Virginia Code 8.01-537: Petition for attachment; costs, fees and taxes.
A. Every attachment shall be commenced by a petition filed before a clerk of a circuit or general district court of, or magistrate serving, the county or city in which venue is given by subdivision 11 of § 8.01-261. If it is sought to recover specific personal property, the petition shall state (i) the kind, quantity, and estimated fair market value thereof, (ii) the character of estate therein claimed by the plaintiff, (iii) the plaintiff’s claim with such certainty as will give the adverse party reasonable notice of the true nature of the claim and the particulars thereof and (iv) what sum, if any, the plaintiff claims an entitlement to recover for its detention. If it is sought to recover a debt or damages for a breach of contract, express or implied, or damages for a wrong, the petition shall set forth (i) the plaintiff’s claim with such certainty as will give the adverse party reasonable notice of the true nature of the claim and the particulars thereof, (ii) a sum certain which, at the least, the plaintiff is entitled to, or ought to recover, and (iii) if based on a contract and if the claim is for a debt not then due and payable, at what time or times the same will become due and payable. The petition shall also allege the existence of one or more of the grounds mentioned in § 8.01-534, and shall set forth specific facts in support of the allegation. The petition shall ask for an attachment against the specific personal property mentioned in the petition, or against the estate, real and personal, of one or more of the principal defendants, or against the estate, real and personal, of one or more of the principal defendants, or against both the specific personal property and the estate of such defendants, real or personal. The petition shall state whether the officer is requested to take possession of the attached tangible personal property. The petition shall be sworn to by the plaintiff or the plaintiff’s agent, or some other person cognizant of the facts therein stated.
Terms Used In Virginia Code 8.01-537
- Allegation: something that someone says happened.
- Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
- City: means an independent incorporated community which became a city as provided by law before noon on July 1, 1971, or which has within defined boundaries a population of 5,000 or more and which has become a city as provided by law. See Virginia Code 1-208
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Entitlement: A Federal program or provision of law that requires payments to any person or unit of government that meets the eligibility criteria established by law. Entitlements constitute a binding obligation on the part of the Federal Government, and eligible recipients have legal recourse if the obligation is not fulfilled. Social Security and veterans' compensation and pensions are examples of entitlement programs.
- Fair market value: The price at which an asset would change hands in a transaction between a willing, informed buyer and a willing, informed seller.
- Person: shall include individuals, a trust, an estate, a partnership, an association, an order, a corporation, or any other legal or commercial entity;
6. See Virginia Code 8.01-2
- Personal property: All property that is not real property.
- Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
- State: when applied to a part of the United States, includes any of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-245
- sworn: means "affirm" or "affirmed. See Virginia Code 1-250
- Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.
B. The plaintiff praying for an attachment shall, at the time the petition is filed, pay to the magistrate or clerk of the court to which the return is made the proper costs, fees and taxes, and in the event the plaintiff fails to do so, the attachment shall not be issued.
Code 1950, §§ 8-524, 8-528; 1954, cc. 333, 622; 1973, c. 545; 1977, c. 617; 1978, c. 418; 1984, c. 646; 1993, c. 841; 2008, cc. 551, 691; 2015, c. 639.