Opinion ID: 538484
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Deprivation of a Protected Property Interest?

Text: 9 As a threshold matter, we must determine whether the seizure at issue in this case--a nonpossessory attachment of real estate--deprives the owner of a significant property interest within the meaning of the fourteenth amendment. Di Giovanni argues that our decision on this point is controlled by the Supreme Court's summary affirmance of Spielman-Fond, Inc. v. Hanson's, Inc., 379 F.Supp. 997 (D.Ariz.1973) (three-judge court) (per curiam), which held that the filing of mechanic's and materialmen's lien does not amount to a taking of a significant property interest. Id. at 999, aff'd mem., 417 U.S. 901, 94 S.Ct. 2596, 41 L.Ed.2d 208 (1974). However, notwithstanding the limited precedential value of a summary affirmance, see, e.g., Tulley v. Griffin, Inc., 429 U.S. 68, 74, 97 S.Ct. 219, 223, 50 L.Ed.2d 227 (1976), we note that the mechanic's lien statute upheld in Spielman-Fond required the creditor to have a pre-existing right to the property, whereas Connecticut's attachment procedure is available in a variety of contexts, including the present case, to individuals having no preexisting interest in the property to be attached. 10 Moreover, although an attachment of real estate does not deprive the landowner of the use and possession of his property, and thus does not amount to a seizure in the literal sense, it nevertheless has a significant impact on the owner's ability to exercise the full scope of his property rights. An attachment not only impairs the marketability of the real estate, but also may harm the owner's credit rating, and may prevent him from using the property as collateral for a loan. Even if short-lived, these effects are certainly worthy of due process protection. See Fuentes v. Shevin, 407 U.S. 67, 86, 92 S.Ct. 1983, 1997, 32 L.Ed.2d 556 (1972) (The Fourteenth Amendment draws no bright lines around three-day, 10-day, or 50-day deprivations of property). Consequently, we hold that a nonpossessory attachment of real estate deprives the owner of a constitutionally protected property interest under the fourteenth amendment. Accord Shaumyan v. O'Neill, 716 F.Supp. 65, 77-79 (D.Conn.1989); MPI v. McCullough, 463 F.Supp. 887, 901 (N.D.Miss.1978); Terranova v. AVCO Financial Servs., 396 F.Supp. 1402, 1406-07 (D.Vt.1975) (three-judge court); Hutchison v. Bank of N.C., 392 F.Supp. 888, 894 (M.D.N.C.1975) (three-judge court); Bay State Harness Horse Racing & Breeding Assn. v. PPG Indus., Inc., 365 F.Supp. 1299, 1304-06 (D.Mass.1973) (three-judge court); Gunter v. Merchants Warren Nat'l Bank, 360 F.Supp. 1085, 1090 (D.Me.1973) (three-judge court); Clement v. Four N. State St. Corp., 360 F.Supp. 933, 935 (D.N.H.1973) (three-judge court). 11