Sunalma Financial Enterprises, S.A. v. Zervoudis

684 So. 2d 1118, 96 La.App. 5 Cir. 485, 1996 La. App. LEXIS 3098, 1996 WL 717093
Louisiana Court of Appeal·Decided December 16, 1996·No. No. 96-CA-485·Published·Cited by 2 cases

Opinion

|,WICKER, Judge.

This appeal arises from a judgment denying defendants/appellants’, Georgia Zervoud-is, wife of/and Georgios Zervoudis (Zervoud-is 1), rule to dissolve a writ of attachment and a request for damages. Zervoudis appeals that judgment. The plaintiff/appellee, Sunal-ma Financial Enterprises, S.A. (Sunalma), filed a motion to dismiss the appeal. We deny the motion to dismiss and affirm the judgment.

Sunalma argues this court lacks jurisdiction because the appeal is taken from an interlocutory judgment since the judgment denying the writ of attachment does not determine the merits and does not cause irreparable injury. Furthermore, it argues that the portion of the judgment which denies damages does not make the judgment an appealable judgment since damages are only denied because the writ of attachment is denied. They assert the issue of damages is not reached until there is a granting of the dissolving of the attachment.

We note that:

]2A judgment dissolving a writ of attachment has been held to be an appealable interlocutory judgment. Pittman v. Lilly, 197 La. 233, 1 So.2d 88 (1941) and cases cited therein. However, an order denying a motion to dissolve a writ of attachment cannot be appealed prior to a disposition on the merits of the ease.
There is an exception to the basic rule stated above. If the motion to dissolve the attachment is accompanied by an incidental demand for damages for wrongful issuance of the writ, then even an order denying the motion is appealable. Stahlman Lumber Co. v. Ferrill, 320 So.2d 331 (La. App. 3rd Cir.1975), Smith v. Utility and Maintenance Contractors of America, Inc., 301 So.2d 906 (La.App. 2nd Cir.1974).

Carpenter v. Carpenter, 419 So.2d 999, 1001 (La.App. 4th Cir.1982).

Sunalma further asserts that even assuming the damage issue were appealable, the denial of the dissolution would not be appeal-able. However, we have held that:

Although an interlocutory judgment may itself not be appealable, it is nevertheless subject to review by an appellate court when an appealable judgment is rendered in the case. Ellefson v. Ellefson, 616 So.2d 221 (La.App. 5 Cir.), writ denied, 617 So.2d 1183 (La.1993). Defendant’s appeal is incidental to the appeal from the final judgment and we may therefore properly, consider it.

Territo v. Schwegmann Giant Supermarkets, 95-257 (La.App. 5th Cir. 9/26/95) 662 So.2d 44, 46, writ denied, 95-2504 (La.12/15/95) 664 So.2d 445.

[1120] We follow our holding in Territo and consider this appeal.

Appellants specify as errors the trial judge’s failure to dissolve the writ of attachment and to award damages.

La.Code Civ. Proc. art. 3541(2)(3) and (4) provides:

A writ of attachment may be obtained when the defendant:
(2) Has granted a security interest under Chapter 9 of the Louisiana Commercial Laws (R.S. 10:9-101, et seq.), or has mortgaged, assigned, or disposed of his property or some part thereof, or is about to do any of these acts, with intent to defraud his creditors or give an unfair preference to one or more of them;
(3) Has converted or is about to convert his property into money or evidences of debt, with intent to place it beyond the reach of his creditors;
(4)Has left the state permanently, or is about to do so before a judgment can be obtained and executed against him ...

Sunalma filed a petition for a money judgment and a writ of attachment against | aZervoudis. It alleged it loaned Zervoudis $200,000 May 25, 1993 to fund the purchase of a house. At the time, Mr. Zervoudis was president of Sunrise Shipping Agency, Inc. (Sunrise). Payment of the loan was predicated on Mr. Zervoudis’ continued employment with Sunrise with various amounts deducted from his salary and bonus. It was further alleged that Mr. Zervoudis resigned on August 23, 1993 and a demand was made by Sunalma on August 31, 1993 for $198,000. Sunalma alleged this amount has not been paid. Sunalma became aware of Zervoudis’ attempt to mortgage the home. It also alleged there were indications Zervoudis was returning to Greece. It sought a writ of attachment as to the property or proceeds from its sale. It also sought to collect the amount due on the loan. The trial judge granted the writ of attachment as to the property on June 21,1994.

On August 10, 1994 Zervoudis filed a rule to test the sufficiency of the bond; to dissolve the writ, and to obtain damages and attorney’s fees.

La.Code Civ. Proc. art. 3506 provides that it is the party obtaining the writ of attachment who bears the burden of proof in a hearing on a motion to dissolve the writ. 3506 provides:

The defendant by contradictory motion may obtain the dissolution of a writ of attachment or of sequestration, unless the plaintiff proves the grounds upon which the writ was issued ...

The trial judge concluded plaintiff had met its burden of proving that the defendants would mortgage the property and return to Greece. She made a credibility determination. We find no manifest error in her conclusion the writ should be issued.

Appellants argue that in order for the writ to properly be issued the plaintiff must substantiate that one of the grounds for issuance existed at the time the writ was issued. They assert that none of these grounds existed on Juné 21, 1994, the date of issuance. The trial judge specifically stated she was considering that period as the proper time period. She properly concluded after weighing contradictory testimony that La.Code Civ. Proc. art. 3541(3) was proven. Her findings indicate she concluded the defendants had “converted or [were] about to convert [their] property into money or evidences of debt, with intent to place it beyond the reach of [their] creditors.”

14Although appellants argue it was error for the trial judge to conclude they were planning to permanently leave the state on June 21, 1994 so as to establish that the requirements of article 3541(4) had been met, article 3541 does not require that all of its sections be met. We pretermit a discussion of whether the trial judge correctly concluded the defendants were planning to permanently leave the country.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Sunalma Financial Enterprises, S.A. v. Zervoudis, 684 So. 2d 1118, 96 La.App. 5 Cir. 485, 1996 La. App. LEXIS 3098, 1996 WL 717093 (La. Ct. App. 1996).

684 So. 2d 1118 (Sunalma Financial Enterprises, S.A. v. Zervoudis) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Spiers v. Roye
927 So. 2d 1158 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2006)
Sarpy Properties, Inc. v. Diamond Shoe Stores of Louisiana, Inc.
761 So. 2d 769 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2000)