§ 7108 — Judgment; execution in certain cases; enforcement by contempt

New York § 7108

• Jurisdiction: New York
• Law CVP: Civil Practice Law & Rules
• Art. 71: Recovery of Chattel

Text

§ 7108. Judgment; execution in certain cases; enforcement by contempt.\n(a) Generally. Damages for wrongful taking or detention or for injury to\nor depreciation of a chattel may be awarded to a party. If an order of\nseizure granted without notice is not confirmed as required pursuant to\nparagraph four of subdivision (d) of section 7102, the plaintiff, unless\nthe court orders otherwise upon good cause shown, shall be liable to the\ndefendant for all costs and damages, including reasonable attorney's\nfees, which may be sustained by reason of the granting of the order of\nseizure without notice, and the plaintiff's liability shall not be\nlimited to the amount of the undertaking. Except as provided in\nsubdivision (b), judgment shall award possession of each chattel to the\nprevailing party or, if the action is discontinued or dismissed, to the\nperson from whom it was seized; and where the person awarded possession\nis not in possession when judgment is entered, it shall in the\nalternative, award the value of each chattel at the time of trial or the\nsum for which it was sold under section 7105, decreased by the value of\nthe interest of an unsuccessful party.\n (b) Where value of chattel should not be awarded; execution. A\nverdict, report or decision in favor of the defendant where the chattel\nis in possession of the plaintiff at the time it is rendered shall not\nfix the value of the chattel where:\n 1. the plaintiff is the owner of the chattel but it was rightfully\ndistrained doing damage, and the value of the chattel is greater than\nthe damages sustained by the defendant; or\n 2. the plaintiff is the owner of the chattel, but the defendant had a\nspecial property therein, the value of which is less than the value of\nthe chattel.\n The verdict, report or decision shall state why the value of the\nchattel is not fixed, and the final judgment shall award to the\ndefendant the amount of damages or value of his special property and, if\nsuch sum is not collected, possession of the chattel. An execution shall\ndirect the sheriff to deliver possession of the chattel to the defendant\nunless the party in possession pays the sum awarded to the defendant\nwith interest and sheriff's fees and in case the chattel cannot be found\nwithin his county, then to satisfy that sum from the property of the\nparty against whom the judgment is entered. If the chattel is in\npossession of the defendant, it may remain in his possession until the\namount awarded is paid.\n (c) Failure of jury to fix sum. If the jury shall fail to fix any sum\nrequired to be fixed by this section, such sum shall be fixed by a jury\nempanelled for the purpose upon motion made before the judge who\npresided at the trial within fifteen days after verdict.\n