All terms

Post-judgment interest

Post-judgment interest — Post-judgment interest is the interest that accrues on a money judgment from the date of entry until the judgment is satisfied, at a rate set by the law of the forum that entered it.

In federal court, 28 U.S.C. § 1961(a) fixes the rate at "the weekly average 1-year constant maturity Treasury yield, as published by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, for the calendar week preceding" the date of entry; § 1961(b) requires that interest "be computed daily to the date of payment" and "be compounded annually." State judgment rates are statutory and often far higher and simple rather than compounded, so the same judgment accrues very differently depending on forum. Because post-judgment rate and compounding drive the balance a consumer eventually pays, they are a standard field in bank remittance reporting and a standard target of balance-accuracy testing.

See also

• Default judgmentA default judgment is the judgment entered against a defendant who has failed to plead or otherwise defend, after the clerk has first entered that party's default.
• GarnishmentGarnishment is the post-judgment process by which a creditor reaches a judgment debtor's wages held by an employer or funds held by a bank, subject to federal caps and exemptions.
• Itemization dateThe itemization date is the single reference date a debt collector selects — last statement, charge-off, last payment, transaction, or judgment — from which the validation notice must itemize interest, fees, payments, and credits.

This is an informational reference, not legal advice, and using it creates no attorney-client relationship. Limitations periods turn on facts this page cannot know — which state's law governs, the contract type, when the claim accrued, and whether anything tolled or revived it. Confirm against the primary source and your own counsel before acting.