§ 62.003.Available for Claim Not Due

The counterpart of the attachment chapter’s not-yet-due provision, drawn more narrowly.

A writ of sequestration may be issued for personal property under a mortgage or a lien even though the right of action on the mortgage or lien has not accrued.

Two limits distinguish this from the attachment version. It applies to personal property only, and only where the property is under a mortgage or a lien.

The attachment provision is general, allowing a writ for any debt not yet due; this is confined to secured personalty.

The narrowing makes sense given what sequestration is for. A lienholder’s interest is in the specific collateral, and the danger the chapter addresses is that the collateral will be destroyed or removed before the debt matures.

Picture the situation. A vehicle or a piece of equipment secures a note not due for six months, and the borrower is stripping it or preparing to move it out of the county. Waiting for maturity means the security is gone.

The proceedings relating to the writ shall be as in other cases — the application, the notice on the writ and the dissolution timetable all apply unchanged.

Final judgment may not be rendered until the right of action has accrued.

That is the necessary limit. A lienholder cannot foreclose before default, and allowing judgment would accelerate the obligation by procedure.

So the property is held while the case waits — which is exactly what a lienholder needs and no more than that.