Judgments may be enforced only as authorized by these rules or by statute.
Rule 2-631.Enforcement procedures available
Circuit Court · Last amended July 1, 1988 · Last verified July 13, 2026
In one sentenceStates the basic ground rule that a judgment can be enforced only through methods the rules or a statute authorize.
Full Text of Rule 2-631
Amendment History
Amended June 3, 1988, effective July 1, 1988.
Committee Note & Source
Source. This Rule is new.
Plain-English Summary
Rule 2-631 is a single sentence, but it sets the boundary for everything that follows in the enforcement chapter: judgments may be enforced only as authorized by the rules or by statute. A judgment creditor can't invent a collection method — enforcement has to trace back to a specific rule or statutory authorization.
In practice, that means the enforcement tools spelled out elsewhere in this chapter — writs of execution, garnishment, discovery in aid of enforcement, and the rest — aren't just options among many. They're the menu. If a particular collection technique isn't on that menu or grounded in a statute, it isn't available.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does it mean that enforcement must be "authorized by these rules or by statute"?
A creditor can use only the collection methods the Maryland Rules or a Maryland statute provide for. There's no freestanding authority to enforce a judgment by whatever method seems convenient.
Does this rule create new ways to collect a judgment?
No. It doesn't grant any enforcement power itself — it just confirms that enforcement power has to come from somewhere else in the rules or from a statute.
Why does this rule matter if the real procedures are elsewhere in the chapter?
It sets the frame for reading the rest of the enforcement chapter. Every specific procedure that follows — execution, garnishment, discovery in aid of enforcement — exists because this rule requires that authorization, and each of those rules supplies it.
Source & verification. Rule text, Committee Note, Source note, and
amendment history are reproduced verbatim from the Maryland Rules, adopted by the
Supreme Court of Maryland. Last verified July 13, 2026. ·
Official source
Also known as: how can a judgment be enforced in marylandauthorized methods of judgment enforcementjudgment enforcement procedures