Title: Hull v. Buffalo Federal Sav. & Loan Ass'n

State: wyoming

Issuer: Wyoming Supreme Court

Document:

Hull v. Buffalo Federal Sav. & Loan Ass'n1983 WY 42661 P.2d 1049Case Number: 5818Case Number: 5818Decided: 04/20/1983Supreme Court of Wyoming
WILLIAM G. HULL AND REBECCA J. HULL, APPELLANTS 
(PLAINTIFFS),

v.

BUFFALO FEDERAL SAVINGS 
& LOAN ASSOCIATION, APPELLEE (INTERVENOR), and JAMES O. YEARYEAN AND EARL D. 
SNYDER, SUCCESSORS IN INTEREST TO MICHAEL W. HULL AND CORNELIA S. HULL, 
APPELLEES (DEFENDANTS). No. 5818

Appeal 
from the District Court,JohnsonCounty, Leonard McEwan, 
J.

Robert W. 
Schrader, Buffalo, for appellants.

Dennis M. Kirven 
of Kirven & Kirven, Buffalo, for appellee, Buffalo Federal Sav. 
& Loan Ass'n.

Blair Klein, 
Buffalo, for appellees, James O. Yearyean and 
Earl D. Snyder.

Before ROONEY, C.J., and RAPER, THOMAS, ROSE and 
BROWN, JJ.

ROONEY, Chief 
Justice.

[¶1.]     William G. Hull and 
Rebecca J. Hull, appellants-plaintiffs, appeal from the order of the district 
court vacating the writ of execution issued on an Ohio municipal court 
"Certificate of Judgment" and enjoining the sheriff from levying on any property 
pursuant to a writ of execution based on the "Certificate of Judgment." On 
appeal, appellants contend that the district court erred in holding that the 
"Certificate of Judgment" did not comply with the requirement of the Uniform 
Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act, § 1-17-701 et seq., W.S. 1977, i.e. that 
it was not a properly authenticated copy of the foreign judgment which is 
required to be filed with the clerk of the district court.

[¶2.]     We 
affirm.

[¶3.]     On November 15, 1979, 
appellants caused a "Certificate of Judgment" prepared by a deputy clerk of an 
Ohio municipal court to be filed with the clerk 
of the district court for JohnsonCounty. The "Certificate of Judgment," a 
printed form with blanks for pertinent information, indicates that Cambridge 
Production Credit Association was the plaintiff and obtained a judgment of 
$9,933.80 plus costs and interest against Michael W. Hull, et al., the 
defendants. It also indicates that William G. Hull and Rebecca J. Hull are the 
judgment creditors and that Michael W. Hull and Cornelia S. Hull are the 
judgment debtors. The "Certificate of Judgment," under court seal, indicates 
that the foregoing information was taken and copied from the original records of 
the Ohio 
municipal court.

[¶4.]     On July 19, 1982, 
appellants filed a precipe for execution, and the clerk of the district court 
issued a writ of execution. The sheriff levied upon real property purportedly 
owned by Michael W. Hull and Cornelia S. Hull on the date the "Certificate of 
Judgment" was filed, and the property was subsequently purchased by James O. 
Yearyean and Earl D. Snyder, appellees-defendants. Buffalo Federal Savings & 
Loan Association, appellee-intervenor, was permitted to intervene because of its 
position as purchase-money mortgagee of the property and raised the question of 
whether or not the "Certificate of Judgment" was entitled to enforcement 
pursuant to the procedures of the Uniform Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act, 
supra.

[¶5.]     Section 1-17-703, W.S. 
1977, provided as follows:1

"A copy of any foreign judgment 
authenticated in accordance with the act of Congress or the statutes of this 
state may be filed in the office of the clerk of any district court of this 
state. The clerk shall treat the foreign judgment as a judgment of the district 
court of this state. A judgment so filed has the same effect and is subject to 
the same procedures, defenses and proceedings for reopening, vacating, or 
staying as a judgment of a district court of this state and may be so enforced 
or satisfied." (Emphasis added.)

It requires that 
a properly authenticated copy of a foreign judgment be filed with the district 
court in order for the party seeking to enforce the judgment to utilize the 
simplified procedures of the Uniform Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act, 
supra.2 In this case we are called on to 
decide whether the Ohio municipal court's "Certificate of Judgment" meets the 
requirement of § 1-17-703, supra, that a "copy" of the foreign judgment be 
filed.

[¶6.]     The term "copy" has 
been defined as follows:

"A transcript, double, 
imitation, or reproduction of an original writing, painting, instrument, or the 
like." Black's Law Dictionary (5th ed. 1979), p. 303.

"* * * The word `"copy" 
implies that the instrument so labeled is identical with another instrument.' In 
re Janes' Estate, 18 Cal.Sup.,2d 512, 516, 116 P.2d 438, 441 [1941]. * * *" 
Blatz v. Travelers Ins. Co., Hartford, Conn., 272 A.D. 9, 68 N.Y.S.2d 801, 806 
(1947).

"* * * We are convinced 
that a copy of that instrument can consist only in a reproduction of the words 
of which it is composed in the same relation as they are there found, and thus, 
as a necessary consequence, in the language in which it is written. * * *" 
Rasmussen v. Baker, 7 Wyo. 117, 141, 50 P. 819, 825, 38 L.R.A. 773 
(1897).

[¶7.]     The "Certificate of 
Judgment" does not fit these definitions of "copy." It is not identical with the 
original judgment which Rule 58, Ohio Rules of Civil Procedure, Ohio Rev. Code 
Ann. (Baldwin), requires to be signed by the judge.3 There is no provision on the form 
for a judge's signature. It is not a reproduction of the words of the original 
judgment. Rather, it is a printed form designed to meet Ohio's statutory 
requirements for the establishment of a lien upon lands of a judgment debtor, § 
2329.01 et seq., Ohio Rev. Code Ann. (Baldwin),4 with blanks to be filled in by a 
clerk of court.

[¶8.]     Our conclusion is 
supported by numerous cases containing references to the original judgments. 
Light v. Light, 12 Ill. 2d 502, 147 N.E.2d 34, 42 (1958) ("* * * setting out the 
foreign judgment or decree in full in the final order entered in the Illinois 
court * * *"); Hickman v. Frerking, 4 Kan. App. 2d 590, 609 P.2d 682 (1980) 
(portions of divorce decree set out in the opinion); Brockman Equipment Leasing, 
Inc. v. Zoller, 3 Kan. App. 2d 477, 596 P.2d 827 (1979) (journal entry of 
default judgment set out in the opinion); and Everson v. Everson, 494 Pa. 348, 
431 A.2d 889 (1981) (portion of divorce decree set out in the opinion). It is 
also supported by § 2329.02, Ohio Rev. Code Ann. (Baldwin), which refers twice 
to the use of a certificate or a certified copy of the judgment. 

[¶9.]     The order of the 
district court vacating the writ of execution based on the Ohio "Certificate of 
Judgment" and enjoining the sheriff from levying on any execution based on the 
"Certificate of Judgment" is affirmed.

FOOTNOTES

1 Section 1-17-703 was 
amended subsequent to the filing of the "Certificate of Judgment" in this case. 
Section 2, Ch. 25, S.L. of 
Wyoming 1980. 
However, the requirement that a properly authenticated copy of the foreign 
judgment be filed was not changed by the amendment. See § 1-17-703, W.S. 1977, 
Cum.Supp. 1982.

2 Section 1-17-707, W.S. 
1977, Cum.Supp. 1982, retains the judgment creditor's right to bring an action 
to enforce his judgment.

3 Rule 58, Ohio Rules of 
Civil Procedure, Ohio Rev. Code Ann. (Baldwin), provides:

"Subject to the 
provisions of Rule 54(B), upon a general verdict of a jury, or upon a decision 
announced, the court shall promptly cause the judgment to be prepared and, the 
court having signed it, the clerk shall thereupon enter it. A judgment is 
effective only when filed with the clerk for journalization. Entry of the 
judgment shall not be delayed for the taxing of costs."

4 In Ohio, a certificate of 
judgment is filed in the office of the county recorder to perfect a lien on 
lands and tenements in the county. It is issued by the clerk of the court in 
which the judgment is rendered. The Uniform Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act 
does not contain a similar proceeding. It refers specifically to the "copy of 
any foreign judgment" as that which must be filed and the Ohio "Certificate of 
Judgment" is not a "copy of any foreign judgment."