§ 8.01-537.1.Plaintiff to file bond.

Attachment lets a creditor reach a debtor’s property before trial, which creates real risk for a debtor if the attachment turns out to be wrongful. This section balances that risk by requiring the plaintiff to post a bond before the attachment or other pretrial levy or seizure can proceed, a bond with approved surety, a cash bond, or a property bond, with the fact of the bond noted on the process or certified by the clerk to the officer serving it.

How big the bond has to be depends on what the plaintiff is asking for. A pretrial levy backed by a surety or cash bond needs to equal at least the property’s estimated fair market value; if it is a property bond instead, the amount doubles to at least twice that value. A pretrial seizure, a more intrusive step than a mere levy, always requires a bond of at least double the property’s estimated fair market value, regardless of the bond type.

Whatever form it takes, the bond has to be conditioned on paying any costs and damages a court later awards against the plaintiff, or that anyone sustains, because the levy or seizure turns out to be wrongful, the financial backstop that puts the plaintiff, not an innocent defendant, on the hook for a mistaken attachment.