Due to economic fallout from the Coronavirus Pandemic, the Federal Reserve cut the target federal funds rate by 150 basis points in the first half of March, 2020. As a result, the prime rate has decreased to 3.25 percent per annum, as reflected in the Federal Reserve’s Statistical Release H.15.[1]
The Arizona statute that deals with post-judgment interest rates is A.R.S. § 44-1201. Subsection B of this statute provides:
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“B. Unless specifically provided for in statute or a different rate is contracted for in writing, interest on any judgment shall be at the lesser of ten per cent per annum or at a rate per annum that is equal to one per cent plus the prime rate as published by the board of governors of the federal reserve system in statistical release H.15 or any publication that may supersede it on the date that the judgment is entered. The judgment shall state the applicable interest rate and it shall not change after it is entered.”
Due to the decrease in the prime rate, the post-judgment interest rate in Arizona is now 4.25 percent per annum, unless a written contract or statute provides otherwise. In certain circumstances, subsection B may also be used to determine a prejudgment interest rate. See A.R.S. § 44-1201(F) (“If awarded, prejudgment interest shall be at the rate described in subsection A or B of this section.”).