Le Tastevin, Inc. v. Seattle First National Bank
Le Tastevin, Inc. v. Seattle First National Bank
Opinion of the Court
— A redemptioner may not toll the statutory redemption period without tendering the sum required to redeem.
The relevant facts are not in dispute. Seattle First National Bank (Seafirst) obtained a judgment against Le Tastevin and Emile Ninaud, one of the principal guarantors of Le Tastevin’s obligation to the bank. Prior to the events that are at issue in this action, Seafirst took various steps to partially satisfy the judgment. Ultimately, the bank obtained a writ of execution directing the sheriff to levy and execute against Le Tastevin’s personal property. The parties agree that the unsatisfied judgment owed at the time the clerk of the court issued the writ of execution was about $76,000. Although the writ is not in the record before us, the parties agree that it erroneously stated that about $190,000 remained unsatisfied on the judgment, roughly $114,000 more than was in fact owing. The error in the writ was due to a miscalculation by Seafirst. Significantly, there is no claim here that the bank miscalculated the amount in bad faith.
On June 8, 1993, the King County Sheriff, on behalf of Seafirst, levied against Le Tastevin’s personal property, consisting of a collection of wine and other restaurant supplies and fixtures. At the time of that levy, Ninaud tried in vain to halt the seizure of the property. To stop the process, he initially offered Seafirst $35,000 and then $50,000. He neither offered to pay nor tendered the $76,000 he believed
Thereafter, Ninaud and Le Tastevin commenced this action against Seafirst and the King County Sheriff. The amended complaint stated five causes of action: (1) breach of contract, (2) interference with business expectancy, (3) failure to protect value of seized property, (4) outrage and mental anguish, and (5) failure to apply seized deposits to amount due.
Seafirst moved for summary judgment on the breach of contract and interference with business expectancy claims. It also moved for summary judgment on the outrage claim. The trial court granted both motions. At the conclusion of a bench trial on the remaining issues, the court entered judgment in favor of Seafirst.
Le Tastevin appeals.
Le Tastevin contends that the trial court erred by granting Seafirst’s motion for summary judgment and dismissing Le Tastevin’s claims for breach of contract and interference with a business expectancy. Both of these claims were based on Le Tastevin’s contention that it was excused from tendering the $76,000 unpaid judgment owed to Seafirst because such tender would have been a futile act. We cannot agree with this contention.
We may affirm an order granting summary judgment if there are no genuine issues of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.
RCW 6.17 defines the process by which a judgment creditor may execute on the property of a judgment debtor in order to satisfy an outstanding debt. A party who obtains a money judgment may have an execution issued for enforcement of the judgment at any time within 10 years after entry of the judgment.
In our view, the execution statutes set forth a framework whereby a judgment creditor may promptly satisfy a money judgment by seizure and sale of property of the judgment debtor. The procedure provides safeguards by requiring that the creditor obtain a writ from the court and further providing that the debtor may stay an execution for specified periods upon posting of a bond in the required amount.
We find nothing in the statutes that remotely suggests that a mere offer to tender a sum insufficient either to satisfy the outstanding obligation or to stay the execution for a fixed period under the express provisions of the statute is sufficient to halt the process. Rather, the clear intent of the statutes is to allow the levy and execution to proceed unless the debtor pays the outstanding judgment or posts a bond in the proper amount to stay execution for a fixed period of time.
In short, there is nothing in the statutory framework that suggests that tender of the $76,000 unpaid judgment here would have been a futile act. We also note an additional reason why, in this case, tender of the $76,000 unpaid judgment to the sheriff and/or Seafirst would not have been a useless act. By tendering that sum, the parties’ rights would have been fixed. Specifically, if Seafirst and the sheriff had proceeded with the levy and execution once the judgment had been fully paid, they would have done so at their peril. A court could have found under those circumstances that proceeding with the process was wrongful and could have granted damages and other relief. In the absence of such a tender, however, the sheriff and Seafirst had no reason to cease following the statutory process for collection.
Le Tastevin argues that the trial court mistakenly relied on Millay v. Cam
There, Millay attempted to redeem certain property from Cam. But Millay claimed that Cam so grossly inflated its statement of the amount needed to redeem the property that Millay was prevented from paying because he had no way to calculate the sum. Millay paid nothing. Instead, on the last day to redeem, he brought a declaratory judgment action to determine the correct sum required. This court held that the filing of the declaratory action was not equivalent to a timely redemption and that Millay should have timely tendered the amount that he thought due in order to preserve his redemption rights. The Supreme Court agreed.
Because the statutory analysis that we have outlined above is dispositive, Le Tastevin’s reliance on the “common law” rule regarding futility is misplaced. In any event, not even the cases that it cites support its proposition.
Le Tastevin relies on Buell v. White.
Le Tastevin also relies on Simmons v. Swan.
Huber v. Home Savings & Loan Association
Because Le Tastevin’s arguments on appeal are limited to the propriety of the grant of summary judgment, the sole issue properly before us is the order granting summary judgment. Therefore, we decline to consider Le Tastevin’s assignments of error regarding the findings of fact and conclusions of law entered after the bench trial.
We affirm the summary judgment order of dismissal.
Millay v. Cam, 135 Wn.2d 193, 199, 955 P.2d 791 (1998).
CR 56(c); Hutchins v. 1001 Fourth Ave. Assocs., 116 Wn.2d 217, 220, 802 P.2d 1360 (1991).
Mountain Park Homeowners Ass’n v. Tydings, 125 Wn.2d 337, 341, 883 P.2d 1383 (1994).
Mains Farm Homeowners Ass’n v. Worthington, 121 Wn.2d 810, 813, 854 P.2d 1072 (1993).
RCW 6.17.020.
RCW 6.17.160.
RCW 6.17.120.
RCW 6.17.040.
RCW 6.17.040.
84 Wn. App. 369, 928 P.2d 463 (1996), rev’d on other grounds, 135 Wn.2d 193, 955 P.2d 791 (1998).
RCW 6.23.
Millay, 135 Wn.2d at 199-204.
Millay, 135 Wn.2d at 199.
908 P.2d 1175 (Colo. 1995).
RCW 6.17.040.
275 U.S. 113, 48 S. Ct. 52, 72 L. Ed. 190 (1927).
99 Wash. 593, 169 P. 979 (1918).
Huber, 99 Wash, at 596.
Cowiche Canyon Conservancy v. Bosley, 118 Wn.2d 801, 809, 828 P.2d 549 (1992).
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.