The amount of any recovery for wrongful attachment shall be offset insofar as possible against any unsatisfied amounts owed to the plaintiff by the defendant on the judgment in the action for which wrongful attachment damages are awarded.
§ 490.040.Amount Recovered Offset Against Unsatisfied Amounts
Title 6.5. Attachment · Chapter 10. Liability for Wrongful Attachment · Enacted 1974 · no amendments on record · Last verified July 28, 2026
In one sentenceSection 490.040 requires any recovery a defendant wins for wrongful attachment to be offset, as much as possible, against whatever the defendant still owes the plaintiff on the underlying judgment in that same action.
Full Text of § 490.040
Plain-English Summary
A wrongful attachment can happen in the same case where the plaintiff still wins a judgment against the defendant -- for example, the plaintiff might levy on exempt property in bad faith yet still prove the underlying debt. Section 490.040 handles that overlap by requiring the wrongful-attachment recovery to offset any unsatisfied amount the defendant owes the plaintiff on that judgment.
The rule avoids a double payment problem. Rather than the defendant collecting a wrongful-attachment award in one hand while still owing the plaintiff the full judgment amount in the other, the two amounts net against each other insofar as possible.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a defendant collect wrongful-attachment damages and still owe the plaintiff the underlying judgment in full?
No. Section 490.040 requires the wrongful-attachment recovery to be offset against any amount the defendant still owes the plaintiff on the judgment in that action, to the extent possible.
Does this offset apply to judgments in other, unrelated cases?
No. Section 490.040 limits the offset to the judgment in the action for which the wrongful-attachment damages are awarded.
Amendment History
Added by Stats. 1974, Ch. 1516.
Source & verification. Section text is reproduced verbatim from
the Deering's California Codes Annotated / vLex. Enacted by the California Legislature.
Last verified July 28, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as: offset wrongful attachment damages against judgment490.040 california