HB 2775 Text

COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
H. B. 2775
(By Delegates Amores and Craig)

(Originating in the Committee on the Judiciary)

[March 15, 2005]

A BILL to amend and reenact §56-6-31 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to the rate of interest allowed for prejudgment and post-judgment interest.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §56-6-31 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 6. TRIAL.
§56-6-31. Interest on judgment or decree.
(a) Except where it is otherwise provided by law, every judgment or decree for the payment of money entered by any court of this state shall bear interest per annum from the date thereof, whether it be so stated in the judgment or decree or not: Provided, That if the judgment or decree, or any part thereof, is for special damages, as defined below, or for liquidated damages, the amount of such special or liquidated damages shall bear interest from the date the right to bring the same shall have accrued, as determined by the court. Special damages includes lost wages and income, medical expenses, damages to tangible personal property, and similar out- of-pocket expenditures, as determined by the court. The rate of interest shall be ten dollars upon one hundred dollars per annum, and proportionately for a greater or lesser sum, or for a longer or shorter time, notwithstanding any other provisions of law.
(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of section five, article six, chapter forty-seven of this Code, the rate of interest on judgments and decrees for the payment of money, including prejudgment interest, is three percentage points above the Fifth Federal Reserve District discount rate in effect on the second day of January of the year in which the judgment or decree is entered. The Administrative Office of the Supreme Court of Appeals shall annually determine the interest rate to be paid upon judgments or decrees for the payment of money, and shall take appropriate measures to promptly notify the Courts and members of the West Virginia State Bar Association of the rate of interest in effect for the calander year in question. Once the rate of interest is established by a judgment or decree as provided for in this section, that established rate shall thereafter remain constant for that particular judgment or decree, notwithstanding changes in the Federal Reserve District discount rate in effect in subsequent years.

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