An Act To Reduce the Period of Enforcement for Judgments Based upon Consumer Obligations
Maine Legislature, Session 129, LD 1053
Committee: Judiciary
Sponsors: COOPER, BELLOWS, TALBOT ROSS
Amends: 14 MRSA §864, 14 MRSA §4651-A, 14 MRSA §4653, 14 MRSA §4654

Legislative Document
No. 1053
H.P. 776
House of Representatives, February 28, 2019
An Act To Reduce the Period of Enforcement for Judgments Based 
upon Consumer Obligations
Reference to the Committee on Judiciary suggested and ordered printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative COOPER of Yarmouth.
Cosponsored by Senator BELLOWS of Kennebec and
Representative: TALBOT ROSS of Portland.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  14 MRSA §864, as amended by PL 2017, c. 102, §1, is further amended to 
read:
§864.  Presumption of payment of judgments
Every judgment and decree of any court of record of the United States or of any state 
or justice of the peace in this State is presumed to be paid and satisfied at the end of 20 
years after any duty or obligations accrued by virtue of such judgment or decree, except 
for a child support order and a judgment or decree based upon a consumer obligation.  
For the purposes of this section, "child support order" means a judgment, decree or order, 
whether temporary, final or subject to modification, issued by a court or an administrative 
agency of competent jurisdiction for the support and maintenance of a child, including a 
child who has attained the age of majority under the law of the issuing state, that provides 
for monetary support, health care, arrearages or reimbursement and may include related 
costs and fees, interest and penalties, income withholding, attorney's fees and other relief.  
For the purposes of this section, "consumer obligation" means a debt or debts incurred for 
personal, family or household purposes and does not include a debt or debts incurred for 
business or commercial purposes.  A judgment or decree of any court of record of the 
United States or of any state based upon a consumer obligation is irrebuttably presumed 
to be paid and satisfied at the end of one year after any duty or obligations accrued by 
virtue of the judgment or decree unless within that period the judgment creditor has 
commenced other action as permitted by this Title for the enforcement of the judgment or 
decree.
Sec. 2.  14 MRSA §4651-A, sub-§9, ¶C is enacted to read:
C.  Notwithstanding any other provisions of this section, a lien created pursuant to 
this section arising out of a judgment on a consumer obligation does not continue for 
longer than one year after the date of that judgment unless within that one-year period 
the judgment creditor has commenced other action as allowed by this Title to enforce 
the lien.  For the purposes of this paragraph, "consumer obligation" means a debt or 
debts incurred for personal, family or household purposes and does not include a debt 
or debts incurred for business or commercial purposes.
Sec. 3.  14 MRSA §4653, as amended by PL 2001, c. 275, Pt. A, §3, is further 
amended to read:
§4653.  Renewal in 10 years
An alias or pluries execution may be issued within 10 years after the day of issuance 
of the preceding execution and not afterwards, except that such an execution may not be 
issued with respect to any judgment arising out of a consumer obligation, as defined in 
section 4651-A, subsection 9, paragraph C.
Sec. 4.  14 MRSA §4654 is amended to read:
§4654.  Execution not timely; motion against debtor
When execution is not issued within the times prescribed by sections 4652 and 4653, 
motion against the debtor may be made to show cause why execution on the judgment 
should not be issued, and if no sufficient cause is shown, execution may be issued 
thereon, except that such an execution may not be issued more than one year after the 
date of any judgment arising out of a consumer obligation, as defined in section 4651-A, 
subsection 9, paragraph C.
Sec. 5.  Application.  This Act applies to any judgment relating to a consumer 
obligation entered on or after the effective date of this Act.  It also applies to any such 
judgment entered within 20 years before the effective date of this Act, except that the 
presumption of payment of consumer obligations provided for in this Act does not extend 
back more than 19 years and this Act may not reduce the time period for obtaining the 
issuance of an execution on any judgment to less than one year.
SUMMARY
Current law provides that a judgment or decree of a court of record of the United 
States or of any state is presumed to be paid and satisfied at the end of 20 years after any 
duty or obligations accrued by virtue of such judgment or decree.  This bill provides an 
exception to this law for a judgment or decree based upon a consumer obligation, which 
is irrebuttably presumed to be paid and satisfied at the end of one year after any duty or 
obligation accrued by virtue of the judgment or decree unless within that period the 
judgment creditor has commenced other action as permitted by law for the enforcement 
of the judgment or decree.