Art. 3541.Grounds For Attachment

Attachment exists to protect a money claim against a debtor who might put assets out of the creditor's reach before a judgment can be obtained and collected. Article 3541 lists the specific situations that justify it, and every one shares that common thread: a real risk the defendant will evade the eventual judgment rather than a mere suspicion of financial trouble.

The five grounds are concealment to avoid being served with the lawsuit; granting a security interest, or mortgaging, assigning, or otherwise disposing of property, with intent to defraud creditors or unfairly favor one creditor over others; converting property into money or debt instruments with intent to place it beyond creditors' reach; permanently leaving the state, or being about to leave, before a judgment can be obtained and executed; and being a nonresident with no agent appointed in Louisiana to accept service.

It helps to keep attachment distinct from sequestration here. Attachment is about securing payment of a debt against a debtor who poses a flight or concealment risk, reaching the debtor's assets generally. Sequestration, covered later in this chapter, is about preserving a specific piece of property that is itself in dispute, regardless of the defendant's flight risk. A creditor worried a debtor will empty a bank account reaches for attachment; a party trying to keep a disputed vehicle from being sold or hidden reaches for sequestration.