ARTICLE THIRD.

Docketing a Judgment; Effect thereof as a Lien upon Real Property; Suspending and Discharging the Lien; Satisfaction and Assignment of a Judgment.

SEC. 1245. Certain clerks to keep docket-books.

1246. Id.; to docket judgments.

1247. Filing transcripts, and docketing judgments thereon.

1248. Penalty for clerk's neglect.

1249. Dockets to be public.

1250. Judgment not to be a lien until docketed.

1251. Real property bound for ten years by a judgment thus docketed.

1252. Real property may be levied upon after ten years.

1253. Land held under contract not bound by judgment.

1254. Preference of mortgages for purchase money.

1255. Certain time not to be included in the ten years.

1256. Court may order lien of judgment to be suspended upon appeal.
1257. From what time order suspends the lien.

1258. How lien suspended in any other county.

1259. When and how lien restored.

1260. Docket of judgment, how cancelled.

1261. Satisfaction-piece to be given on payment of judgment.

1262. Assignor must acknowledge assignment.

1263. Assignee who is a receiver, etc., may file notice.

1264. Entry in docket, upon return of execution satisfied.

1265. Id.; where execution returned unsatisfied.

1266. Sheriff to give copy of satisfied execution; clerk to enter satisfaction

1267. Docket; when to be discharged and cancelled.

1268. Discharge of a judgment against a bankrupt.
1269. Power of courts respecting docket.

1270. Clerk to file and note assignment of judgment.

1271. Judgments of United States courts may be docketed. [Repealed.] 1272. To what judgments and executions this article applies.

§ 1245. Certain clerks to keep docket-books.

Each county clerk, and the clerk of the city court of the city of New York, must keep one or more books, ruled in columns, convenient for making the entries, prescribed in the next section; in which he must docket, in its regular order, and according to its priority, each judgment, which he is required by this article to docket. The expense of procuring a new book, when necessary is a county charge.

From ch. 386 of 1840, § 34.

Am'd by ch. 946 of 1895.

See 88 1392, 1394, Consol. Act.

§ 1246. Id.; to docket judgments.

Each clerk, specified in the last section, must, when he files a judgment-roll, upon a judgment, rendered in a court of which he is clerk, docket the judgment, by entering, in the proper docket-book, the following particulars, under the initial letter of the surname of the judgment-debtor, in its alphabetical order:

1. The name, at length, of the judgment-debtor; and also his residence, title, and trade or profession, if any of them are stated in the judgment.

2. The name of the party, in whose favor the judgment was rendere 1. 3. The sum recovered or directed to be paid, in figures.

4. The day, hour, and minute, when the judgment-roll was filed.

5. The day, hour, and minute, when the judgment was docketed in his office.

6. The court in which the judgment was rendered, and if it was rendered in the supreme court, the county where the judgment-roll is filed. 7. The name of the attorney for the party recovering the judgment. If there are two or more judgment-debtors, those entries must be repeated, under the initial letter of the surname of each.

From 2 R. S. 361, Part 3, ch. 6, tit. 4, § 13 (2 Edm. 373).

§ 1247. Filing transcripts and docketing judgments thereon.

A clerk, with whom a judgment-roll is filed, upon a judgment docketed as prescribed in the last section, must furnish to any person applying therefor, and paying the fees allowed by law, one or more transcripts of the docket of the judgment, attested by his signature. A county clerk to whom such a transcript is presented, must, upon payment of his fees therefor, immediately file it, and docket the judgment, as prescribed in the last section, in the appropriate docket-book, kept in his office.

From ch. 386 of 1840, § 26 (4 Edm. 692).

§ 1248. Penalty for clerk's neglect.

A clerk who omits, as soon as practicable, to docket a judgment required to be docketed, or to furnish a transcript of a judgment, so docketed in his office, as prescribed in the last two sections, forfeits, to the person aggrieved, two hundred and fifty dollars, in addition to the damages sustained by reason of the omission.

From 2 R. S. 362, Part 3, ch. 6, tit. 4, § 20 (2 Edm. 374).

§ 1249. Dockets to be public.

A docket-book, kept by a clerk, must be kept open, during the business hours fixed by law, for search and examination by any person. From Id., 10.

§ 1250. Judgment not to be a lien until docketed.

A judgment, required to be docketed, as prescribed in this article, neither affects real property or chattels real, nor is entitled to a preference, until the judgment-roll is filed, and the judgment docketed.

From Id., § 12.

See § 1237.

§ 1251. Real property bound for ten years by a judgment thus docketed; judgment against persons sued by a fictitious name.

Except as otherwise specially prescribed by law, a judgment hereafter rendered, which is docketed in a county clerk's office, as prescribed in this article, binds, and is a charge upon, for ten years after filing the judgmentroll, and no longer, the real property and chattels real in that county, which the judgment debtor has, at the time of so docketing it, or which he acquires at any time afterwards, and within the ten years, except that any judgment rendered having the name or any part of the name of the judgment debtor designated as fictitious, shall not bind or be a charge upon the real property or chattels real of any person. A judgment having the name or any part of the name of a judgment debtor designated as fictitious may be amended at any time within ten years after the docketing thereof, by inserting the true name of said judgment debtor, upon such notice to him as the court may direct; and such judgment shall thereafter be a lien upon the real property and chattels real which the judgment debtor then has or may thereafter acquire, but not for a longer period than ten years after the original docketing of such judgment.

From 2 R. S. 359. Part 3. ch. 6, tit. 4, §§ 3 and 4; ch. 386 of 1840, 25 and part of Co. Proc. § 282.

Am'd by ch. 318 of 1902. In effect Sept. 1, 1902,

§ 1252. Real property may be levied upon after ten years. When ten years after filing the judgment-roll have expired, real prop. erty or a chattel real, which the judgment debtor, or real property which

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a person, deriving his right or title thereto, as the heir or devisee of the judgment debtor, then has, in any county, may be levied upon by virtue of an execution against property issued to the sheriff of that county, upon a judgment hereafter rendered, by filing, with the clerk of that county, a notice, subscribed by the sheriff, describing the judgment, the execution, and the property levied upon; and, if the interest levied upon is that of an heir or devisee, specifying that fact, and the name of the heir or devisee. The notice must be recorded and indexed by the clerk, as a notice of the pendeney of an action. For that purpose, the judgment debtor, or his heir or devisee, named in the notice, is regarded as a party to an action. The judgment binds, and becomes a charge upon, the right and title thus levied upon, of the judgment debtor, or of his heir or devisee, as the case may be, only from the time of recording and indexing the notice, and until the execution is set aside or returned.

From Id.

§ 1253. Land held under contract not bound by judgment.

The interest of a person holding a contract for the purchase of real property, is not bound by the docketing of a judgment; and cannot be levied upon or sold, by virtue of an execution issued upon a judgment. From R. S. 744, Part 2, ch. 1, tit. 4, § 4 (1 Edm. 696).

§ 1254. Preference of mortgages for purchase money. Where real property is sold and conveyed, and, at the same time, a mortgage thereupon is given by the purchaser to secure the payment of the whole or a part of the purchase-money, the lien of the mortgage, upon that real property, is superior to the lien of a previous judgment against the purchaser.

From R. S. 749, Part 2, ch. 1, tit. 5, § 5 (1 Edm. 700).

§ 1255. Certain time not to be included in the ten years. The time during which a judgment creditor is stayed, by an injunction or other order, or by the operation of an appeal, or by express provision of law, from enforcing a judgment, is not a part of the ten years to which the lien of a judgment is limited by this article. But this section does not extend the time of the lien, as against a purchaser, creditor, or mortgagee in good faith.

§ 1256. Court may order lien of judgment to be suspended upon appeal.

Where an appeal from a judgment has been perfected, and an undertaking has been given, sufficient to entitle the appellant to a stay of the execution of the judgment, without an order for that purpose, the court in which the judgment was recovered, may, in its discretion and upon such terms as justice requires, make an order, upon notice to the attorney for the respondent, and to the sureties in the undertaking, exempting from the lien of the judgment, as against judgment creditors, and purchasers and mortgagees in good faith, the real property or chattels real, upon which the judgment is a lien, or a portion thereof, specifically described in the order. If all the property, subject to the lien, is so exempted, the order must direct the clerk in whose office the judgmentroll is filed, to make an entry, on the docket of the judgment, in each place where it appears in the docket-book, substantially as follows: Lien suspended upon appeal. See order entered;" adding the proper date. If a portion only is exempted, the order must direct the clerk to make, in like manner an entry, substantially as follows: "Lien par

tially suspended upon appeal. See order entered;" adding the proper date. The clerk must, when he files the motion papers, and enters the order, make the entry or entries in the docket book, as required by the order.

From Co. Proc. § 282.

§ 1257. From what time order suspends the lien.

Where an order is made, as prescribed in the last section, by the supreme court or by a county court, it operates as a suspension of the lien upon property situated in the county, where the judgment-roll is filed, from the time when the order is entered, and the proper entry made in the docket-book. If the property exempted is situated in another county, or if the order was made by a court, other than the supreme court or a county court, the order operates as a suspension, from the time, when the proper entry is made in the docket-book, kept by the clerk of that county, as prescribed in the next section. From Id.

§ 1258. How lien suspended in any other county. The clerk, with whom the order is entered, must, upon payment of his fees therefor, furnish to the party who obtained the order, one or more transcripts, attested by his signature, of the docket of the judgment, including the entry made upon the docket. A county clerk, in whose office the judgment is docketed, must, upon payment of his fees therefor, immediately file such a transcript; and make an entry upon the docket of the judgment, in each place where it appears in his docket-book, substantially as follows: Lien suspended,' or, "Lien partially suspended," according to the entry upon the original docket, and also," See transcript filed;" adding the proper date.

From Id.

§ 1259. When and how lien restored.

At any time after a judgment, which has ceased to be a lien, as prescribed in the last three sections, is affirmed, or the appeal therefrom is dismissed, the lien thereof may be restored, as follows:

1. The clerk, in whose office the judgment of affirmance, or the order dismissing the appeal, is entered, must upon the request of the judgment creditor, docket the judgment anew, as it was originally docketed, but in the order of priority of the new docket; and he must write upon the new docket, the words, "Lien restored by redocket; adding the date of redocketing.

2. A transcript of the new docket must be furnished to a county clerk, in whose office an entry of the suspension of the lien has been made, as prescribed in the last two sections; and thereupon the judgment must be docketed by him anew, in the order of the priority of the new docket. The clerk who so redockets the judgment, must make an entry upon the new docket, substantially as follows: "Lien restored by redocket. See transcript filed; " adding the date of redocketing in his county.

The lien of the judgment is thereupon restored, for the unexpired period thereof, as if the order had not been made; but with like effect only, as against judgment creditors, purchasers, and mortgagees in good faith, as if the judgment had then been first docketed.

From Id.

§ 1260. Docket of judgment, how cancelled.

The docket of a judgment must be cancelled and discharged by the clerk, in whose office the judgment-roll is filed, upon filing with him a satisfaction-piece, describing the judgment, and executed as follows: 1. Except as otherwise prescribed in the next subdivision, the satisfaction piece must be executed by the party in whose favor the judg

ment was rendered, or his executor or administrator; or, if it is made within two years after the entry of judgment, or after the entry of final judgment or order of affirmance, by the attorney of record of the party. But where the authority of the attorney has been revoked, a satisfaction by him is not conclusive, against the person entitled to enforce the judgment, in respect to a person, who had actual notice of the revocation, before a payment on the judgment was made, or a purchase of property bound thereby was effected.

2. If an assignment of the judgment, executed by the party in whose favor it was rendered, or his executor or administrator, has been filed in the clerk's office, the satisfaction-piece must be executed by the person, who appears, from the assignment, or from the last of the subsequent assignments, if any, so filed, showing a continuous chain of title, to be the owner of the judgment; or by his executor or administrator.

3. If the satisfaction-piece is executed by an attorney in fact, in behalf of a person authorized to execute it, other than the attorney of record, an instrument, containing a power to acknowledge the satisfaction, must be filed with the satisfaction-piece, unless it has been recorded in the proper book for recording deeds, in that or another county; in which case, the satisfaction-piece must refer to the record, and the clerk may, for his own indemnity, require evidence of a record remaining in another office.

The execution of each satisfaction-piece or power of attorney must be acknowledged, before the clerk, or his deputy, and certified by him thereupon; or it must be acknowledged or proved, and certified, in like manner as a deed to be recorded in the county where it is filed.

From 2 R. S. 362, Part 3, ch. 6, tit. 4, §§ 22, 23 and 24 (2 Edm. 375), and ch. 262 of 1834, §§ 1, 2 and 3 (4 Edm. 622).

Am'd by ch. 95 of 1899.

§ 1261. Satisfaction-piece to be given on payment of judgment.

The person, entitled to enforce a judgment, must execute, and acknowledge before the proper officer, a satisfaction-piece thereof, at the request of the judgment debtor, or of a person interested in property bound by the judgment, upon presentation of a satisfaction-piece, and payment of the sum due upon the judgment, and the fees allowed by law for taking the acknowledgment of a deed.

From 2 R. S. 362, Part 3, ch. 6, tit. 1, § 25 (2 Edm. 375).

§ 1262. Assignor must acknowledge assignment.

A person who has heretofore executed, or hereafter executes, a written assignment of a judgment, owned by him, without acknowledging the execution thereof, before an officer authorized to take the acknowledgment of a deed, must so acknowledge it, at the request of his assignee, or of a subsequent assignee thereof, or of the judgment-debtor, upon presentation of the assignment, and payment of the officer's fees. Am'd by ch. 946 of 1895.

§ 1263. Assignee who is a receiver, etc., may file notice. A resident of the State, or a person having an office within the State, for the regular transaction of business, in person, who becomes the owner of a judgment, by virtue of a general assignment for the benefit of creditors, or of an appointment as a receiver, or trustee or assignee of an insolvent debtor or bankrupt, may file with the clerk, in whose office the judgment-roll is filed, a notice of the assignment, or of his appointment, and of his ownership of the judgment. The notice must be subscribed by him, adding to his signature his place of residence, and also, if he resides without the State. his office address. A notice so filed has the same force and effect, for the purposes of this article, as if it was an assignment of the judgment.