(a)  Except as provided in subsection (c), a judgment or award on a foreign-money claim must be stated in an amount of the money of the claim.

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Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws 9-32.1-8

  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • Counterclaim: A claim that a defendant makes against a plaintiff.
  • Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
  • Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
  • Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
  • Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
  • United States: include the several states and the territories of the United States. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-8

(b)  A judgment or award on a foreign money claim is payable in that foreign money or, at the option of the debtor, in the amount of United States dollars which will purchase that foreign money on the conversion date at a bank-offered spot rate.

(c)  Assessed costs must be entered in United States dollars.

(d)  Each payment in United States dollars must be accepted and credited on a judgment or award on a foreign money claim in the amount of the foreign money that could be purchased by the dollars at a bank-offered spot rate of exchange at or near the close of business on the conversion date for that payment.

(e)  A judgment or award made in an action or distribution proceeding on both: (1) A defense, set-off, recoupment, or counterclaim and (2) The adverse party’s claim, must be netted by converting the money of the smaller into the money of the larger, and by subtracting the smaller from the larger, and specify the rates of exchange used.

(f)  A judgment substantially in the following form complies with subsection (a):

[IT IS ADJUDGED AND ORDERED, that Defendant (insert name) pay to Plaintiff (insert name) the sum of (insert amount in the foreign money) plus interest on that sum at the rate of (insert rate — in accordance with §?9-32.1-10) percent a year or, at the option of the judgment debtor, the number of United States dollars which will purchase the (insert name of foreign money) with interest due, at a bank-offered spot rate at or near the close of business on the banking day next before the day of payment, together with assessed costs of (insert amount) United States dollars.]

(g)  If a contract claim is of the type covered by subsection 9-32.1-4(a) or (b), the judgment or award must be entered for the amount of money stated to measure the obligation to be paid in the money specified for payment or, at the option of the debtor, the number of United States dollars which will purchase the computed amount of the money of payment on the conversion date at a bank-offered spot rate.

(h)  A judgment must be filed and indexed in foreign money in the same manner, and has the same effect as a lien, as other judgments. It may be discharged by payment.

History of Section.
P.L. 2009, ch. 248, § 1; P.L. 2009, ch. 266, § 1.