COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE

FOR

H. B. 4384

(By Delegates Hunt, Louisos, Palumbo, Webster,

Browning, Amores and Brown)

(Originating in the Committee on the Judiciary)


[February 27, 2006]


A BILL to amend and reenact §38-3-4 and §38-3-5 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, all relating to requiring county clerks to notify property owners of the existence of a lien filed against their property.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §38-3-4 and §38-3-5 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3. JUDGMENT LIENS.
§38-3-4. Abstracts of judgments; damages or penalty for failure of clerk or justice to deliver.

The clerk of every court of this state shall, without delay, make out and deliver a duly certified abstract of every judgment rendered by such court, and every justice of the peace magistrate shall, without delay, make out and deliver a duly certified abstract of every judgment rendered by him or her or by any other justice magistrate, the docket of which judgment is in his or her possession and under his or her control, to any person interested therein who may demand the same, and pay or tender the fee therefor, in which abstract shall be stated:
(a) The names in full of the plaintiff or plaintiffs, and the defendant or defendants, as they appear in the papers and proceedings in the cause, and if the defendants are sued as partners, the individual names of such defendants, and also the partnership name shall be stated;
(b) The amount of the judgment and the amount of the costs, stating each separately;
(c) The value of the specific property (if any) recovered by it, and the damages, if any, for its detention;
(d) The date of the judgment and the court in which, or the justice by whom, the judgment was rendered. Any clerk or justice who shall fail to deliver such abstract or notice as herein required shall, together with the sureties in his or her official bond, be liable to the person injured by such failure for the amount of his or her injury, or such injured person may, at his or her option, recover fifty dollars from such clerk or justice.
§38-3-5. Docketing abstracts of judgments; indexing; damages or penalty for failure of clerk to perform duties.

(a) The clerk of every county court commission shall keep in his or her office, in a well-bound book, a judgment docket, in which he or she shall docket without delay any judgment rendered by any justice of the peace magistrate or court of this state or by any court of the United States within this state, upon the delivery to him or her of an authenticated abstract thereof for that purpose, and the payment or tender of his or her fee therefor. In such docket there shall be stated, in separate columns: (a) (1) The names in full of the plaintiff or plaintiffs, and the defendant or defendants, as they are stated in such abstract, and if it appear by such abstract that the defendants were sued as partners, their partnership name as well as their individual names shall be stated; (b) (2) the amount of the judgment and of the costs, stating each separately; (c) (3)the value of any specific property recovered by the judgment, and the damages (if any) for its detention; (d) (4) the date of the judgment; (e) (5) the court in which or the justice by whom it was rendered; (f) (6) the date of docketing the judgment; (g) (7) there shall also be a column for the notation of executions, if any shall be issued, upon the judgment. Every judgment, docketed by the clerk of the county court as aforesaid, shall at the same time be indexed by him or her in an index to be kept in or annexed to such judgment docket, such index showing the full name of the defendant, and, if more than one defendant, the full name of each, as they appear in such abstract. If the defendants are sued as partners, it shall also be indexed in the partnership name appearing in such abstract.
(b) In the event that the docketed abstract of judgment lists any purported address for any alleged obligor or lists any specific property that is purportedly encumbered by the judgment lien, then the clerk of the county shall send a copy of the docketed abstract of judgment to each named person and address, by United States certified mail, to provide notice of the docketing of the judgment abstract.
(c) Any clerk of a county court commission failing to perform any duty required of him or her by this section, or by section eight of this article, shall, together with the sureties in his official bond, be liable to the person injured by such failure for the amount of his injury, or such injured person may, at his or her option, recover fifty dollars from such clerk.



NOTICE: The purpose of this bill is to require county clerks to notify property owners of the existence of a judgment lien filed against their property, when their alleged address or real property encumbered is specifically listed on a docketed or indexed abstract of judgment.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.