§ 8.01-29.Procedure in actions on annuity and installment bonds, and other actions for penalties for nonperformance.

Section 8.01-29 covers suits on an annuity bond, a bond for money payable by installments, or any other action seeking a penalty for failing to perform a condition, covenant, or agreement. It solves a timing problem: a plaintiff does not have to wait for every future annuity payment or installment to fall due before suing. Instead, the plaintiff may assign — select and identify — as many breaches as the plaintiff sees fit, and must specify in the motion for judgment exactly which breaches the action is brought on.

A jury then ascertains the damages, or the sum due, based on the breaches assigned. Judgment is entered for the full penalty named in the bond, but that judgment is discharged by payment of the amount the jury found due, along with whatever further sums are assessed later.

The section anticipates that more breaches will occur after judgment, since payments or installments keep coming due. Any person injured by a later breach may bring a motion against the defendant under the same bond, and execution may be awarded for whatever the court finds due on that new breach — without a new lawsuit.