72nd OREGON LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY--2003 Regular Session
NOTE: Matter within { + braces and plus signs + } in an
amended section is new. Matter within { - braces and minus
signs - } is existing law to be omitted. New sections are within
{ + braces and plus signs + } .
LC 1291
House Bill 2591
Sponsored by COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY (at the request of Oregon
Medical Association, Oregon Association of Hospitals and Health
Systems)
SUMMARY
The following summary is not prepared by the sponsors of the
measure and is not a part of the body thereof subject to
consideration by the Legislative Assembly. It is an editor's
brief statement of the essential features of the measure as
introduced.
Requires entry of judgment with installment payments in certain
actions in which $100,000 or more is awarded for losses that will
be incurred by plaintiff after entry of judgment. Provides that
court may require that installments be paid through trust fund,
annuity or other form of security.
A BILL FOR AN ACT
Relating to judgments for damages; creating new provisions; and
amending ORS 18.320.
Be It Enacted by the People of the State of Oregon:
SECTION 1. { + (1) If an award of damages is made in an action
for personal injury or death, including emotional injury or
distress, loss of consortium, or property damage and claims for
loss of use of property, and the award includes $100,000 or more
for losses that will be incurred by the plaintiff after the entry
of the judgment, upon motion of any party in the action the court
shall enter judgment on the award in the following manner:
(a) The judgment shall require that all economic damages, as
defined by ORS 18.560, that are attributable to losses incurred
by the plaintiff before the entry of the judgment be immediately
due and payable;
(b) The judgment shall require that all noneconomic damages, as
defined by ORS 18.560, be paid in installments; and
(c) The judgment shall require that all economic damages, as
defined by ORS 18.560, that are attributable to losses that will
be incurred by the plaintiff after the entry of the judgment be
paid in installments.
(2) A person moving for entry of a judgment under this section
must submit a proposal to the court for the manner in which
installments will be paid, including actuarial and annuity
information supporting the proposal. The court shall allow all of
the parties in the action to submit such other information as may
be helpful to the court in determining the manner in which
installments will be paid under the judgment.
(3) As a condition to entering a judgment under subsection (1)
of this section, a court may require that the installments be
paid through a trust fund, an annuity or other form of security
acceptable to the court.
(4) A judgment entered under subsection (1) of this section
must include:
(a) The name and address of each person that will receive
installment payments under the judgment;
(b) The dollar amount of each installment payment;
(c) The schedule for installment payments; and
(d) The number of installment payments or the period of time
during which installment payments must be made under the
judgment.
(5) All amounts in a judgment entered under subsection (1) of
this section that are not immediately paid upon entry of the
judgment, including all amounts paid by installment, bear
interest at the rate provided for judgments by ORS 82.010 until
paid.
(6) If a judgment entered under subsection (1) of this section
requires that installments be paid through a trust fund, an
annuity or other form of security, and any amounts remain in the
trust fund, annuity or other form of security after the final
installment is paid, the remaining amounts shall be paid to the
judgment debtor or the judgment debtor's successors or assigns.
(7) If the judgment debtor under a judgment entered under
subsection (1) of this section fails to make payments on the
dates established by the judgment three or more times during a
calendar year, upon motion of the judgment creditor the court
shall enter a supplemental judgment against the judgment debtor
requiring that, within 30 days after the entry of the
supplemental judgment, the judgment debtor pay the entire balance
then remaining due under the judgment, along with all reasonable
attorney fees incurred by the judgment creditor in the
proceeding. Subsection (9) of this section does not apply to a
supplemental judgment entered under this subsection.
(8) A judgment entered under subsection (1) of this section may
not increase the amount awarded by the trier of fact except to
the extent that installment payments must include interest
attributable to deferred payment of the amounts awarded. Except
as provided by ORCP 71, a judgment under subsection (1) of this
section is not subject to modification after entry of the
judgment.
(9) The title of any judgment entered under subsection (1) of
this section must indicate that the judgment is entered under
this section. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a
judgment entered under subsection (1) of this section does not
become a lien on real property of the judgment debtor and the
clerk of the court shall not docket the judgment after the
judgment is entered. + }
SECTION 2. ORS 18.320 is amended to read:
18.320. (1) Except as provided in ORS 46.488 { + and section 1
of this 2003 Act + }, immediately after the entry in the register
of judgment for the payment of money in any action in circuit
court, the clerk shall docket the judgment in the judgment
docket, noting thereon the day, hour and minute of such
docketing. The clerk shall rely on the existence of a separate
section within the judgment for those judgments subject to ORCP
70 A(2) in determining whether the judgment is a judgment for the
payment of money and shall only docket therefrom.
(2) With respect to any judgment docketed in a circuit court
judgment docket, or a judgment for unpaid child or spousal
support recognized in another state, the following apply:
(a) At any time thereafter, so long as the original judgment
remains in force under ORS 18.360, or if a judgment for unpaid
child or spousal support recognized in another state remains in
force under that state's law, and is unsatisfied in whole or
part, the judgment creditor, or the agent of the judgment
creditor, may have recorded a certified copy of the judgment or a
lien record abstract in the County Clerk Lien Record for any
county in this state.
(b) A certified copy or a lien record abstract of any judgment
renewed pursuant to ORS 18.360 or a judgment for unpaid child or
spousal support recognized in another state and in force under
that state's law may likewise be recorded in the County Clerk
Lien Record in any county.
(c) A certified copy of the judgment, or a certified copy of
any renewed judgment under ORS 18.360 or a judgment for unpaid
child or spousal support recognized in another state and in force
under that state's law, or lien record abstract of either, shall
be recorded in any county other than in the county where a
judgment is originally docketed in order for that judgment to be
a lien upon the real property and, if the judgment is for unpaid
child or spousal support, the personal property of the judgment
debtor in that county.
(3) Liens arising by operation of law in another state against
real property for amounts of overdue payments under a support
order, as defined in ORS 110.303, shall be accorded full faith
and credit if the state agency, party or other entity seeking to
enforce the lien follows the applicable procedures for recording
and service of notice of claim of lien as required by this
section and ORS 18.325. A state agency, party or other entity may
not file an action to enforce a lien described in this section
until the underlying judgment has been filed in Oregon as
provided in ORS chapter 110.
(4) This section does not apply to justice and municipal court
judgments.
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