Hatch v. Seeley
Hatch v. Seeley
Opinion of the Court
No personal judgment was rendered against appellant. The court, however, ruled that the proceedings in bankruptcy did not affect the lien of the writ of attachment, which had been levied on defendant’s property prior to the filing of his petition in bankruptcy.
The fourteenth section of the National Bankrupt Act provides : “ That asj soon as said assignee is appointed and quali
When an adjudication of bankruptcy is made, following the filing of a petition, it is then judicially established that the filing of such petition was the commencement of the bankruptcy proceedings. In re Patterson, Bankrupt Reg. Sup. to vol. 1, p. 27. The filing of the petition, followed by an adjudication of bankruptcy, being the commencement of the proceedings, the provision of the bankrupt act, above set out, is to the effect that the conveyance to the assignee in bankruptcy, which is made during the proceedings, operates, not only to vest in such assignee all the estate, real and personal, of the bankrupt, but also to dissolve any attachment upon such property made within four months next preceding the filing of the petition.
In re C. H. Preston, 6 Nat. Bk. Reg. 545, an attachment from a State court levied Feb. 20, 1871, was held dissolved from the filing of the petition on the 18th day of March, 1871, an order of adjudication being subsequently granted.
In Corner v. Mallory, 31 Med. 478, it is held that congress has the power, by the operation of the general bankrupt law, to divest the conditional lien acquired by the levy of an attachment, that the fourteenth section, above quoted, was intended to fix a period within which no preference should be gained by one creditor, by attachment, over the claims of the other creditors of the bankrupt, and that an attachment made after the passage of the act and within four months next preceding
As holding the same doctrine, see also In re Housberger et al., 2 Bk. Reg. 33; In re Williams, 3 id. 29; In re Joslyn et al., id. 118; Stuart v. Hines & Eames, 33 Iowa, 60, and cases there cited; In re Brand, 3 Bk. Reg. 85, 86.
But an attachment made prior to the period of four months next preceding the commencement of proceedings in bankruptcy is not dissolved by such proceedings. The attachment in such case remains in full force. The lien of the attachment may be enforced by any appropriate proceedings which do not involve a judgment in personam against the bankrupt. A judgment to be enforced only against the property thus attached may be entered, even though a discharge has been granted and is pleaded in bar of the action, as in this case. Bates v. Tappan, 3 Bk. Reg. 159; S. C., 99 Mass. 376; Bowman v. Harding, 56 Me. 559 ; Samson v. Burton et al., 4 Bk. Reg. 1; Leighton v. Kelsey et al., 57 Me.
The attachment of the land in controversy in this case; according to the statements of both parties, was made within four months next preceding the commencement of the proceedings in bankruptcy, although the writ issued prior to that time. The proceedings in bankruptcy operated therefore to dissolve the attachment so far as the same was a lien on the real property attached. The attachment of the garnishees, however, was made prior to the period of four months next preceding the commencement of the proceedings in bankruptcy, and the lien thus created was not removed nor the attachment thus made dissolved by those proceedings.
It is insisted, however, that the plaintiff appearing before the court in bankuptcy, and proving up his claim as a general creditor of the bankrupt, thereby waived his lien and right to proceed in this action.
In re Bloss, 4 Bankrupt Reg. 37, which was a case in the United States circuit in Michigan, it was held that a creditor who has a lien upon the property of his debtor by virtue of a
In the case before us the stipulation of the parties is that the plaintiff’s claim “ was proven up in bankruptcy court as a general claim.” There is no evidence that he released his lien to the assignee, or that he failed to disclose the fact that he held any security for the claim. Under this state of the evidence we are of opinion that plaintiff’s lien was not waived.
The judgment of the court below adjudging to the plain tiff the proceeds of the land attached will be reversed.
As to the judgment against the garnishees it is
Affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.