NATIONAL ENTERPRISES V. HUGHES | STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS ON ENFORCEMENT OF FOREIGN JUDGMENTS

In National Enterprises v. Hughes the Court of Appeals (on 2/4/2014; unpublished) addressed the enforceability of a foreign Judgment. In this case, the plaintiff obtained a judgment in Florida in 1995. The plaintiff sought to enforce the judgment in North Carolina in 2007. A lower court ruled that this action was not proper because judgments are good for only ten years in North Carolina, pursuant to N.C. Gen. Stat. Sec. 1-47(1). The plaintiff then renewed the judgmetn in Florida (where judgments are valid for 20 years), and then refiled suit in North Carolina to enforce the latter Florida judgment. The defendant (debtor) argued that this claim was beyond North Carolina's ten year statute of limitations, because it was more than ten years beyond the first Florida judgment. The court ruled, however, that the action was proper, because the plaintiff was seeking to enforce the second Florida judgment, which within the ten year rule in North Carolina.

John Kirby has represented parties in prosecuting and defending claims for the enforcement of a foreign judgment in North Carolina.