Every money judgment shall bear interest from the date of its entry. Every order directing the payment of money which has been docketed as a judgment shall bear interest from the date of such docketing.
§ 5003.Interest upon judgment.
Article 50. Judgments Generally · Last amended 1963 · Last verified July 21, 2026
In one sentenceCPLR 5003 requires every money judgment to bear interest from the date it is entered, and extends the same rule to any order directing payment of money that has been docketed as a judgment.
Full Text of CPLR 5003
Plain-English Summary
Once a judgment is entered, the clock doesn't stop. CPLR 5003 requires every money judgment to accrue interest starting on its entry date, so a debtor who delays payment doesn't get a free ride while the judgment sits unpaid. This is the third and final leg of the interest sequence in this article: CPLR 5001 covers the period before verdict, CPLR 5002 covers the period between verdict and judgment, and CPLR 5003 takes over from the moment of entry forward, running until the judgment is paid or otherwise satisfied.
The section also reaches orders that direct payment of money and have been docketed as judgments, treating them the same as judgments for interest purposes. That matters because plenty of court orders that award money never get labeled a judgment in the traditional sense, but once docketed, the statute puts them on equal footing.
The interest rate for post-judgment interest, like the earlier stages, comes from CPLR 5004. A judgment creditor who wants to enforce collection, or a debtor negotiating a payoff figure, needs this rate to calculate exactly how much is owed as of any given date - the balance keeps growing until the debt is satisfied.
Frequently Asked Questions
From when does interest run on a money judgment in New York?
CPLR 5003 provides that a money judgment bears interest from the date it is entered.
Does an order for payment of money accrue interest the same way a judgment does?
Yes, if the order has been docketed as a judgment; CPLR 5003 states it bears interest from the date of that docketing.
What interest rate applies to a New York judgment after it's entered?
The rate comes from CPLR 5004, which sets the statutory rate except where another statute specifies a different one.
Does post-judgment interest keep accruing until the debt is paid?
Yes. Interest under CPLR 5003 continues to accrue on the unpaid balance until the judgment is satisfied.
How does CPLR 5003 interest relate to CPLR 5001 and 5002?
The three sections cover consecutive periods: 5001 runs interest to the verdict, 5002 runs it from the verdict to the judgment, and 5003 runs it from entry of the judgment forward.
Advisory Committee Notes
(See also Advisory Committee notes preceding § 5001, under subheading “Interest.”). The first sentence of this section is derived from the first sentence of CPA § 481. The distinction between courts of record and not of record has been omitted. Interest was not formerly permitted in a court not of record upon a judgment “directing the payment of money” although it was permitted in judgments “for a sum of money.” Apparently the distinction intended was between awards in equity and at law. Since courts not of record have, at most, a limited equity jurisdiction, the former verbiage served little purpose. The second sentence is new. It accords with the general design of the proposals to treat all judicial directions for the payment of money in the same way insofar as practicable. Thus an order directing the payment of money may be docketed and enforced as a money judgment (see CPLR rule 2222 and § 5101). The order will bear interest, however, only if, and from the time that, it has been docketed.
Amendment History
Add, L 1962, ch 308, eff Sept 1, 1963.
Source & verification. Provision text, History, and Advisory
Committee Notes are reproduced verbatim from the Consolidated Laws of New York.
Last verified July 21, 2026.
· Official source
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