Limitations Period for Execution of Judgment Not Tolled

In Home Port Rentals, Inc. v. Roger Moore, the South Carolina Supreme Court held that South Carolina's ten-year limitations period for execution is not tolled for time during which a judgment debtor is out of state.

In an action for declaratory judgment that occurred eleven years after the initial judgment was entered, the circuit court granted, and the Court of Appeals affirmed, summary judgment in favor of the judgment debtor because the judgment was more than ten years old. The Supreme Court granted a writ of certiorari, and affirmed the Court of Appeals' opinion, stating that the Court has consistently held that a judgment becomes stale and a judgment lien is extinguished after ten years. The Court noted that the right to execute on a judgment does not constitute a cause of action. In other words, execution is not initiated by bringing an action, such as the Petitioner's declaratory judgment action.

(Contributed by Catherine Runion)