The perfecting of an appeal shall not stay enforcement of a right to attach order unless an undertaking is given. The undertaking shall be in the amount specified in the right to attach order as the amount to be secured by the attachment. The undertaking shall be on condition that if the right to attach order is not reversed and the plaintiff recovers judgment in the action in which the right to attach order was issued, the appellant shall pay the amount of the judgment, together with any interest which may have accrued. The liability on the undertaking may be enforced if the judgment is not paid within 30 days after it becomes final. If a surety on the undertaking pays the judgment, either with or without action, the surety is substituted to the rights of the creditor and is entitled to control, enforce, and satisfy the judgment, in all respects as if the surety had recovered the judgment.
§ 917.65.Enforcement of Right to Attach Order
Title 13. Appeals In Civil Actions · Chapter 2. Stay of Enforcement and Other Proceedings · Enacted 1983 · no amendments on record · Last verified July 28, 2026
In one sentenceSection 917.65 requires an undertaking, in the amount specified in the right to attach order as the sum secured by the attachment, before an appeal stays enforcement of that right to attach order, conditioned on paying the eventual judgment if the order isn't reversed.
Full Text of § 917.65
Plain-English Summary
A right to attach order isn't a final judgment, but it carries its own stay rule under this section. The undertaking amount isn't left to the trial court's discretion or tied to a doubling formula — it's the amount the right to attach order itself already specifies as the sum secured by the attachment.
The condition ties the bond to the underlying case: if the right to attach order isn't reversed and the plaintiff goes on to recover judgment in the action, the appellant has to pay the amount of that judgment plus any interest that accrued. If payment doesn't happen within 30 days after the judgment becomes final, the undertaking becomes enforceable — and, as with § 917.1, a surety who pays steps into the creditor's shoes to enforce and satisfy the judgment.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is the undertaking amount set under § 917.65?
It equals the amount specified in the right to attach order itself as the sum to be secured by the attachment.
What triggers liability on the undertaking?
The right to attach order isn't reversed, the plaintiff recovers judgment in the action, and that judgment isn't paid within 30 days after it becomes final.
What happens if a surety pays the judgment?
The surety is substituted to the creditor's rights and may control, enforce, and satisfy the judgment as if the surety had recovered it.
Is this the same undertaking that keeps an attachment alive during an appeal from an order discharging it?
No. Section 917.65 stays enforcement of the right to attach order itself; § 921 separately addresses continuing an attachment in force when the party who levied it appeals.
Amendment History
Added by Stats. 1983, Ch. 155, Sec. 22.5. Effective June 30, 1983. Operative July 1, 1983, by Sec. 32 of Ch. 155.
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: ccp 917.65 stay right to attach order appealappeal bond attachment order californiastay enforcement of attachment pending appeal