Louisiana Partial Payment on Judgment: How to Track Payments and Interest

Why Tracking Matters More Than You Think

When a debtor pays a Louisiana judgment in one lump sum, the math is straightforward. But most small claims collections do not work that way. Wage garnishment sends you a fraction of each paycheck. The debtor makes sporadic voluntary payments. Months pass between installments while interest accrues.

If you do not track every payment against the running balance — principal, post-judgment interest, and court costs — you will not know when the judgment is actually satisfied. Undershoot and you leave money on the table. Overshoot and you collect more than you are owed, which creates its own legal problems.

How Payments Are Applied

Under Louisiana law, partial payments on a judgment are generally applied first to accrued interest, then to court costs, and finally to the principal balance. This means the debtor's first several payments may not reduce the principal at all if interest has been accumulating.

Post-judgment interest in Louisiana accrues at the statutory judicial interest rate set annually by the Commissioner of Financial Institutions under La. R.S. 13:4202(B), using a formula 3.25 percentage points above the Federal Reserve Board discount rate. The 2026 rate is 7.50%. Interest runs from the date the judgment is signed until the date of full satisfaction.

Setting Up a Payment Ledger

Every time you receive a payment — whether from a garnishment check, a direct debtor payment, or a seizure sale — record the following:

• Date received
• Amount received
• Source (garnishment, voluntary, sale proceeds)
• Interest accrued since last payment (calculated using the statutory rate and number of days)
• Amount applied to interest
• Amount applied to court costs (if any outstanding)
• Amount applied to principal
• Remaining balance (principal + any future interest)

A simple spreadsheet works. The calculation for each payment period is:

Interest accrued = (outstanding principal × annual judicial interest rate) × (days in that calendar year ÷ 365 or 366)

If a payment period crosses calendar years, split the calculation at each year boundary and apply that year's rate and day count.

Apply the payment to accrued interest first. Whatever is left reduces the principal. Then calculate the new principal going forward.

Keep the Revival Deadline on Your Calendar

Document every payment with a receipt or ledger entry, but do not treat payment activity as a substitute for reviving the judgment. Under La. C.C.P. art. 2031, revive the judgment by filing an ex parte motion in the court that rendered it before the 10-year prescriptive period expires.

What Happens When the Judgment Is Fully Paid

Once the total of all payments equals the original judgment amount plus all accrued post-judgment interest and court costs, the judgment is satisfied. At that point, you are legally obligated to:

1. File a satisfaction of judgment with the court that rendered it
2. File a request for cancellation with the parish clerk of court if you recorded a judicial mortgage

Failure to release the judgment after full payment exposes you to liability. The debtor can petition the court to compel cancellation, and the court can award damages and attorney fees against a creditor who refuses to release a satisfied judgment under La. C.C. art. 3366.

Avoiding Disputes

The most common disputes arise when the creditor and debtor disagree on the balance. The creditor says interest is still accruing. The debtor says they have paid enough. A detailed payment ledger with dates, amounts, and interest calculations resolves this quickly.

If you are collecting through garnishment, the officer's office typically keeps its own accounting. Request periodic statements to reconcile against your records.

Our Louisiana judgment collection guide includes a pre-formatted interest ledger worksheet that handles the arithmetic and keeps your records in order from the first payment to the last.

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