Title 12, Title 12: Court Procedure

§ 3126. Performance of contract or condition by creditor When such property is held for a purpose other than to secure the payment of money, and the contract, condition, or other thing to be performed is such as can be performed by the attaching creditor without damage to the oth…

§ 3127. Reimbursement of creditor from proceeds of sale Personal property received by the officer under sections 3124-3126 of this title shall be sold as if it had been taken on execution in the common form, except that out of the proceeds of the sale the officer shall repay to t…

§ 3128. Disposal of property by trustee before payment or tender The provisions of this chapter shall not prevent the trustee from selling personal property in his or her hands for the payment of the demand for which it is mortgaged, pledged, or otherwise liable, before the amoun…

§ 3129. Trustee’s liability on refusal to deliver property When a trustee does not deliver personal property in his or her hands, when lawfully required by the officer serving the execution, he or she shall be liable to the plaintiff in the action for the value thereof, after ded…

§ 3130. Trustee not liable for destruction of property without his or her fault When a person is adjudged a trustee on account of personal property in his or her hands, and the same is destroyed without his or her negligence or default after the judgment and before demand therefo…

§ 3131. Defense of trustee sued for not delivering property If a trustee is sued for not delivering to the officer personal property in his or her hands, any matter of discharge occurring after he or she was adjudged trustee shall constitute a defense, if that matter would be a g…

§ 3132. Claims of third persons—Appearance; notice When it appears that goods, effects, or credits in the hands of an alleged trustee are claimed by another person, the court may permit such claimant to appear and maintain his or her right. If he or she does not appear, notice fo…

§ 3133. Third person as party; recognizance; trial of title When the claimant appears, he or she may be admitted as party to the action for the purpose of maintaining his or her title to the goods, effects, or credits in question, and the title shall be tried and determined in th…

§ 3134. Costs When such claimant is so admitted, the court, in its discretion, may award costs between such claimant and the attaching creditor and the alleged trustee, or either such creditor or trustee, as justice may require.

§ 3135. Death of trustee—Attachment not discharged; liability of representative When a person summoned as trustee in his or her own right dies before the judgment recovered by the plaintiff is satisfied, the goods, effects, and credits in his or her hands at the time of the attac…

§ 3136. Representative may appear or be cited When the person so summoned dies before judgment in the original action, his or her executor or administrator may appear voluntarily or may be cited to appear, and the proceedings shall then be conducted as if the executor or administ…

§ 3137. Default for nonappearance after notice When, after notice, such executor or administrator does not appear, the plaintiff may take judgment against him or her by default, as if he or she had been summoned as trustee by an original process.

§ 3138. Representative to pay on execution if trustee dies after judgment When the person originally summoned as trustee dies after judgment in the original action, his or her executor or administrator shall pay on the execution such sum as he or she would have been required to p…

§ 3139. Plaintiff’s remedy when representative does not pay When an executor or administrator does not deliver or pay on execution what he or she is required by the provisions of this chapter to deliver or pay, the plaintiff in the trustee process shall have the same remedy again…

§ 3140. Pending action against trustee—Action to proceed; continuance for judgment When the defendant is summoned as trustee of the plaintiff, during the pendency of an action, the first action may proceed so far as to ascertain by a verdict, award, or otherwise, what sum is due …

§ 3141. Application for continuance; effect of denial On application of the plaintiff in the trustee process the court may continue the first action on reasonable terms. If such action is not continued and judgment is rendered against the defendant, he or she shall not afterwards…

§ 3142. Payment made on judgment in trustee action allowed When, before final judgment in the first action, the defendant therein is adjudged a trustee in the other and pays thereon the money demanded in the first action, or a part thereof, the fact shall be stated on the record …

§ 3143. Fraudulent conveyance and assignment—Trustee with title void as to creditors; examination When a person summoned as a trustee has in his or her possession goods, effects, or credits of the defendant, which he or she holds by a conveyance or title void as to the creditors …

§ 3144. Execution against trustee; arrest An execution shall issue against the goods, chattels, or estate of the trustee, unless the court, upon motion and hearing, finds that the trustee did not act in good faith in taking the conveyance or title. If the court so finds, a certif…

§ 3145. Validity of sale or assignment may be inquired into When it appears that a trustee had been notified of the sale or assignment of a demand for which he or she would otherwise be adjudged trustee, either of the parties to the trustee process may raise the question of the v…

§ 3146. Mortgagor of personal property summoned as trustee of mortgagee—Mortgagee defined The word “mortgagee” as used in sections 3147-3152 of this title shall be construed to mean the mortgagee, assignee of the mortgagee, or other person holding his or her interest.

§ 3147. Attachment of mortgagee’s interest When a mortgagor of personal property is summoned as trustee of the mortgagee, the plaintiff may direct the officer serving the writ to attach the mortgagee’s interest in such property. The officer when so directed shall attach such inte…

§ 3148. Held to satisfy execution against trustee The property so attached shall be holden to satisfy any execution issuing upon or in action on a judgment rendered against the trustee in the original action, in the same manner and to the same extent that property attached as the…

§ 3149. Mortgagee not to sell attached property The mortgagee whose interest is so attached shall not sell or dispose of such property while the attachment is in force or while the liability of the trustee is undetermined or continues.

§ 3150. Purchaser’s title in property sold on execution Property so attached may be sold upon an execution issuing by reason of a judgment rendered against the trustee, either in the original action or in an action on a judgment rendered in the original action, and the title and …

§ 3151. Trustee may file bond and sell property When such action is pending in the Supreme or Superior Court, the trustee may sell the property, and the purchaser shall hold the same released from the mortgage and attachment, if such trustee files with the clerk of the court: (1)…

§ 3152. Mortgagee may file bond and release property When such action is pending in such a court, the trustees shall be discharged and the attachment dissolved if the mortgagee, in the manner provided in section 3151 of this title, files a bond in a sum equal to the amount for wh…

§ 3153. Action by assignee of negotiable paper after judgment against maker—Pleading judgment in bar; citation of plaintiff in trustee action When a person is held as trustee upon a negotiable paper in an action in which a claimant does not appear or is not cited in, and an actio…

§ 3154. Court to decide to whom judgment belongs The court shall try the action upon such negotiable paper between the assignee and plaintiff in the trustee process, as though the assignee had been cited to appear as claimant in such process. The judgment in such action against t…

§ 3155. Proceedings if judgment belongs to assignee When the court decides in favor of the assignee, it shall adjudge such judgment against the trustee to be the property of the assignee, and it may be enforced by him or her at his or her expense in the name of the plaintiff in t…

§ 3156. Mode of trial; costs Either party may have the facts tried by jury or commissioner, as in other causes. Costs shall be allowed between the parties as the court deems just.

§ 3166. Compensation assignments, employer acceptance required (a) If the compensation of a person due him or her for work and labor performed is attached under this chapter, the employer of the person shall, upon the request of the employee, accept a compensation assignment in a…

§ 3167. Enforcement of money judgments; trustee process against earnings Trustee process against earnings may not be used in connection with the enforcement of a money judgment in any civil action until the judgment becomes final, and then only in accordance with sections 3168-31…

§ 3168. Motion for issuance of trustee process; scheduling and notice of hearing (a) Whenever a judgment debtor has neglected or refused to pay or make reasonable arrangements to pay a money judgment in any civil action, the judgment creditor may move the court which rendered the…

§ 3169. Hearing on motion; findings; order (a) At the hearing on the motion the court shall determine on the basis of the motion and any affidavit of the judgment creditor, the record in the civil action and any testimony offered by either party, and by the trustee whether the ju…

§ 3170. Exemptions; issuance of order (a) No order approving the issuance of trustee process against earnings shall be entered against a judgment debtor who was, within the two-month period preceding the hearing provided in section 3169 of this title, a recipient of assistance fr…

§ 3171. Service of order; liability of trustee (a) The order shall be served on the trustee at the request of the judgment creditor, and shall state the address of the judgment creditor to which amounts withheld are to be delivered, and the following warnings: (1) no employee may…

§ 3172. Employee protected No employee may be discharged from employment on account of trustee process issued to an employer against earnings. Discharge of an employee from employment within 60 days of service of a trustee process summons upon an employer shall be rebuttably pres…

§ 3251. Attachment or levy of execution by filing When personal property is taken upon a writ of attachment or execution, the officer serving such process may lodge a copy of the same, with his or her return, in the office or offices proper for the filing of a financing statement…

§ 3252. Recording by clerk When a copy of a writ of attachment upon which personal property is attached is lodged in the office of a town clerk, he or she shall enter in a book to be kept by him or her, in alphabetical order, the names of the parties, the date of the writ, the ti…

§ 3255. Taking possession with or without filing (a) An officer, having attached personal property by lodging a copy in the appropriate office as provided in section 3251 of this title shall thereafter remove the property so attached or take it into his or her possession whenever…

§ 3256. Custody of attached property; penalties When an officer has attached personal property and taken it into his or her custody and chained, locked, or otherwise secured the same, a person, except another officer duly authorized, shall not interfere with the first named offic…

§ 3257. Buildings erected by mortgagor or lessee An officer levying attachment of buildings or structures erected by a mortgagor or lessee, in addition to the copy lodged in the town clerk’s office, shall serve upon the mortgagee or lessor a like true and attested copy of the pro…

§ 3291. Service of copies of attachment When real estate is attached, in addition to serving the party whose estate is attached, the officer shall leave a true and attested copy of the attachment, with a description of the estate so attached, in the office where by law a deed of …

§ 3292. Recording by town or Superior clerk When a copy of a writ of attachment, on which real estate is attached, is lodged in the office of a town or Superior clerk, such clerk shall enter in a book to be kept for that purpose the names of the parties, the date of the writ, the…

§ 3293. Discharge of attachment lien (a) When an attachment or sequestration of real estate is made in an action at law, such real estate shall be discharged from such attachment lien and the party in whose favor the attachment or sequestration is made, his or her legal represent…