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Grewal v. Choudhury, C-07-4218-CRB. (2018)

Court: District Court, N.D. California Number: infdco20180710877 Visitors: 13
Filed: Jul. 05, 2018
Latest Update: Jul. 05, 2018
Summary: ORDER GRANTING MOTION BY PLAINTIFF FOR RENEWAL OF JUDGMENT CHARLES R. BREYER , District Judge . Having failed to collect on a judgment entered by this Court in August, 2008, Plaintiff Elizabeth Grewal applies to renew the judgment for an additional ten years. This application is timely, and this Court GRANTS the motion. I. BACKGROUND On August 12, 2008, this Court entered judgment in favor of Ms. Grewal in the amount of $1,923,740.00. See Judgment (dkt. 143). The Ninth Circuit affirmed
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ORDER GRANTING MOTION BY PLAINTIFF FOR RENEWAL OF JUDGMENT

Having failed to collect on a judgment entered by this Court in August, 2008, Plaintiff Elizabeth Grewal applies to renew the judgment for an additional ten years. This application is timely, and this Court GRANTS the motion.

I. BACKGROUND

On August 12, 2008, this Court entered judgment in favor of Ms. Grewal in the amount of $1,923,740.00. See Judgment (dkt. 143). The Ninth Circuit affirmed on appeal. See Grewal v. Choudhury, No. 08-17483, 2010 U.S. App. LEXIS 8230 (9th Cir. Apr. 5, 2010). In the ensuing collection efforts, Ms. Grewal recovered only a small fraction of the judgment amount. See Mot. Renew. J. (dkt. 381) at 2. The judgment is currently set to expire on August 12, 2018. Ms. Grewal therefore seeks to extend this judgment for another ten years so she can recover the unpaid balance of the judgment. Id.

The Defendant, Mr. Amit Choudhury, has not yet filed an opposition.

II. DISCUSSION

A. Statutory Requirements

Procedures for executing money judgments "must accord with the procedure of the state where the court is located," unless superseded by federal statute. Fed. R. Civ. P. 69(a)(1). Under California law, a money judgment is enforceable for ten years after the judgment's date of entry. Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 683.020. After this period, it expires, unless the plaintiff files an application for renewal of judgment. Id.; see also Espanol v. Tookes, No. C 99-3720 SBA, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12159, at *2 (N.D. Cal. Feb. 10, 2010) ("[T]he law of the forum state controls time limits applicable to the enforcement of a judgment."). The plaintiff may file this application at any time before the expiration of the ten-year enforceability period. Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 683.130 (West 2018). The amount of the renewed judgment is the amount required to satisfy the judgment on the day the plaintiff files the renewal application. Id. § 683.150(c). Renewed judgments extend for a period of ten years from the date the plaintiff files the renewal application. Id. § 683.120(b).

Ms. Grewal filed this motion within the ten-year period. Ms. Grewal's motion is therefore timely, and the judgment is eligible for renewal. The renewed judgment will remain in effect for ten years from the day Ms. Grewal filed this motion, expiring on May 25, 2028.

B. Calculation of Renewed Judgment Amount

This Court originally awarded Ms. Grewal $1,923,740.00, consisting of $1,423,740.00 in compensatory damages and $500,000.00 in punitive damages. See Judgment. To date, Ms. Grewal has only recovered $6,254.73,1 leaving $1,917,485.27 of the original judgment still outstanding. Mot. Renew. J. at 2.

The Court adds allowed costs to this figure. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 54(d)(1). In this case, allowed costs equal $13,582.91, raising the outstanding judgment amount to $1,931,068.18. See Bill of Costs (dkt 173).

Ms. Grewal is entitled to interest on the outstanding judgment amount, computed daily to the date of payment and compounded annually from the judgment's date of entry. See 28 U.S.C. § 1961. Allowed costs also accrue interest. See id. § 1920; 10 James M. Moore, Moore's Federal Practice—Civil § 54.100 (3d ed. 2018). The interest rate for federal court civil judgments is equal to the one-year constant maturity U.S. Federal Treasury yield weekly average for the calendar week preceding the date of the judgment. 28 U.S.C. § 1961(a). The applicable interest rate in this case is 2.23%. See U.S. Federal Reserve, Data Download Program, https://tinyurl.com/yazoa6kr (last visited July 2, 2018) (showing 2.23% as the weekly average interest rate for the week beginning on August 3, 2008).

Adding in annual compounding interest through May 25, 2018, raises the outstanding judgment amount to $2,396,359.70.

III. CONCLUSION

For the foregoing reasons, Plaintiff's Motion for Renewal of Judgment is GRANTED. The judgment is renewed in the amount of $2,396,359.70, and will remain valid until May 25, 2028.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

FootNotes


1. Ms. Grewal also asserts that the Mr. Choudhury assigned stock interests to her, but that these stock interests are worthless. Decl. Pl. Supp. Mot. Renew. J. (dkt. 381) at 2. The Court credits this assertion because it is unopposed.
Source:  Leagle

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