ATTACHMENT

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ATTACHMENT

ATTACHMENT

ATTACHMENT, remedies. A writ issued by a court of competent jurisdiction, commanding the sheriff or other proper officer to seize any property;credit, or right, belonging to the defendant, in whatever hands the same maybe found, to satisfy the demand which the plaintiff has against him. 2. This writ always issues before judgment, and is intended to compelan appearance in this respect it differs from an execution. In some of thestates this process can be issued only against absconding debtors, or thosewho conceal themselves; in others it is issued in the first instance, sothat the property attached may respond to the exigency of the writ, andsatisfy the judgment. 3. There are two kinds of attachment in Pennsylvania, the foreignattachment, and the domestic attachment. l. The foreign attachment is a modeof proceeding by a creditor against the property of his debtor, when thedebtor is out of the jurisdiction of the state, and is not an inhabitant ofthe same. The object of this process is in the first instance to compel anappearance by the debtor, although his property may even eventually be madeliable to the amount of the plaintiff Is claim. It will be proper toconsider, 1. by whom it be issued; 2. against what property 3. mode ofproceeding. 1. The plaintiff must be a creditor of the defendant; the claimof the plaintiff need not, however, be technically a debt, but it may besuch on which an action of assumpsit would lie but an attachment will notlie for a demand which arises ex delicto; or when special bail would not beregularly required. Serg. on Att. 51. 2. The writ of attachment may beissued against the real and personal estate of any person not residingwithin the commonwealth, and not being within the county in which such writmay issue, at the time. of the issuing thereof. And proceedings may be hadagainst persons convicted of crime, and sentenced to imprisonment. 3. Thewrit of attachment is in general terms, not specifying in the body of it thename of the garnishee, or the property to be attached, but commanding theofficer to attach the defendant, by all and singular his goods and chattels,in whose hands or possession soever the same may be found in his bailiwick,so that he be and appear before the court at a certain time to answer, &c.The foreign attachment is issued solely for the benefit of the plaintiff. 4.-2. The domestic attachment is issued by the court of common pleasof the county in which any debtor, being an inhabitant of the commonwealth,may reside; if such debtor shall have absconded from the place of his usualabode within the same, or shall have remained absent from the commonwealth,or shall have confined himself to his own house, or concealed himselfelsewhere, with a design, in either case, to defraud his creditors. It isissued on an oath or affirmation, previously made by a creditor of suchperson, or by some one on his behalf, of the truth of his debt, and of thefacts upon which the attachment may be founded. Any other creditor of suchperson, upon affidavit of his debt as aforesaid, may suggest his name uponthe record, and thereupon such creditor may proceed to prosecute his saidwrit, if the person suing the same shall refuse or neglect to proceedthereon, or if he fail to establish his right to prosecute the same, as acreditor of the defendant. The property attached is vested in trustees to beappointed by the court, who are, after giving six months public notice oftheir appointment, to distribute the assets attached among the creditorsunder certain regulations prescribed by the act of assembly. Perishablegoods way be sold under an order of the court, both under a foreign anddomestic attachment. Vide Serg. on Attachments Whart. Dig. title Attachment. 5. By the code of practice of Louisiana, an attachment in the hands ofthird person is declared to be a mandate which a creditor obtains from acompetent officer, commanding the seizure of any property, credit or right,belonging to his debtor, in whatever hands they may be found, to satisfy thedemand which he intends to bring against him. A creditor may obtain suchattachment of the property of his debtor, in the following cases. 1. Whensuch debtor is about permanently leaving the state, without there being apossibility, in the ordinary course of judicial proceedings, of obtaining orexecuting judgment against him previous to, his departure; or when suchdebtor has already left the state never again to return. 2. When such debtorresides out of the state. 3. When he conceals himself to avoid being citedor forced to answer to the suit intended to be brought against him. Articles239, 240. 6. By the local laws of some of the New England states, andparticularly of the states of Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine,personal property and real estate may be attached upon mesne process torespond the exigency of the writ, and satisfy the judgment. In such cases itis the common practice for the officer to bail the goods attached, to someperson, who is usually a friend of the debtor, upon an express or impliedagreement on his part, to have them forthcoming on demand, or in time torespond the judgment, when the execution thereon shall be issued. Story onBailm. Sec. 124. As to the rights and duties of the officer or bailor insuch cases, and as to the rights and duties of the bailee, who is commonlycalled the receiptor, see 2 Mass. 514; 9 Mass. 112 11 Mass. 211; 6 Johns. R.195 9 Mass. 104, 265; 10 Mass. 125 15 Mass. 310; 1 Pick. R. 232, 389. SeeMetc. & Perk. Dig. tit. Absent and Absconding Debtors.

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