A Bankruptcy Stay Paused the Clock on a Judgment Renewal

November 2026

A judgment that is not renewed on time can expire — but time spent unable to sue does not always count against the creditor. On October 23, the North Carolina Supreme Court ruled in East Bay Company, Ltd. v. Brandon Scott Baxley that a bankruptcy automatic stay tolled the state's 10-year deadline for bringing an action to renew a judgment.

East Bay held a Wake County judgment of $507,294.09, plus interest and attorneys' fees, entered in July 2010. The debtor filed Chapter 7 in July 2018, and the resulting stay — which barred East Bay from suing — lasted 711 days before the bankruptcy court denied the debtor's discharge. East Bay filed its renewal action in June 2022, after the original 10-year date had passed, and the trial court and Court of Appeals both held it untimely. The Supreme Court reversed: under North Carolina's tolling statute, the 711 days the stay barred suit are excluded from the 10-year period, and the federal rule allowing 30 days after a stay ends does not cap the longer period state law provides. The renewal action was timely, nearly 12 years after the judgment was entered.

For anyone holding or buying a judgment, the discipline is calendaring: when a debtor has been in bankruptcy, work out which days the stay actually barred action before treating a renewal deadline as missed — or as safely met.

Wolverine Ventures purchases commercial judgments (minimum $250,000) and bankruptcy claims (minimum face $100,000) nationwide.

Sources: Credit & Collection News — https://www.creditandcollectionnews.com/north-carolina-supreme-court-rules-bankruptcy-stay-paused-judgment-renewal-deadline/