Vershbow v. Reiner

Opinion

BOREN, J.

The judgment creditor in this case sought a judicial order authorizing the sale of real property she had attached to satisfy the judgment. The trial court denied the request, reasoning that the writ of attachment was invalid because the clerk of the court had issued it without requiring the creditor to post a bond. We affirm.

[881]

Facts

In 1983, appellant Peggy Vershbow instituted a breach of contract action against C.H.P. Holding Company and Blake Holding Company, among others, for failure to pay her a real estate sales commission. Judgment in the amount of $67,500 was given to Vershbow on April 28, 1988. Several months later, Vershbow petitioned the court to amend the judgment to add Thomas C. Blake as a judgment debtor on the grounds that he is the alter ego of C.H.P. Holding Company. Her motion to amend the judgment was granted on April 4, 1989.

After Vershbow moved to amend the judgment, but well before the court granted her motion, she applied for a writ of attachment on real property owned by Thomas C. Blake. Her application insists that there was a risk Blake would transfer the property and prevent her from collecting on her judgment. The court’s order, filed on September 19, 1988, found that Vershbow’s claim against Blake was probably valid, and that there was a danger Blake would make the property unavailable for levy. Accordingly, the court gave Vershbow the right to attach the property. It directed that “[t]he clerk shall issue a writ of attachment upon the filing of an undertaking in the amount of $7500.00 against defendant [Blake] for $90,000.”

1

The clerk issued a writ of attachment on September 20, 1988, and it was recorded that same day. Blake was given notice of the attachment. It is undisputed that Vershbow did not supply the $7,500 undertaking required by the court in its order of September 19, 1988, prior to issuance of the writ.

On September 30, 1988, the attached property was conveyed to respondents Howard Deutchman and Maria Elizabeth Ticses, as husband and wife (the Deutchmans, for convenience). The title report on the property revealed Vershbow’s writ of attachment, which had been recorded 10 days prior to the conveyance to the Deutchmans.