CHARLESTON – The Administrative Office of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia has set the interest rate for judgments and decrees entered during the 2013 calendar year to 7 percent.
During the 2006 legislative session, a law was passed that required the Administrative Office of the state Supreme Court to annually determine the interest rate to be paid upon judgments or decrees for the payment of money, including pre-judgment interest.
The law went into effect on Jan. 1, 2007. It requires the pre-judgment interest rate to be three percentage points above the Fifth Federal Reserve District secondary discount rate in effect on the second day of January of the year in which the judgment or decree is entered.
The law also states the rate cannot exceed 11 percent per year or be less than 7 percent per year.
The main bank for the Fifth Federal Reserve District is the Fifth Federal Reserve Bank in Richmond, Va. Its secondary discount rate on Jan. 2 was 1.25 percent.
When combined with the statutorily mandated increase of three percentage points, it would create an interest rate for 2013 that would be less than the statutorily mandated minimum of 7 percent, with the result that the rate of interest for West Virginia decrees and judgments for the payment of money entered on or after Jan. 1, is the minimum.
The law also requires the administrative office to notify the courts and members of the West Virginia State Bar promptly of the rate of interest in effect for each calendar year.
The Supreme Court has notified the Bar and posted the rate information on the West Virginia Judiciary website. To read the administrative order for the rate information, go to www.courtswv.gov/legal-community/pdfs/interest2013.pdf.
SC's administrative office sets 2013 interest rate for judgments, decrees
