Lien of judgment, decree, or forfeited recognizance

§ 15–102. Lien of judgment, decree, or forfeited recognizance (a) Every: (1) final judgment or unconditional final decree for the payment of money, from the date when it is rendered; (2) judgment or decree rendered in the civil division of the District of Columbia Court of General Sessions, when docketed in the clerk’s office of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia; and (3) recognizance taken by the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, or judge thereof, from the time when it is declared forfeited— is a lien on all the freehold and leasehold estates, legal and equitable, of the defendants bound by the judgment, decree, or recognizance, in any land, tenements, or hereditaments in the District of Columbia, whether the estates are in possession or are reversions or remainders, vested or contingent. (b) A recognizance taken in the criminal division of the Court of General Sessions, after being forfeited, may be transmitted to the clerk’s office of the District Court and docketed therein in the same manner as judgments rendered in the civil division of that court, with the same effect as if taken in the District Court, (c) Liens created as provided by this section continue as long as the judgment, decree, or recognizance is in force or until it is satisfied or discharged.