Effective July 1, 2023, the statutory rate of post-judgment interest in Tennessee is 10.25%, the highest that it’s been in my 20 plus years of practice.
Long-time readers know that, in 2012, the Tennessee Legislature amended the Tennessee post-judgment interest statute, Tenn. Code Ann. § 47-14-121.
At the time, Tennessee creditor rights attorneys complained both about the decrease in the interest rate (at the time, it dropped from 10% to 5.25%) and also the confusion related to tracking a variable rate (it changes every 6 months). Back then, none of us envisioned a world where the rate would exceed Tennessee’s old rate.
Well, welcome to the future.
What’s next? A review of the historical list of Tenn. Code Ann. § 47-14-121 interest rates shows that rates have been steadily climbing since 2016, with the greatest spike in the past year.
When the Legislature made these changes during the Great Recession, it was designed to provide relief to judgment debtors. That the rate has reached an all-time high is good for creditors, of course, but also indicative that interest rates are pushing the economy toward a tipping point.
Creditors Rights 101 