Senate Bill No. 27
(By Senator Oliverio)
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[Introduced January 11, 1996; referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section thirty-one, article six,
chapter fifty-six of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to interest on
a judgment or decree; requiring judgment interest rate at
ten percent per annum; and excepting judgment interest rate
of contract action which shall be entered at the rate as
agreed upon by contract.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section thirty-one, article six, chapter fifty-six of
the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one,
as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 6.TRIAL.
§56-6-31. Interest on judgment or decree.
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 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: Provided, however, That if the judgment is
based upon a contract voluntarily executed between the parties
and the rate of interest set forth therein is lawful, that amount
of interest shall be carried on into any judgment entered
thereon.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require that interest
rates as agreed upon by the parties of a contract shall be
applied to any judgment entered upon the contract.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.