Nevada Judgment Renewal & Recovery

Why Judgments Need to Be Renewed

Under NRS 17.214, Nevada judgments are valid for six (6) years. After six years, the judgment lapses — you lose the ability to enforce it through wage garnishment, bank levy, property liens, or other enforcement tools. The underlying debt may still technically exist, but without an enforceable judgment, your recovery options shrink dramatically.

The good news: Nevada judgments can be renewed indefinitely, provided renewal is filed before the original judgment expires. Each renewal extends enforceability for another six years and preserves the judgment's priority date for lien purposes.

The Renewal Process

1. Calendar the Expiration

The first step is knowing when each judgment expires. For multi-judgment portfolios, this means maintaining an active calendar of expiration dates. Letting a judgment lapse silently is a common mistake — particularly for creditors with judgments accumulated over many years from different cases.

2. File the Affidavit of Renewal

Renewal is accomplished by filing an Affidavit of Renewal with the clerk of the court that entered the original judgment. The affidavit must be filed before the original judgment expires. Filing after expiration won't work — the judgment is gone, and a new lawsuit would be required to obtain a new judgment.

3. Calculate Interest and Costs

The renewal affidavit must include the original judgment amount, interest accrued, payments received (if any), costs added (filing fees, sheriff's fees, etc.), and the current balance owed. Nevada judgment interest accrues per NRS 17.130.

4. Serve the Renewal Notice

Nevada requires that the renewal affidavit be served on the judgment debtor within a specified period after filing. The debtor has the opportunity to contest the renewal — typically by showing payment, satisfaction, or expiration of an underlying obligation.

5. Record Liens (If Applicable)

If the judgment was recorded as a lien against real property, the renewal preserves the lien's priority date. New recordings may be required in counties where the original lien was filed.

Recovery Tools After Renewal

A renewed judgment enables the same enforcement tools as the original:

• Wage garnishment — Up to 25% of disposable earnings or 30× minimum wage, whichever is less (NRS 31.295)
• Bank levy — Account seizure under NRS 21.080 et seq.
• Property liens — Real property in any Nevada county
• Sheriff's levy — Non-exempt personal property
• Asset examinations — Compelled debtor examination under oath

Out-of-State Judgments: Domestication

Have a judgment from another state, against a defendant who's now in Nevada? Nevada's Sister-State Judgments Act allows you to domesticate the out-of-state judgment in Nevada and then enforce it against Nevada assets.

Domestication Process

1. Obtain a certified copy of the original judgment from the issuing state's court
2. File the certified judgment with the Nevada court of appropriate jurisdiction
3. File an affidavit attesting to the judgment's enforceability in the original state
4. Serve notice on the judgment debtor
5. Wait the statutory period for any contest
6. Once domesticated, the judgment is treated as a Nevada judgment and standard enforcement tools become available

Common Pitfalls

• Letting judgments lapse silently — Without an active renewal calendar, judgments expire without notice
• Renewing too late — Renewal must precede expiration; there's no late-renewal procedure
• Interest calculation errors — Interest must be computed correctly per NRS 17.130
• Missing payments in the renewal affidavit — Failing to credit prior payments invalidates the renewal
• Skipping the service step — Renewal without proper notice to the debtor is vulnerable to challenge

How Vegas Valley Handles Judgment Portfolios

Our Judgment Recovery service includes active renewal calendar management for ongoing judgment portfolios. We track expiration dates, prepare renewal affidavits, coordinate filing and service, and re-establish enforcement workflows after renewal. For out-of-state judgments, we handle the Nevada domestication process and then proceed with standard enforcement.