Clearfield Mining Corp. v. Berlanti

56 Pa. D. & C. 128, 1946 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 20
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Clearfield County
DecidedMay 2, 1946
Docketno. 216
StatusPublished

This text of 56 Pa. D. & C. 128 (Clearfield Mining Corp. v. Berlanti) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Clearfield County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Clearfield Mining Corp. v. Berlanti, 56 Pa. D. & C. 128, 1946 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 20 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1946).

Opinion

Bell, P. J.,

On a writ of foreign attachment, the sheriff attached assets of defendants in [129]*129Clearfield County in the possession of three garnishees named. Rule to show cause why affidavit of cause of action should not be filed was made absolute on petition of counsel for defendants appearing de bene esse. Prior to the date fixed for the filing of such affidavit, defendants filed a bond in the amount of $8,000, conditioned that if defendants should be condemned in the action they would guarantee satisfaction thereof. There was nothing accompanying the bond showing plaintiff’s approval of the amount or form thereof, nor was it presented to the court for approval.

The bond was filed February 28th. On March 1st an affidavit of cause of action was filed. On March 2nd, rule was granted to show cause why the writ of attachment should not be dissolved, the petition averring that defendants are a duly registered partnership in Center County, Pennsylvania, with the principal office in Philipsburg, Pennsylvania; that one of the partners, Dominic Berlanti, has been a resident of Philipsburg Borough for the past seven years and continues to reside there; that two of the partners were personally served within the county; that the sheriff’s return was defective in not being served in the presence of credible witnesses; and that no property of defendants had been'attached in the possession of garnishees.

At counsel’s request, argument was continued until March 11th, at which time plaintiff’s counsel moved to strike the rule granted on the ground that it had been signed by one of defendants’ counsel in violation of the rules of court of Clearfield County. It was admitted at that time that the sheriff’s return was defective. No proof as to residence was offered by plaintiff, who argued that the personal service on the two defendants in Clearfield County was surplusage, and that since the Amendment of 1931, it was immaterial whether defendants were in the county or not at the time of the issuance of the writ.

[130]*130Defendants presented a certificate of the prothono-tary of Center County of the registration on June 28, 1945, of defendants under the Fictitious Names Act of June 28, 1917, P. L. 645, as superseded by the Act of May 24, 1945, P. L. 967, as trading and doing business as the Diamond T Stripping Company, the residence of three of the partners being designated as the State of New York and that of Dominic Berlanti as Philipsburg, Pennsylvania. Defendants contend that the posting of the bond merely substituted a bond for the property attached, and did not dispose of defendants’ right to question the propriety of the proceeding or the responsibility to show jurisdiction by reason of the non-residence of defendants.

On March 18, 1946, the sheriff presented a petition for leave to amend his return, which leave was granted. The return as amended shows that the sheriff, on February 5, 1946, on the premises of the garnishees, did attach said goods in the presence of two credible witnesses now named in the return, and that said goods were in control and possession of the garnishees. The return also avers that each of the garnishees was summoned in the presence of a credible person and advised of the contents of the writ.

On April 26, 1946, counsel for defendants endorsed their approval of the amount and form of the bond filed so that we will regard the bond having been given as provided in section 62 of the Act of June 13, 1836, P. L. 568, 12, PS §2962.

Foreign attachment is a creature of the statute. Being in derogation of the common law it must be construed strictly: Morinelli, Jr., v. Garin, 100 Pa. Superior Ct. 510; Magel v. Springs, 338 Pa. 452. In the latter case the court said that defendant’s known residence cannot be left to uncertain inferences. The primary object of a writ of foreign attachment is to compel an appearance of a nonresident and, second, to secure a fund out of which plaintiff’s claim, when reduced to judgment, [131]*131can be paid: Marano v. Granata, 151 Pa. Superior Ct. 454; Rankin v. Culver, 303 Pa. 401; Magel v. Springs, 338 Pa. 452; Ionian Bank, Ltd., v. Mamatos et al., 340 Pa. 52; East End Savings & Trust Co. v. Goldblum, 83 Pitts. L. J. 443.

When defendants entered a special appearance they were entitled to challenge the sufficiency of plaintiff’s action, for one who issues a writ of foreign attachment must aver a good cause of action: Frankel v. Donehoo et al., 306 Pa. 52; Stewart v. Stewart, 127 Pa. Superior Ct. 567.

Prior to the amendment of April 24, 1931, P. L. 44, 12 PS §2891, the writ could only issue against a nonresident, who was not in the Commonwealth nor in the county at the time of the issuance of the writ. There are numerous cases where an attachment was quashed by showing that defendant was within the county at the time of the service of the writ. Two of the defendants were in Clearfield County and were personally served by the sheriff. The Amendment of 1931 provides that a writ of foreign attachment may issue against “any person not residing within this Commonwealth, whether or not such person is in the Commonwealth at the time of the issuing thereof”. The fact that defendants were in the county and served by the sheriff would not, since the Amendment of 1931, be grounds to either quash or dissolve the writ. But whether defendants are residents or nonresidencts is vital to the issuance of a writ of foreign attachment.

Where defendant denies the fact of nonresidence and avers that he is a resident, the burden is on plaintiff to show that nonresidence is a fact. Tredway v. Eldridge, 39 Lanc. 407. The only averment of non-residence is in the third paragraph of the affidavit of cause of action which reads as follows:

“The defendants, above named, are nonresidents but • have property and choses in action located in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.”

[132]*132Such bare averment of nonresidence was held insufficient in Schueck v. Freeman, 55 Pa. Superior Ct. 38, and Morinelli, Jr., v. Garin, 100 Pa. Superior Ct. 510. Both of these cases were decided prior to the amendment of 1931, and the courts point out that the affidavit of cause of action does not aver that defendants were not within the county at the time of the issuance of the writ. Averments that defendant was residing at a particular address in another State have been held to be insufficient: Marano v. Granata, 142 Pa. Superior Ct. 266; Kohl v. Lyons, 125 Pa. Superior Ct. 347.

Defendants’ petition sets forth that one of defendants resides at Philipsburg, Center County, Pa., and that the partnership is registered under the Fictitious Name Act in Center County. Plaintiff has failed to offer any evidence to disprove this. Defendants produced a certificate of the prothonotary of Center County showing the registration of the partnership in that county, the address of three of the partners being given as the State of New York, and that of Dominic Berlanti as Philipsburg, Pa.

Plaintiff having failed to sustain the burden of proof of nonresidence, defendants would be entitled to have the attachment dissolved and the bond released if they had not waived any defect by the entry of security under section 62 of the Act of June 13, 1836, P. L. 568, 12 PS §2962. Defendants contend that the bail takes the place of the property attached, and that if the proceeding is defective the bond should be released. Defendants have offered no cases supporting this contention.

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Related

Frankel v. Donehoo (Nesbitt)
158 A. 570 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1931)
Konopka Et Ux. v. McAteer
169 A. 778 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1933)
Magel v. Springs
12 A.2d 558 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1940)
Ionian Bank, Ltd. v. Mamatos
16 A.2d 397 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1940)
Rankin v. Culver
154 A. 701 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1931)
Kohl v. Lyons (O'malley)
189 A. 498 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1936)
Marano v. Granata
16 A.2d 153 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1940)
Marano v. Granata (Hankin)
30 A.2d 243 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1942)
Locey v. Sterling Motor Truck Co.
156 A. 730 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1931)
Morinelli v. H. P. Garin Co.
100 Pa. Super. 510 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1930)
Stewart v. Stewart
193 A. 860 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1937)
Bergman v. Straus
107 A. 810 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1919)
Pottash v. Hartenfeld Bag Co.
110 A. 147 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1920)
Pasquinelli v. Southern Macaroni Mfg. Co.
116 A. 372 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1922)
Pottash v. Albany Oil Co.
118 A. 317 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1922)
Schueck v. Freeman
55 Pa. Super. 38 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1913)
Connelly v. Lerche
28 A. 430 (Supreme Court of New Jersey, 1893)

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Bluebook (online)
56 Pa. D. & C. 128, 1946 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 20, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/clearfield-mining-corp-v-berlanti-pactcomplclearf-1946.