Bland v. Creager
Bland v. Creager
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the court.
Bland instituted a suit in chancery against Creager to foreclose a mortgage on some personal property, and sued out an attachment, which was levied, to secure the property until he could procure a decree to sell it to pay the mortgage debt.
The defendant executed a bond with security in the penalty of tvyo hundred dollars, conditioned to
This action of covenant was then brought by Bland against Creager and his sureties, on the bond executed by them for the forthcoming of the property. The law and the facts were submitted to the court by the parties, and a judgment rendered for the plaintiff for the sum of $103 50.
It was admitted on the trial that the property which had been attached and bonded was of the value of $335 32, and that a part of it, of the value of $96 50, had been surrendered to the commissioner and sold by him.
The plaintiff has prosecuted a writ of error to reverse the judgment, and contends that it is for a less amount than he was entitled to recover.
On the other side it is contended that the sureties in the bond were only liable to the extent of the penalty, and as part .of the property, of the value of $96 50, had been delivered, their liability was that far discharged, and they were only liable for the balance of the penalty of the bond being $103 50, the amount for which the judgment of the court below was rendered.
Conceding that the liability of the sureties for a breach of the bond did not exceed the penalty, that liability was created b3r a failure to deliver the property, and until such failure occurred the liability did not exist. Whenever the condition of the bond was broken, the obligors became liable to the extent of the penalty, and the obligee had a right to recover the value of the property which had not been deliver-
Wherefore the judgment is reversed, and cause remanded for a new trial, and further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.