(a) Validity and Correction of Judgment or Order. A judgment or order shall not be stayed, impaired or affected by any mistake, defect or irregularity in the papers or procedures in the action not affecting a substantial right of a party. A trial or an appellate court may require the mistake, defect or irregularity to be cured.
§ 5019.Validity and correction of judgment or order; amendment of docket
Article 50. Judgments Generally · Last amended 2021 · Last verified July 21, 2026
In one sentenceCPLR 5019 protects a judgment from being upset by a harmless mistake, defect, or irregularity, while letting a court require the error corrected, and it sets the procedure for updating a docketed judgment when a later order changes it or a new person becomes entitled to enforce it.
Full Text of CPLR 5019
(b) Subsequent Judgment or Order Affecting Judgment or Lien. When a docketed judgment or the lien thereof is affected in any way by a subsequent order or judgment or retaxation of costs, the clerk of the court in which the judgment was entered shall make an appropriate entry on the docket of the judgment. In the case of a judgment of a court other than the supreme, county or a family court which has been docketed by the clerk of the county in which it was entered, such county clerk shall make an appropriate entry on his docket upon the filing of a certified copy of the order or judgment effecting the change or a certificate of the change issued by the clerk of the court in which the judgment was entered. Unless the order or judgment effecting the change otherwise provides, the duration of the judgment lien on real property shall be measured from the filing of the judgment-roll.
(c) Change in Judgment Creditor. A person other than the party recovering a judgment who becomes entitled to enforce it, shall file in the office of the clerk of the court in which the judgment was entered or, in the case of a judgment of a court other than the supreme, county or a family court which has been docketed by the clerk of the county in which it was entered, in the office of such county clerk, a copy of the instrument on which his authority is based, acknowledged in the form required to entitle a deed to be recorded, or, if his authority is based on a court order, a certified copy of the order. Upon such filing the clerk shall make an appropriate entry on his docket of the judgment. This subdivision shall not apply when there is a change to the owner of a debt through a sale, assignment, or other transfer where no judgment exists.
(d) Certificate of County Clerk. Upon the filing of a certificate of change of the docket of any judgment docketed with the clerk of the county in which it was entered, issued by such county clerk, the clerk of any court or county where the judgment has been docketed shall make an appropriate entry on his docket of the judgment.
Plain-English Summary
Not every flaw in the papers behind a judgment should undo the judgment itself. CPLR 5019(a) states the general rule: a judgment or order isn't stayed, impaired, or affected by a mistake, defect, or irregularity in the papers or procedures that doesn't touch a substantial right of a party. A trial or appellate court can still require the mistake or defect to be corrected, but a harmless technical slip doesn't give a losing party grounds to unwind an otherwise sound judgment. This provision functions as a practical check against using minor paperwork errors to relitigate outcomes that were properly reached.
The rest of the section handles how a docketed judgment gets updated once things change after entry. Subdivision (b) covers a subsequent order or judgment, or a retaxation of costs, that affects a previously docketed judgment or its lien. The clerk of the court where the judgment was entered has to make an appropriate docket entry reflecting the change. Where the judgment came from a court other than the supreme, county, or family court and was docketed by transcript in another county, that county clerk updates the docket upon receiving a certified copy of the order or judgment causing the change, or a certificate of the change from the original clerk. Unless the modifying order or judgment says otherwise, the judgment lien's duration is measured from the filing of the judgment-roll, not from the date of the later change.
Subdivision (c) addresses what happens when someone other than the original judgment creditor becomes entitled to enforce the judgment, such as through an assignment. That person has to file the instrument establishing the authority, acknowledged the way a deed is acknowledged for recording, or, if the authority comes from a court order, a certified copy of that order. The clerk then makes an appropriate docket entry. The subdivision carves out an exception for a plain sale, assignment, or transfer of a debt where no judgment yet exists, since that kind of transfer doesn't touch a docketed judgment at all. Subdivision (d) rounds out the section by letting any court or county clerk where a judgment has been docketed update its own docket upon receiving a certificate of change from the clerk of the county where the judgment was originally entered.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a small paperwork mistake invalidate a New York judgment?
No. CPLR 5019(a) provides that a judgment or order isn't stayed, impaired, or affected by a mistake, defect, or irregularity that doesn't affect a substantial right of a party.
Can a court still require an error in a judgment to be fixed?
Yes. Even though a harmless irregularity doesn't undo the judgment, a trial or appellate court may require the mistake, defect, or irregularity to be corrected.
What happens to a judgment's docket entry if a later order changes it?
Under CPLR 5019(b), the clerk of the court where the judgment was entered must make an appropriate entry on the judgment's docket reflecting the change from a subsequent order, judgment, or retaxation of costs.
How does a new owner of a judgment get recognized on the docket?
CPLR 5019(c) requires filing the instrument establishing the person's authority to enforce the judgment, acknowledged as a deed would be, or a certified court order, after which the clerk updates the docket.
From when does a judgment lien's duration run if the judgment is later modified?
Unless the modifying order or judgment provides otherwise, the lien's duration is measured from the filing of the judgment-roll, not from the date of the later change.
Advisory Committee Notes
Subd (a) of this section is derived from CPA § 109. That section specified twelve specific imperfections “and any other of like nature” which were not to be deemed to affect a judgment. The listed imperfections were apparent and need not be specifically stated. Furthermore, the entire matter is better left to the courts to handle by case law depending upon the facts of the particular case, under the general test of whether the mistake, defect or irregularity affects “a substantial right of a party.” With respect to errors in a judgment, the subd is designed to accomplish the same result as Federal rule 60(a), which provides for correction of clerical mistakes and errors arising from oversight and omission. Under former New York law, for example, judgments have been corrected by the addition of the words “without prejudice” (Clark v Scovill, 198 NY 279, 91 NE 800 (1910)) and by the insertion of the proper amount of interest. Spatz v Pulensky, 267 App Div 1031, 48 NYS2d 314 (3d Dept 1944); see 7 Carmody-Wait, Cyclopedia of New York Practice 366–74 (1953). Although the subd prescribes no time limit within which a judgment shall be corrected, a motion should be made promptly since it may be denied for laches. See 7 Carmody-Wait, op cit supra at 373. The subdivision is also intended to cover correction of a judgment to designate the judgment debtor by his true name—a matter formerly treated specifically in CPA § 511. See notes to subd (b). The subdivision has been extended to apply to orders as well as judgments.
Subd (b) of this section replaces the scattered provisions in the CPA allowing amendment of a judgment docket, which provided only partial and piecemeal coverage of this subject. See CPA § 498 (reversal or modification on appeal); id. § 511 (amendment to designate judgment debtor by true name); id. § 516 (suspension of lien on appeal); id. § 538-a (qualified discharge leaving unaffected an existing lien on real property). The new provision covers all amendments and corrections, including those under subdivision (a) of this section, orders setting aside a judgment under CPLR rule 5015, orders and judgments of an appellate court reversing or modifying the docketed judgment, and orders under § 5203(b) and 5204 (cf. CPA § 517). The provision clearly indicates that it applies to judgments and orders of an appellate court effecting a reversal or modification. The first sentence provides for changing the docket of the court which entered the judgment. Cf. CPA §§ 498, 511, 516, 538-a. The second sentence prescribes the method for changing the docket in the home county clerk’s office of a lower court judgment that has been docketed there. Under the 1959 legislation and subd (d) of this section, such amendment of the home county clerk’s docket and a certificate issued by him are required to effect a change in the docket kept by any other county clerk (CPA §§ 502, 538; Jud Law § 255-a) and, although the 1959 revision did not conform the conflicting provisions in CPA §§ 498 and 518, this subdivision makes the procedure uniform. The alternative of filing a certified copy of the order or judgment effecting the change is derived from § 538-a, which used this procedure for docketing in the home county clerk’s office instead of a certificate of the clerk of the court in which the judgment was entered. It seems a useful alternative since such a copy may frequently be easier to obtain than a transcript. In this connection, it should be noted that the procedure for recording an amendment of a lower court judgment in a county other than the home county under this subdivision involves an extra step over recording a change in the judgment creditor under subd (c) or a satisfaction under § 5021. In the latter two cases the initial recording of the change in judgment creditor or the satisfaction is made directly in the county clerk’s office if the lower court judgment has been docketed there, since this office then is the central office for enforcement procedures. Under this subdivision, however, the change is always effected by a court order or judgment which must be entered by the clerk of the court in which the original judgment was entered, even if it is a lower court. But cf. CPA § 538-a (apparently allowing the option of entering the order initially in the county clerk’s office in every case). Since the lower court’s clerk must enter the order or judgment anyway, orderly procedure requires that he correct his docket as well. There is no need to retain the specific provisions of § 538-a, since identical provisions are found in § 150 of the Debtor and Creditor Law. The CPA section was enacted at the same time that these provisions were added to the Debtor and Creditor Law, apparently in an excess of caution concerning the possible confusion engendered by such a discharge. See Law Rev Comm’n Rep 25–53 (1953). Former § 498 was only concerned with reversals or with modifications in which the judgment was affirmed as to part of the sum. There are other modifications on appeal which will necessitate amendment of the docket (e. g., a dismissal of the action as to one of several appellants) and this subdivision covers all such modifications. Furthermore, the subdivision is applicable to all appellate courts. The reference in subparagraph 1 of § 498 to the “perfecting” of the appeal has been omitted since this concept has been omitted from the new CPLR provisions relative to appeals rules. See notes to § 5519. The last sentence of subparagraph 1 of § 498, which stated that the lien of a judgment remains unaffected if the docket is not corrected, is omitted as unnecessary. In view of the fact that corrections may be minor and that error in the original judgment may have been caused by the judgment creditor, the duration of the lien is measured from the original docketing unless the court provides otherwise.
Subd (c) of this section is derived from CPA §§ 534 and 539 but extends their scope to cover all persons in addition to the person recovering it who may become entitled to enforce the judgment. Cf. CPA §§ 650, 654. It provides a uniform method of filing proof of authority based upon the method of executing a deed entitled to be recorded in the state. Former § 539, which dealt only with assignments, provided an alternative method of executing the assignment: acknowledgment before the clerk or his deputy and certification by him. The method in this subdivision, however, is used generally throughout the new CPLR. The subdivision accords with the 1959 amendments to §§ 534 and 539. However, the new second paragraph of § 539 is omitted as unnecessary. It should be understood that any transcript or certificate of a docket will be up to date and include all pertinent information. There is no reason for stating this expressly in the case of assignments and not in the case of any of the other changes contemplated by the present and proposed provisions. Section 105(j) defines a person entitled to enforce a money judgment as a “judgment creditor.” Cf. CPA § 7(5). Among the persons intended to be covered by this subd who were not expressly covered by the former provisions are executors, administrators and court-appointed guardians. An attorney in fact was formerly covered in § 530(3). The term “appropriate entry” permits the clerk to use separate books for assignments if he indicates on the docket of the judgment an appropriate cross-reference. Former § 534 filing only by a resident of the state or a person having an office in the state for the regular transaction of business in person. This limitation has been omitted. The requirement for filing the original judgment is not so limited. See CPLR § 5018. If the judgment debtor finds it difficult to pay the judgment to a non-resident, he may pay it into court under § 5021(a).
Subd (d) of this section replaces the parts of CPA §§ 498, 511, 518, 537, 538-a and 539 that provided for recording amendments and changes affecting the judgment docket in counties other than the one in which the judgment was entered. It applies to changes under both subdivisions (b) and (c) of this section. It conforms to the plan of the 1959 amendments in requiring a certificate of the home county clerk for changes in the docket kept by another county clerk, although former §§ 498 and 518 did not. See notes to subd (b). It also allows a party who wishes to do so to record in a lower court in which the judgment was entered a change of judgment creditor recorded initially in the home county clerk’s office under subd (c).
Editor's Notes Laws 2021, ch 593, § 1, eff November 8, 2021, provides:
§ 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the “consumer credit fairness act ”.
Laws 2021, ch 593, § 15, eff November 8, 2021, provides:
§ 15. This act shall take effect immediately; provided, however, that sections two, three, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven and twelve shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after it shall have become a law and shall apply to actions and proceedings commenced on or after such date; and provided, further, that section four of this act shall take effect on the one hundred fiftieth day after this act shall have become a law.
Amendment History
Add, L 1962, ch 308, eff Sept 1, 1963; L 2021, ch 593, § 14, effective November 8, 2021.
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
Also known as: correcting a judgment New Yorkjudgment irregularity substantial right NYamending judgment docket New Yorkchange in judgment creditor CPLR