W. Va. Code § 38-3-3
Meaning of word "judgment."
In the following two sections the word "judgment" shall include any undertaking, bond or recognizance which has the force of a judgment.
West Virginia Code Chapter 38 — Liens
West Virginia · statute · W. Va. Code ch. 38 · 376 active provisions
W. Va. Code § 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 shall, without delay, make out and deliver a duly certified abstract of every judgment rendered by him or by any other justice, the docket…
W. Va. Code § 38-3-5
Docketing abstracts of judgments; indexing; damages or penalty for failure of clerk to perform duties
The clerk of every county court shall keep in his office, in a well-bound book, a judgment docket, in which he shall docket without delay any judgment rendered by any justice of the peace or court of this state or by any court of the United States within this state, upon the delivery to him of an authenticated abstract…
W. Va. Code § 38-3-6
Lien of judgment on real estate
Every judgment for money rendered in this state, other than by confession in vacation, shall be a lien on all the real estate of or to which the defendant in such judgment is or becomes possessed or entitled, at or after the date of such judgment, or if it was rendered in court, at or after the commencement of the term…
W. Va. Code § 38-3-7
Judgment lien not good as against bona fide purchasers unless docketed, etc.; effect of issuing and filing execution
No judgment shall be a lien as against a purchaser of real estate for valuable consideration without notice, unless it be docketed according to the fifth section of this article, in the county wherein such real estate is, before a deed therefor to such purchaser is delivered for record to the clerk of the county court…
W. Va. Code § 38-3-8
Notation of executions on judgment lien docket
It shall be the duty of the clerk of the county court, upon the filing of the execution, or a copy thereof, as provided in the preceding section or upon the filing of any execution issued by any court of the United States within this state, to note on the judgment lien docket, in the column provided for such notation,…
W. Va. Code § 38-3-9
Enforcement of judgment lien by suit
The lien of a judgment may be enforced in a court of equity after an execution or fieri facias thereon has been duly returned to the office of the court or to the justice from which it issued showing by the return thereon that no property could be found from which such execution could be made: Provided, That such lien…
W. Va. Code § 38-3-10
Same -- Parties
In every suit in equity to enforce a judgment, all persons having liens on the real estate sought to be subjected, by judgment or otherwise, shall be made parties plaintiff or defendant, or if the number of such persons exceed ten, the suit may be brought by any one or more of them, for the benefit of himself and such…
W. Va. Code § 38-3-11
Same -- Publication of notice to lienholders
No decree for the distribution of the proceeds of real estate in a suit in equity to enforce a judgment shall be made until a notice to all persons holding liens on the real estate of the judgment debtor be published, under a decree of the court, as hereinafter provided. Such notice shall be sufficient if it be in form…
W. Va. Code § 38-3-12
Same -- Duties of commissioner
The commissioner to whom the case is referred by such decree shall, as soon as possible after such notice is published as aforesaid, or served in such manner as the court may order, proceed to ascertain and report all the liens, on the real estate or any part thereof of the judgment debtor, the holders of such liens, t…
W. Va. Code § 38-3-13
Same -- Confirmation of report; decree of rental or sale and distribution
When the report of any such commissioner is confirmed, if the claims therein reported (if any) be not paid, the court shall decree that so much of the real estate of the judgment debtor as may be necessary, and which is subject to such lien or liens, shall be rented or sold, and the proceeds thereof distributed among t…
W. Va. Code § 38-3-14
Same -- Judgment against debtor pending suit
If, pending any such suit, a judgment at law be recovered by any person against such judgment debtor, such person may present his claim to the commissioner and have it adjudicated and allowed in the same manner and to the same extent as if the judgment had been obtained before the institution of such suit. And he may p…
W. Va. Code § 38-3-15
Same -- Other proceedings commenced pending suit
If, after the commencement of suit to enforce a judgment lien, any lienholder commence any other suit or proceeding in or out of court to enforce a lien claimed by him on the real estate, or any part thereof, of the judgment debtor, upon which a lien is sought to be enforced by such suit, the court, or the judge thereo…
W. Va. Code § 38-3-16
Order of liability of real estate
Where the real estate liable to the lien of a judgment is more than sufficient to satisfy the same, and it, or any part of it, has been aliened, as between the alienees, that which was aliened last shall, in equity, be first liable, and so on with other successive alienations until the whole judgment is satisfied, exce…
W. Va. Code § 38-3-17
Judgment liens commencing on same day
Where two or more judgments are rendered against the same person, and the liens thereof on his real estate commerce on the same day, the creditors having such judgments shall be entitled to satisfaction out of such real estate ratably.
W. Va. Code § 38-3-18
Limitations on enforcement of judgments
(a) On a judgment, execution may be issued within ten years after the date thereof. Where execution issues within ten years as aforesaid, other executions may be issued on such judgment within ten years from the return day of the last execution issued thereon, on which there is no return by an officer, or which has bee…
W. Va. Code § 38-3-19
Exceptions to limitations
No execution shall issue, nor any action, suit or scire facias be brought on any judgment in this state after the time prescribed in the preceding section, except that in computing the time, any time during which the right to sue out execution on the judgment is suspended by the terms thereof, or by legal process, shal…
W. Va. Code § 38-4-1
Executions against corporations
Against a corporation such execution may issue as against a natural person.
W. Va. Code § 38-4-2
Executions on joint judgments
Where a judgment is against several persons jointly, executions thereon shall be joint against them all.
W. Va. Code § 38-4-3
Execution for benefit of person other than plaintiff
Where an execution issues on a judgment for the benefit, in whole or in part, of any person other than the plaintiff, if that fact appear by the record, the clerk shall, in the execution or an indorsement thereon, state the extent of the interest therein of such persons, and such person may, as a party injured, either…
W. Va. Code § 38-4-4
Writs of possession and fieri facias on judgments for specific property
On a judgment for the recovery of specific property, real or personal, a writ of possession may issue for the specific property, which writ shall conform to the judgment as to the description of the property, and the estate, title, or interest recovered. On such a judgment a writ of fieri facias or execution may also b…
W. Va. Code § 38-4-5
Execution or fieri facias on money judgment
On a judgment for money, there may be issued an execution known as a writ of fieri facias.
W. Va. Code § 38-4-6
On what fieri facias may be levied
By a writ of fieri facias, the officer shall be commanded to make the money therein mentioned out of the personal property of the person against whom the judgment is. The writ may be levied upon goods and chattels, current money and bank notes, stamps, certificates of stock in a corporation, negotiable warehouse receip…
W. Va. Code § 38-4-7
How currency or bank notes shall be accounted for
If the levy be upon gold or silver coin or other currency which is legal tender in the United States, the same shall be accounted for at its par value as so much money made under the execution. If it be upon bank notes or currency which are not legal tender in the United States, and the creditor will not take them at t…
W. Va. Code § 38-4-8
Commencement and duration of lien of fieri facias
A writ of fieri facias or execution shall create a lien, from the time it is delivered to the sheriff or other officer to be executed, upon all of the personal property, or the estate or interest therein, owned by the judgment debtor at the time of such delivery of the writ, or which he may acquire on or before the ret…