A money judgment in Maryland lasts 12 years from the date the court clerk enters it, and that is how long the creditor has to garnish wages, seize bank accounts, or enforce a lien on real property before the judgment goes dormant.1Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code CJP 5-102 The creditor can refile to extend that period, and certain events can pause the clock, so the 12-year figure is the starting point rather than the full picture.
When the 12-Year Clock Starts
Maryland law treats a money judgment as a specialty subject to a 12-year limitation period. Maryland Rule 3-625 states that a judgment expires 12 years from the date of entry or the most recent renewal. The date of entry is the day the clerk officially records the judgment, not the day the lawsuit was filed or the trial ended. The rule applies the same way whether the judgment came out of District Court or Circuit Court.
There is one exception worth knowing. Judgments taken for the use of the State of Maryland are not subject to the 12-year limit.1Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code CJP 5-102 State agencies collecting fines, taxes, or similar obligations can enforce their judgments indefinitely. For private creditors, including banks, hospitals, landlords, and individuals, the 12-year rule governs.
Interest Keeps Running the Whole Time
The duration matters more than it first appears, because unpaid judgments accrue interest the entire time they are enforceable. The standard rate in Maryland is 10 percent per year on the full judgment amount.2Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code CJP 11-107 The interest is simple rather than compounded, but over a 12-year window it still roughly doubles the amount owed. A $20,000 judgment ignored for six years grows to $32,000 before any collection action.
Two carve-outs change the rate. Judgments involving rent on residential property accrue at 6 percent per year. Delinquent property tax judgments accrue at 10 percent or the combined statutory interest-and-penalty rate, whichever is higher.2Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code CJP 11-107
Renewing a Judgment Before It Expires
A creditor who has not collected the full amount by year 12 does not have to walk away. At any point before the judgment expires, the creditor can file a Notice of Renewal of Judgment with the clerk of the court that issued it. Once renewed, the judgment gets a fresh 12-year period starting from the renewal date.
Maryland sets no cap on how many times a judgment can be renewed. As long as each renewal is filed before the current period runs out, the judgment can stay alive for decades. If the original was recorded as a lien in other counties, the creditor can ask the clerk to transmit the renewal to each of those courts so the liens there remain enforceable too.
Payments Can Pause the Clock
One provision catches a lot of debtors off guard. If the debtor makes any payment of principal or interest on the judgment, the 12-year clock is suspended for three years from the date of that payment.1Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code CJP 5-102 Even a small partial payment effectively extends the enforcement window, and the creditor does not need to file anything formal to get that extension. For debtors trying to run out the clock, this matters: a single payment on an aging judgment can push the expiration date out by three years.
What Expiration Actually Means
If a creditor misses the renewal deadline, the judgment becomes unenforceable. The authority to garnish wages, seize bank accounts, or levy property is gone. Active garnishment orders tied to the expired judgment should stop.
Expiration of the judgment is not the same as extinguishment of the underlying debt. The judgment’s lapse removes the court-backed enforcement tools, but whether a creditor could try again by filing a new lawsuit depends on whether the original statute of limitations on the underlying debt has also run. In most situations the 12-year judgment period outlasts the underlying limitation period, so a creditor who lets the judgment expire has generally lost all practical means of recovery. That is not guaranteed in every case. Debtors who get any communication about an old debt after a judgment lapses should be cautious about making payments, because a payment can restart limitation periods on the underlying obligation.
Judgment Liens on Real Property Share the Same Lifespan
A judgment automatically becomes a lien on the debtor’s interest in real property in the county where it was entered, once indexed and recorded as the court rules require. The creditor can extend the lien to other Maryland counties by filing a certified copy of the judgment in those counties.3Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code CJP 11-402
The lien lasts as long as the underlying judgment is enforceable, which means it shares the 12-year lifespan and can be stretched through renewal. When the judgment is paid, the creditor should file a statement of satisfaction with the court, and the clerk will mark the lien satisfied.3Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code CJP 11-402
If a judgment expires without renewal, the lien becomes unenforceable but can still appear in the land records as a cloud on the title. Clearing that cloud typically requires a motion or other filing with the court to formally release the lien, which can delay a sale even when the debt itself is no longer collectible.
How Bankruptcy Interrupts the Timeline
Bankruptcy is a separate way the 12-year timeline can be cut short, or at least frozen. Filing a bankruptcy case triggers an automatic stay that immediately halts enforcement of existing judgments, including wage garnishments and bank levies.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 362 – Automatic Stay
Whether the judgment debt itself survives depends on what the debt is for. Judgments based on credit card balances, medical bills, personal loans, and most negligence claims are generally dischargeable in Chapter 7. Several categories are not: child support and alimony, judgments for death or personal injury caused by drunk driving, criminal restitution, and debts arising from fraud or willful injury.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 523 – Exceptions to Discharge A judgment lien on real property does not automatically disappear with a discharge; the debtor usually has to file a motion during the bankruptcy case to strip or avoid it.
What the Timeline Looks Like in Practice
For a private creditor, the practical calendar is this: 12 years of enforcement from entry, interest compounding at 10 percent simple (6 percent for residential rent) the whole time, a three-year pause triggered by any payment the debtor makes, and the option to refile a Notice of Renewal before the deadline to buy another 12 years. For a debtor, the mirror image: an old judgment is not safely gone until the full enforcement period has run without any renewal filing and without any payment that could have paused the clock, and even then the lien may still need to be cleared from the land records.