Roofing Wholesale Co., Inc. v. Palmer

502 P.2d 1327, 108 Ariz. 508, 65 A.L.R. 3d 496, 1972 Ariz. LEXIS 381
CourtArizona Supreme Court
DecidedNovember 15, 1972
Docket10937
StatusPublished
Cited by28 cases

This text of 502 P.2d 1327 (Roofing Wholesale Co., Inc. v. Palmer) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Arizona Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Roofing Wholesale Co., Inc. v. Palmer, 502 P.2d 1327, 108 Ariz. 508, 65 A.L.R. 3d 496, 1972 Ariz. LEXIS 381 (Ark. 1972).

Opinions

CAMERON, Vice Chief Justice.

This is a petition for special action in the nature of mandamus in which we are asked to order the respondent, Wilson D. Palmer, Clerk of the Superior Court of Maricopa County, Arizona, to issue a writ of attachment and writ of garnishment pursuant to §§ 12-1521, 1522, and 1571 A.R.S. Because of recent developments in this field of law and because it was a matter of general interest and importance throughout the State, we accepted jurisdiction.

The plaintiff-petitioner, Roofing Wholesale Co., Inc., fil.ed an action against James E. Diehl, Jane Doe Diehl, dba Diehl’s Construction Company, Consolidated Services, Inc., and State Automobile & Casualty Underwriters, as the result of an expressed open account contract for the direct payment of money. At the time of filing the complaint, the plaintiff-petitioner asked the Clerk of the Court to issue a writ of. general attachment and writ of garnishment .which the Clerk of the Court refused to issue. The petition for special action to this court resulted.

Our statutes read:

“§ 12-1521. Attachment of property of defendant
“A plaintiff, at the time of filing the complaint or at any time thereafter, may in the following cases have the property of defendant attached as security for satisfaction of any judgment which may be recovered, unless defendant gives security to pay such judgment:
“1. In an action upon a contract, express or implied, for direct payment of money, where the contract is made or is payable in this state and is not fully secured by mortgage! or lien upon ’ real or personal property or pledge of personal property, or, if originally so secured, such security has, without any act of plaintiff or the person to whom the security was given, become valueless.”

And:

“§ 12-1522. Affidavit for issuance of writ of attachment
“A. The clerk of the court or justice of the pea.ce shall issue the writ of attachment upon receiving an affidavit by or on behalf of plaintiff * *

The United States Supreme Court in the case of Sniadach v. Family Finance Corporation of Bay View, 395 U.S. 337, 89 S.Ct. 1820, 23 L.Ed.2d 349 (1969) .held that prejudgment garnishment procedures whereby a defendant’s wages are frozen in the interim between the garnishment of the wages and the determination of the lawsuit without the defendant having a chance to be heard prior to the garnishment, violate the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution. As a result of said decision, this court was called upon to rule upon the constitutionality of our garnishment statutes in two cases:

“ * * * Therefore, we hold that the procedure for garnishment of wages in this state does not measure up to the standards set forth in Sniadach, and that prior to the issuance of a prejudgment writ of garnishment of wages there must be some provision for notice to the defendant and a hearing on the validity of the plaintiff’s claim.
* * * * *
“We emphasize, however, that our holding is limited to the prejudgment garnishment of wages (as was the opinion of Sniadach). In this regard; Termplan [510]*510maintains that the Court below went beyond the scope of the Sniadach opinion when it ruled that the procedure therein must be followed in attachments and garnishment of property other than wages. We agree, and hold that that portion of the order in question must be vacated.” Termplan Inc. v. Superior Court of Maricopa Co., 105 Ariz. 270, 272, 463 P.2d 68, 70 (1969).
“Appellee urges that we declare prejudgment garnishment in this case unconstitutional as a deprivation of due process pursuant to Snidach [sic] v. Family Finance Corp. of Bay View, 395 U.S. 337, 89 S.Ct. 1820, 23 L.Ed.2d 349 (1969). We decline to so hold. This court has previously held that the Snidach [sic] holding was limited to wages. * * *
******
“There exist proper grounds for distinguishing between depriving a wage earner of his present cash flow by prejudgment garnishment and impounding reserve assets of a business enterprise. The latter’s entity rights are adequately protected by the right to replevy under § 12 — 1578, subsec. B, A.R.S.; the counterclaim procedures for wrongful garnishment under De Wulf v. Bissell, 83 Ariz. 68, 316 P.2d 492 (1957); and, the ultimate hearing on the merits.” First National Bank & Trust Co. v. Pomona Mach. Co., 107 Ariz. 286, 290, 486 P.2d 184, 188 (1971).

We are not alone in limiting the reach of Sniadach, supra, to wages. See American Olean Tile Company v. Zimmerman, 317 F.Supp. 150 (U.S.D.C.Hawaii 1970); Black Watch Farms, Inc. v. Jack R. Dick v. Meckler, 323 F.Supp. 100 (U.S.D.C. Conn. 1971). Other courts have come to an opposite rule. See Larson v. Fetherston, 44 Wis.2d 712, 172 N.W.2d 20 (1969); Jones Press, Inc. v. Motor Travel Service, Inc., 286 Minn. 205, 176 N.W.2d 87 (1970); Randone v. Appellate Department of Superior Court, 5 Cal.3d 536, 96 Cal.Rptr. 709, 488 P.2d 13 (1971).

On 12 June 1972, the United States Supreme Court handed down its decision in the matter of Fuentes v. Shevin and Parham v. Cortese, 407 U.S. 67, 92 S.Ct. 1983, 32 L.Ed.2d 556 (1972), in which, by a four to three decision, the Supreme Court held that the replevin laws in both cases violated the due process clause of the 14th Amendment. Four members of the court held that the due process clause of the United States Constitution gave the defendant the right to notice and an opportunity to be heard at a meaningful time and in a meaningful manner prior to the actual seizure of the property involved. It was upon the basis of this opinion that the Federal District Court in Arizona in the case of Western Coach Corp. v. Shreve, 344 F. Supp. 1136 (D.Ariz.1972), stated, in a ruling limited to that case only, that the Arizona garnishment and attachment statute was unconstitutional even when wages were not concerned.

A reading of Fuentes v. Shevin and Par-ham v. Córtese, supra, makes it clear that the four judges in that opinion fully intended to apply the due process clause of the United States Constitution to situations as are presently before the court, absent, of course, a “contractual waiver of due process rights * * * ‘voluntarily, intelligently and knowingly’ made.” Fuentes, supra, 407 U.S. at 94-95, 92 S.Ct. at 2001. The petitioner, however, asserts that because two justices did not participate in this opinion the four man opinion is clearly not a majority opinion, is advisory only, and therefore not binding upon this court.

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Roofing Wholesale Co., Inc. v. Palmer
502 P.2d 1327 (Arizona Supreme Court, 1972)

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Bluebook (online)
502 P.2d 1327, 108 Ariz. 508, 65 A.L.R. 3d 496, 1972 Ariz. LEXIS 381, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/roofing-wholesale-co-inc-v-palmer-ariz-1972.