California Code of Civil Procedure 685.010 – (a) (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), interest …
(a) (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), interest accrues at the rate of 10 percent per annum on the principal amount of a money judgment remaining unsatisfied.
(2) (A) For judgments entered on or after January 1, 2023, or where an application for renewal of judgment is filed on or after January 1, 2023, interest accrues at the rate of 5 percent per annum on the principal amount of a money judgment remaining unsatisfied in the following cases:
Terms Used In California Code of Civil Procedure 685.010
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- debtor: means the debtor from whom the liability is sought to be collected. See California Code of Civil Procedure 688.040
- Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
- Person: includes a corporation as well as a natural person. See California Code of Civil Procedure 17
- Property: includes both personal and real property. See California Code of Civil Procedure 17
- Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
(i) The principal amount of a money judgment of under two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000) remaining unsatisfied against a debtor for a claim related to medical expenses.
(ii) The principal amount of a money judgment of under fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) remaining unsatisfied against a debtor for a claim related to personal debt.
(B) The claims specified in subparagraph (A) include, but are not limited to, a claim based on any of the following transactions:
(i) An agreement governing the use of a credit card as defined in subdivision (a) of § 1747.02 of the Civil Code.
(ii) A conditional sale contract as defined in subdivision (a) of § 2981 of the Civil Code.
(iii) A deferred deposit transaction as defined in subdivision (a) of § 23001 of the Financial Code.
(C) For purposes of this paragraph, the following definitions apply:
(i) “Debtor” means a natural person from whom money is due or owing or alleged to be due or owing.
(ii) “Due or owing” does not include debts incurred due to or obtained by tortious or fraudulent conduct or judgments for unpaid wages, damages, or penalties owed to an employee.
(iii) “Personal debt” means money due or owing or alleged to be due or owing from a natural person arising out of a transaction in which the money, property, insurance, or services which are the subject of the transaction are primarily for the debtor’s personal, family, or household purposes.
(b) The Legislature reserves the right to change the rate of interest provided in subdivision (a) at any time, regardless of the date of entry of the judgment or the date any obligation upon which the judgment is based was incurred. A change in the rate of interest may be made applicable only to the interest that accrues after the operative date of the statute that changes the rate.
(Amended by Stats. 2023, Ch. 131, Sec. 21. (AB 1754) Effective January 1, 2024.)