TITLE EIGHT — PROVISIONAL AND FINAL REMEDIES AND SPECIAL PROCEDURES
Rule 50. Execution; Enforcement of Money Judgments
Process to Enforce a Money Judgment. Process to enforce a judgment for the payment of money shall be a writ of execution, unless the court directs otherwise. Process to enforce a judgment for a specific act is governed by Rule 51. The procedure on execution, and in proceedings on and in aid of execution, shall be in accordance with 7 R. Stat. §§ 132.001 through 132.126 and this rule.
Payment; Satisfaction; Interest.
Manner of Payment. In all actions where either party recovers a sum of money, the amount to which that party is entitled may be awarded by the judgment generally, without any distinction being made as to whether the sum is recovered by way of debt or damages, as provided by 7 R. Stat. § 132.001. Monetary damages shall be paid in the manner established in game mechanics, as provided by 7 R. Stat. § 122.003(b).
Time to Satisfy. A judgment debtor shall satisfy a money judgment within seven (7) days of its issuance. Failure to do so ex-poses the debtor to an order of delinquency under Rule 50.1.
Payment Plans. A judgment or decree may be assigned to a payment plan only upon the consent of the recovering party, except where a payment plan is created by a judge under Rule 50.2(3)(d) and 7 R. Stat. § 132.109(d). A payment plan shall be reduced to an order that states the amount of each instalment, the interval between instalments, the total to be paid, and the consequences of a missed instalment. The Clerk shall enter the order upon the docket.
Interest on a Payment Plan. A judgment or decree assigned to a payment plan begins to accrue interest fourteen (14) days after issuance, at a rate of five (5) percent a week, as provided by 7 R. Stat. § 132.002, except where the judgment or decree is held in delinquency.
Interest in Delinquency. All judgments and decrees in delinquency are subject to interest at twenty (20) percent per week where the debt has not been paid after declaration of delinquency, as provided by 7 R. Stat. § 132.106. Interest under this subdivision runs in place of, and not in addition to, interest under subdivision (2)(d).
No Other Interest. A money judgment not assigned to a payment plan and not held in delinquency bears no interest.
Computation. Interest is computed from the recorded time of the triggering event, in Coordinated Universal Time, and runs continuously. Neither the electronic filing system nor the Clerk computes interest; the party asserting an amount shall state the computation in the paper asserting it, and any dispute is resolved by the court on motion.
Satisfaction. Upon payment in full of a judgment or decree, the Clerk shall execute and record the satisfaction of the judgment and discharge any lien imposed by the judgment, as provided by 7 R. Stat. § 132.003. A judgment creditor who has been paid in full shall promptly notify the Clerk; a creditor who fails to do so is liable for the costs of any motion required to compel the entry of satisfaction. A judgment debtor may move for the entry of satisfaction upon proof of payment.
Petition for a Writ of Execution.
Right to Petition. A plaintiff may petition, as a matter of right, any magistrate judge, superior court judge, associate justice, or the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court for a writ of execution on a judgment involving a defendant declared delinquent, as provided by 7 R. Stat. § 132.118. No writ of execution shall issue against a defendant who has not been declared delinquent under Rule 50.1.
How Made. The petition shall be filed in the action in which the judgment was entered. The electronic filing system provides no filing code denominated a petition for a subsequent filing; the petition shall accordingly be transmitted under the filing code for a motion and shall be captioned “Petition for a Writ of Execution.” A fee is assessed on filing and is collected as a debt; non-payment of the fee neither delays nor defeats the petition.
Contents. The petition shall state, and shall attach, the following:
the case number and the date of the judgment;
a copy of the judgment;
a copy of the order declaring the defendant delinquent, and the date and hour of its entry;
the principal amount remaining unsatisfied, the interest claimed, and the computation by which the interest was derived;
the username of the defendant and, where known, the county in which the defendant may be found; and
an averment that no payment plan under subdivision (2)(c) is in force and being performed, and that no prior writ has been executed within the preceding three (3) days.
Compliant Defendant Protected. A defendant who has an active payment plan and has actively fulfilled the obligations under it may not have any writ of execution entered against them nor be declared delinquent, as provided by 7 R. Stat. § 132.110. The court shall deny a petition on that ground on its own initiative where the record shows a payment plan in force and performed.
Consecutive Writs. Consecutive writs of execution may be issued so long as three (3) days have passed since the execution of the last writ, as provided by 7 R. Stat. § 132.118(a).
The Writ of Execution; Dual Instrument.
Both Instruments Required. A judge granting a petition shall provide a written order of a writ of execution AND enter the writ through the in-game warrant system, as required by 7 R. Stat. § 132.119. A writ that exists in only one of the two forms is not executable, and the Sheriff shall not act upon it.
The Written Order. The written order shall be signed by the issuing judge; shall bear the case number, the username of the defendant, and the date and hour of issuance in Coordinated Universal Time; shall state the amount to be satisfied, including interest computed to the hour of issuance; and shall be addressed to the Sheriff of the county in which the judge who issued the writ sits. The order shall be entered by the Clerk upon the docket of the action. The writ is not a warrant matter within the meaning of the warrants workflow of the electronic filing system, and is issued and recorded in the civil action itself.
Directions to the Sheriff. The order shall direct the Sheriff to:
take into custody the defendant of the action;
inform the defendant that they have outstanding debts and such debts are being collected upon;
search the defendant of the action;
seize all legal property and sell said property at defined market rate until enough money is recovered to satisfy said debt;
seize all illegal property of the defendant; and
release the defendant once there is no more property to sell or such property sold satisfies the debt.
The In-Game Entry. The judge shall enter the writ within the in-game warrant system, and shall format the entry in the following manner, which reproduces the directions required by 7 R. Stat. § 132.119(a): “WRIT OF EXECUTION; TAKE INTO CUSTODY THE DEFENDANT OF THE ACTION; INFORM THE DEFENDANT THAT THEY HAVE OUTSTANDING DEBTS AND SUCH DEBTS ARE BEING COLLECTED UPON; SEARCH THE DEFENDANT OF THE ACTION; SEIZE ALL LEGAL PROPERTY AND SELL SAID PROPERTY AT DEFINED MARKET RATE UNTIL ENOUGH MONEY IS RECOVERED TO SATISFY SAID DEBT; SEIZE ALL ILLEGAL PROPERTY OF THE DEFENDANT; RELEASE THE DEFENDANT ONCE THERE IS NO MORE PROPERTY TO SELL OR SUCH PROPERTY SOLD SATISFIES THE DEBT”
Arrest Not Precluded. Nothing in the writ shall be construed to preclude arrest if the defendant has illegal items in their possession or fails to comply, as provided by 7 R. Stat. § 132.119(b). An arrest so made is a criminal matter and proceeds under the Ridgeway Rules of Criminal Procedure.
No Bond. No bond, bail, or other security shall be levied or accepted as a condition of the defendant’s release from custody under a writ of execution, as provided by 6 R. Stat. § 131.205.
Execution by the Sheriff.
Duty. The Sheriff shall execute all writs and other process directed to the Sheriff by any proper and lawful authority of this state, as provided by 9 R. Stat. § 331.202(e).
Defined Market Rate. Defined market rate is the lowest retail value or resale value of the item, subtracted by twenty (20) percent of that value, as provided by 7 R. Stat. § 132.120. The Sheriff shall record, for each item sold, the value used and the basis on which it was determined.
Responsibility for the Sale. The Sheriff shall be responsible for ensuring that all persons who receive items as part of a liquidation sale or auction are legally authorized to receive such items, as provided by 7 R. Stat. § 132.121. No person declared delinquent may participate in a judicial liquidation sale or auction, as provided by 7 R. Stat. § 132.113(e), and the Sheriff shall exclude such persons.
Disbursement. The Sheriff shall be responsible for giving the plaintiff of the action the collected money from the sales and auctions executed, as provided by 7 R. Stat. § 132.122.
Collector’s Items. The Sheriff may seize any collector’s item which is priceless or of undefined market rate and auction that item, as provided by 7 R. Stat. § 132.123. The Sheriff shall not seize any collector’s item under this subdivision if the debt can be paid back through the sale of other items.
Surplus. The Sheriff shall compensate the defendant for any surplus of the sale of their items which exceeded the balance of the debts they hold, as provided by 7 R. Stat. § 132.125. The surplus shall be delivered to the defendant before the log required by subdivision (5)(g) is delivered to the Clerk.
Receipt and Log of Assets Seized. Upon the completion of a writ of execution, the Sheriff shall create a log of all items seized, to whom they were sold, and the price at which they were sold, and shall deliver that receipt to:
the defendant against whom the writ was executed;
the plaintiff;
the judge who issued the writ of execution; and
the judge who issued the original judgment and declared the defendant delinquent.
How the Log Reaches the Record. The Sheriff is not a party and cannot transmit a filing to the electronic filing system in the action. The Sheriff shall deliver the log to the Clerk, who shall enter it upon the docket of the action; entry upon the docket satisfies delivery to the plaintiff and to any judge who is a participant in the action. The Sheriff shall deliver a copy directly to the defendant and to any judge named in subdivision (5)(g) who is not a participant in the action.
Return of an Unexecuted Writ. Where the writ cannot be executed, the Sheriff shall so state in writing, with the efforts made, and shall deliver the statement to the Clerk for entry upon the docket. An unexecuted writ does not discharge the delinquency, and a consecutive writ may be sought under subdivision (3)(e).
Discharge of Delinquency on Execution. If a writ of execution was successfully served and the plaintiff took receipt of the money, then the defendant shall be relieved of his delinquency and his debt shall be considered executed and discharged, as provided by 7 R. Stat. § 132.126. Upon the entry of the Sheriff’s log showing a successfully served writ and receipt by the plaintiff, the Clerk shall enter the discharge upon the docket, shall record satisfaction of the judgment under subdivision (2)(h), and shall transmit notice of the discharge to the Secretary of State for the correction of the archive maintained under 7 R. Stat. § 132.112.
Post-Judgment Discovery in Aid of Execution.
Scope. In aid of the judgment or execution, the judgment creditor, or the creditor’s successor in interest when that interest appears on the record, may obtain discovery from any person, including the judgment debtor, in the manner provided in these rules. Discovery under this subdivision is limited to the existence, nature, location, and value of the debtor’s property and income, transfers of the debtor’s property, and the identity of persons holding the debtor’s property.
Debtor’s Asset Statement. On motion, the court may order the judgment debtor to file a sworn statement of assets identifying every item of property the debtor owns or controls, its location, and its estimated value, and every source of the debtor’s income. The order shall fix the time for the statement, which shall not be less than forty-eight (48) hours.
Failure to Comply. Failure to comply with an order under this subdivision is sanctionable under Rule 26.3 and punishable as civil contempt under Rule 53. Nothing in this subdivision permits a court to hold a judgment debtor in contempt for the inability to pay a judgment; the remedy for non-payment is delinquency under Rule 50.1.
Enforcement Against the Government. A money judgment against the State, a county, a municipality, or an agency or department thereof shall not be enforced by a writ of execution. It shall be satisfied in the manner the law provides, subject to the limits of 7 R. Stat. § 122.003. Where a judgment imposes monetary damages upon a defendant sued in a quasi-official capacity, it is the duty of the defendant’s individual capacity to pay such damages as ordered, as provided by 7 R. Stat. § 121.404(b), and this rule applies to that defendant as to any other judgment debtor.
Record of the Enforcement Proceedings. Every petition, order, writ, log, return, and satisfaction under this rule is entered upon the docket of the action in which the judgment was rendered. No separate case is opened, and no new case number issues.