Prodigy Centers/Atlanta No. 1 L.P. v. T-C Associates, Ltd.

147 F.3d 1324, 82 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 5580, 1998 U.S. App. LEXIS 17176, 1998 WL 425482

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
• Decided: July 29, 1998
• Docket: 95-9448
• Status: Published

Opinion

PER CURIAM:

In this ease, the government and T-C Associates (“TCA”) assert liens on a distribution to Prodigy Child Development Centers (“PCDC”) from a limited partnership. Although TCA obtained a judgment against PCDC before the government recorded its tax lien in 1993, the government argues that TCA’s judgment lien did not attach to PCDC’s partnership interest until TCA obtained a charging order in 1994, because PCDC’s partnership interest was a “chose in action.” After determining that the issue of whether the partnership interest was a chose in action was dispositive of this appeal but unsettled as a matter of Georgia law, we certified the following question to the Supreme Court of Georgia:

DOES A PARTNERSHIP INTEREST IN A LIMITED PARTNERSHIP CONSTITUTE A CHOSE IN ACTION?

Prodigy Centers/Atlanta No. 1 L.P. v. T-C Assocs., Ltd., 127 F.3d 1021, 1024 (11th Cir.1997). In answer, the Supreme Court of Georgia has decided that “a ‘partnership interest’ is a chose in action.” Prodigy Centers/Atlanta v. T-C Assoc., 269 Ga. 522, 526, 501 S.E.2d 209, 213 (1998). Since judgment liens generally do not attach to ehoses in action under Georgia law absent a collateral charging order to garnishment, see, e.g., id. at 211 n. 3, 501 S.E.2d at 523 n. 3, the government is correct that TCA’s lien did not attach until 1994, well after the government recorded its own lien. Therefore, we REVERSE the district court’s grant of summary judgment for TCA and REMAND with instructions that the district court enter summary judgment for the government.