67 Barb. 330 | N.Y. Sup. Ct. | 1875
In order to entitle a party to an attachment for the seizure of his debtor’s property, a reasonably plain case is required to be made out. And an indispensable circumstance to make it out is the existence of a cause of action. For that purpose the Code has required that it shall appear by affidavit that a cause of action exists against the defendant, specifying the amount of the claim, and the grounds thereof, (§ 229.) The affidavit made by the plaintiff, on which the attachment in this case was issued, wholly failed to comply with this requirement. It did not appear from it that any cause of action existed in his favor. To show that, the affidavit should have contained a statement of the facts out of which the claim was supposed to have arisen. They were the grounds which the statute provides shall be stated. And without them it cannot appear that a cause of action exists in the plaintiff’s favor. For that purpose it would be clearly insufficient for the party to state, merely, that he has a cause of action. That would not show its existence, as the law provides it shall be disclosed before an attachment can be issued in the action. It would simply be the plaintiff’s conclusion. And nothing more than that was set forth in the plaintiff’ s affidavit. It did not show that the defendants had entered into a covenant, or agreement with him, which they had failed to perform, or anything from which it could be logically inferred that any assignable amount of damages had been sustained by any such non-performance.
In a case of this description, so much of the agreement as contains the. obligation relied upon as the foundation óf the action, should be plainly and positively disclosed; and it should then be shown with equal directness in what respect there has been a failure of performance, and how and to what extent the plaintiff
The plaintiff’s statements would have just as well sustained a claim of $100,000 as one of $20,000. The facts in the affidavit should appear to sustain the claim made upon them, before the plaintiff can be entitled to an attachment upon it. That was not the state of the case made in this action; and for that reason the order should be reversed, with ten dollars costs, besides disbursements, and an order made setting aside the attachment, with ten dollars costs of motion.
Order reversed.
Davis, Brady and Daniels, Justices.]