§ 61.001.General Grounds

The general grounds, and all four must be present before a writ can issue.

The defendant is justly indebted to the plaintiff. Attachment is a debt remedy, and this is where that begins.

The attachment is not sought for the purpose of injuring or harassing the defendant.

That element speaks to a real risk. Seizing a person’s property before any judgment is a powerful lever, and a plaintiff who wants leverage rather than security is outside the chapter.

The plaintiff will probably lose his debt unless the writ of attachment is issued.

This is the necessity element, and it is the substantive check. A plaintiff who will be paid in due course has no need of a pre-judgment seizure, and the chapter is not available merely because a debt exists.

Specific grounds for the writ exist under Section 61.002. The general grounds are not enough on their own; one of nine specific situations must also be shown.

The structure — general grounds plus a specific ground — is what keeps attachment exceptional. The nine specific grounds all describe a defendant who is leaving, hiding, or disposing of property, which is what makes the probable loss real rather than speculative.

Attachment differs from execution in the essential respect. Execution enforces a judgment already obtained; attachment seizes property before the case is tried, on nothing more than an affidavit and a bond.

That is why the requirements are cumulative and why the bond section requires two sureties conditioned on paying damages for a wrongful attachment.