Art. 1922.Money Judgments; Judgment Debtor; Date of Birth; Social Security Number

Many people share the same or a similar name, and a judgment or lien recorded in the public record under a common name can easily be mistaken for, or mistaken as belonging to, the wrong person. Article 1922 addresses that risk by requiring identifying details for the judgment debtor, the person a money judgment is rendered against, when those details are available.

Under Paragraph A, a final judgment for the payment of money must include the date of birth of every party the judgment is rendered against, if the attorney preparing the judgment knows it. Paragraph B adds the last four digits of that debtor's Social Security number, again only if known to the preparing attorney, and extends the same rule to a recorded lien that has the effect of a money judgment, substituting the debtor's Internal Revenue Service taxpayer identification number when the debtor is a business rather than an individual. In both cases, leaving this information out does not affect the validity of the judgment or the lien.

Paragraph C keeps the recording process moving even when this information is missing: a recorder cannot refuse to record a money judgment or lien for lacking it. The recorder may instead charge a modest additional fee, capped at twenty-five dollars per debtor, unless the creditor attaches an affidavit supplying the missing details at the time of recording. A person filing an affidavit of distinction, a filing that lets someone show they are not the debtor named in a recorded judgment or lien despite sharing a similar name, does not have to pay that fee.