806.24.Uniform enforcement of foreign judgments act.

Section 806.24 defines a foreign judgment broadly, as any judgment, decree, or order of a United States court or any other court that is entitled to full faith and credit in Wisconsin. A copy of such a judgment, authenticated under the act of congress or Wisconsin statutes, may be filed with the clerk of circuit court in any county. Once filed, the clerk treats it the same as a Wisconsin circuit court judgment, giving it the same effect and subjecting it to the same procedures, defenses, and proceedings for reopening, vacating, or staying, and it may be enforced or satisfied the same way.

Filing triggers notice requirements. The judgment creditor or lawyer must file an affidavit with the clerk stating the last-known post-office addresses of both the debtor and the creditor. The clerk then promptly mails notice of the filing to the debtor and notes the mailing on the court record, including the creditor’s and the creditor’s lawyer’s names and addresses in the notice. The creditor may also mail notice directly and file proof of mailing, which keeps enforcement moving even if the clerk’s own mailing does not go through. No execution or other enforcement process may issue until fifteen days after the judgment is filed.

The debtor gets real protection if an appeal is involved. If the debtor shows that an appeal from the foreign judgment is pending or will be taken, or that a stay of execution has been granted, the court must stay enforcement until the appeal concludes, the appeal time expires, or the stay expires or is vacated, once the debtor proves the security required by the rendering state has been furnished. And if the debtor shows any ground that would stay enforcement of a Wisconsin judgment, the court must stay enforcement for an appropriate period, requiring the same security Wisconsin law would require in that situation.

Registering the judgment under this section is not the only option. A judgment creditor’s right to bring a separate action to enforce the judgment instead remains unimpaired. The act is meant to be interpreted to make the law uniform among the states that have enacted it, and it may be cited as the Uniform Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act.