Brewer v. Hall
This appeal challenges the trial court’s postjudgment order, which granted a judgment creditor’s motion for damages against a third party for a violation of its garnishee duties with regard to a writ of execution and notice of levy. We agree the trial court erred and shall reverse and remand.
Lemoin Brewer and Michael Palmer, partners in Snows Quarry Products (collectively Snows Quarry), obtained a judgment of nearly $1.5 million against L. W. Hall Company, Inc., which formerly did business under the name of Cobalt Crushing (hereafter Hall Inc.), for breach of a lease agreement. In enforcement of this judgment, Snows Quarry served a writ of execution and notice of levy on J. F. Shea Construction, Inc., in February 2010.[1] Snows Quarry brought the instant motion for damages against Shea for the latter’s violation of its garnishee duties, contending Shea had issued three checks in excess of $100,000 to Hall Inc. without good cause after service of the writ of execution and notice of levy. (Code Civ. Proc., §§ 701.010 & 701.020;[2] see 2 Ahart, Cal. Practice Guide: Enforcing Judgments and Debts (The Rutter Group 2012) ¶ 6:577, pp. 6D-62 to 6D-63 (rev. #1, 2012) [judgment creditor may determine garnishee liability by means of motion in underlying action]; see also Ilshin Investment Co., Ltd. v. Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Inc. (2011) 195 Cal.App.4th 612, 628-630 [distinguishing right to recover legal fees in claim in underlying action for breach of garnishee duties (§ 701.020) from independent creditor’s suit (§ 708.210)].) After holding an evidentiary hearing, the trial court granted the motion and entered a “judgment†in favor of Snows Quarry.[3] Shea filed a timely notice of appeal.
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