Rule 64-I.Attachment Before Judgment

Rule 64-I walks through prejudgment attachment from application to enforcement. To apply, a plaintiff must submit an affidavit meeting the specific factual requirements of D.C. Code § 16-501(c) and (d), a completed Notice to Defendant on Civil Action Form 105, and, if the defendant's address is unknown, an affidavit describing the plaintiff's reasonable efforts to find it. Once the application is filed, the clerk sends the notice to the defendant by first-class mail — or to a foreign corporation's registered agent — and logs the mailing date on the docket. The application itself goes to the court, which may approve it, deny it, or order further hearings before deciding.

Once a writ issues, the garnishee is on the clock: Rule 64-I(c) requires an answer to the attachment interrogatories within 10 days after accepting service of the writ, filed with the clerk and served on both the defendant and the party who sought the garnishment. If that party does not contest the garnishee's answer within 14 days after being served with it (or a later time the court allows), under D.C. Code § 16-522, the garnishee's obligations become limited by whatever the answer said — a real incentive to act quickly if the answer looks wrong.

A defendant or garnishee can challenge the attachment by filing a traversing affidavit under D.C. Code § 16-506, which triggers a hearing where the plaintiff must establish the validity, or at least the probable validity, of the underlying claim and the ground for the attachment. For priority purposes among competing liens, a writ becomes effective the date it reaches the U.S. marshal or deputy marshal. Motions to quash an attachment get priority treatment — the court must hear them on an expedited basis, and with five days' notice to the parties, the court may even try the underlying case on the merits at the same time it hears the motion. For good cause, the court can also allow discovery in these proceedings, following the procedure set out in Rule 69-I.