This law explains terms related to enforcing court judgments from other U.S. states in California. A 'judgment creditor' is the person who can take action to enforce such a judgment. The 'judgment debtor' is the person against whom this action can be taken. A 'sister state judgment' is a ruling from any U.S. state except California that involves paying money, but it doesn't include child or spousal support orders.

If someone wins a court judgment in another state (a "sister state"), they can apply to have that judgment recognized and enforced in California. To do this, they must file an application and swear under oath to several details. These details include confirming that the judgment isn't too old according to California's time limits, that there's no current stop on enforcing the judgment in the other state, and detailing any remaining unpaid amounts including interest. They also need to confirm that they haven't already filed for this judgment in California, provide contact details for both themselves and the person or company who owes the money, and include a certified copy of the original judgment from the other state.

If you want a California court to enforce a judgment from another state, you have to apply for it in a superior court. You can file your application in the county where the person who owes the judgment lives. If they don't live in California, you can choose any county. Also, if the judgment is $35,000 or less, it will be handled as a limited civil case.

If you're filing an application in California to enforce a judgment from another state, the court clerk will enter a California judgment for the unpaid amount, any interest from the original state, and the application fee. Once entered, interest will accumulate based on California’s rates, just like any local court judgment.

This law says that a judgment recorded under this chapter is just as powerful as any other court-issued money judgment. You can enforce or pay it off the same way you would handle any standard money judgment.

If you've had a judgment entered against you in California based on a judgment from another state, you can ask the court to cancel (or 'vacate') it if there's a valid reason. For example, if the interest on the judgment was calculated incorrectly. You must file a motion within 30 days after you receive notice of this judgment. The court can then review your case and decide if the judgment should be changed or replaced with a different one. However, if the judgment amount is under $1,000, the court doesn't have to provide written findings.

Before you can take steps to enforce a court judgment, you generally need to wait at least 30 days after notifying the person who owes you money. However, there are exceptions if this person lives outside California, if they're a foreign company not registered to do business in California, or if they're a foreign partnership without a designated agent in California. The court might also let you enforce the judgment sooner if waiting would cause you serious harm. Also, even if you start collecting before the 30 days are up, you can't sell off the person's property unless it's something that could spoil quickly. In that case, you can sell it to avoid losing its value, but you can't use the money from that sale until 30 days have passed.

If someone owes money from a judgment made in another state and an appeal is in progress or possible, a California court will pause the enforcement of that judgment until the appeal process is over. The court will also put enforcement on hold if a stay was granted in the state where the judgment was made. If there's a motion to cancel the judgment in California, enforcement is paused until a decision is made. If the judgment involves penalties for exercising constitutional rights, the hold lasts until a related lawsuit finishes or until specific time limits end. The court can pause enforcement for other reasons if justice requires it. This pause can be initiated by the court itself or through formal requests, and may include requiring a financial guarantee from the debtor, managing existing enforcement actions, and other conditions deemed fair by the court.

This law says you can't enter a judgment from another state in California if: (a) there's a pause on enforcing it in that state, (b) there's already a case about it happening in California, or (c) a similar judgment has already been made in California.

This section talks about enforcing court judgments from other states. Generally, you can still try to collect on such a judgment as you normally would, unless a California court has already entered a judgment based on that out-of-state judgment. If that’s the case, you can’t bring the same enforcement action again.

This law means that if someone wins a judgment in another state, they can still act on parts of that judgment in California even if those parts don't involve money. It also says that taking action on the non-money parts doesn't stop them from getting a California judgment based on the money parts.