces@lists.wsbarppt.com] <b>On Behalf Of </b>Douglas Bratt<br><b>Sent:</b> Saturday, July 15, 2017 3:45 PM<br><b>To:</b> wsbapt@lists.wsbarppt.com<br><b>Subject:</b> [WSBAPT] Enforceability of Judgment Lien Related to Closing of Sale of Real Property by Estate<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Hello Listmates:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>We are close to closing a sale of a residence by an Estate. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Suddenly, I find out about an old judgment.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>The judgment, for just under $20K, was entered in District Court in the county in which the Estate-owned real estate is located on September 25, 2006. A Transcript of the District Court Judgment was then filed in the Superior Court in the same county on October 19, 2007. The judgment was subsequently recorded on October 22, 2007, with the Auditor of the same county. It is showing up as an exception on a Title Policy Commitment, and the escrow closer is in the midst of making inquiry about a payoff figure for the judgment from the Judgment Creditor’s Attorney.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>As I understand the law related to judgments, the judgment is enforceable for ten years after entry, but that period can be extended an additional ten years by petitioning the court that entered the judgment within 90 days of the expiration of the original ten years. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>However, sadly, I find that under RCW 6.17.020(3), if a District Court judgment has been transcribed to the Superior Court, the petition is not to be filed in District Court, and thus be tied to the ten year anniversary of the entry of the District Court Judgment. Rather, the Petition to extend is to be filed in the Superior Court and the Petition must be filed within 90 days of the expiration of the ten year period after the date the transcript of judgment was filed in <u>the Superior Court</u>, not the District Court. So, even though relating back to the original date of the District Court judgment would have been supremely helpful, the statute means that the Judgment Creditor would have until October 19, 2017, to file the Petition to extend the judgment. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>The Decedent died on September 3, 2017. The first date of publication of the Notice to Creditors took place on October 7, 2016. Thus, the four-month period for Creditor’s Claims expired on February 7, 2017. The Judgment Creditor did not file a Creditor’s Claim. In addition, the PR found no evidence of the judgment when making the PR’s reasonable search to ascertain the identity of Creditors to determine which creditors, if any, were to get actual notice. However, I am not thinking that of the Judgment Creditor to file a Creditor’s Claim in the probate will defeat the lien of judgment on the real estate owned by the Decedent. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>My initial conclusion is that we are SOL on trying to escape liability on the judgment, due to the fact that the lien of judgment attaches to the real estate of the judgment debtor, and it does not appear that the judgment debtor’s death nor any defenses under the Creditor’s Claim statute will help us in escaping the effect of the judgment, with the real estate closing becoming the means of collection for the Judgment Creditor. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Any contrary thoughts about the possibility of escaping liability on this judgment?<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Thank you for your collective knowledge.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Regards,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Doug Bratt<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Lucida Calligraphy";color:#1F497D'>Douglas J. Bratt</span><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Lucida Calligraphy";color:#1F497D'>Lawyer</span><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:#1F497D'> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><img border=0 width=165 height=167 id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image002.jpg@01D2FD87.B86C8E20" alt="Envelope scaled Terry"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:#1F497D'>Office: (360) 213-2040 <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:#1F497D'> Fax: (360) 213-2030<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:#1F497D'>CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email message may contain confidential or privileged information. If you have received this message by mistake, please do not review, disclose, copy, or distribute the email. Instead, please notify us immediately by replying to this message or telephoning us. Thank you.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:#1F497D'> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:#1F497D'>NOTE:</span><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:#1F497D'> </span><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:#1F497D'>I do not use encrypted email. Messages sent to or from my office via email are not secure and may not be protected by attorney-client privilege. This email address is not monitored at all times. If your matter is urgent, please phone my office during regular business hours.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>