Court Opinion

ID: 9608423
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 03:12:27.815615+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:02:46.351856
License: Public Domain

MACY, Chief Justice,
specially concurring.
I agree with the ultimate disposition of this case. I write separately, however, lest replevin be used improperly in the future. Replevin is a provisional remedy by which a claimant may obtain possession of tangible personal property pending final judgment in an action to determine possessory rights to such property. Wyo.Stat. §§ 1-15-102(a)(xiii) and 1-15-301 (1988). A provisional remedy is defined as:
A remedy provided for present need or for the immediate occasion; one adapted to meet a particular exigency. Particularly, a temporary process available to a plaintiff in a civil action, which secures him against loss, irreparable injury, dissipation of the property, etc., while the action is pending.
Black’s Law Dictionary 1102 (5th ed. 1979).
In this case, replevin was not used as a provisional remedy to secure against the loss of tangible personal property pending the adjudication of possessory rights. Re-plevin was used in the first instance to seize a bank account for the purpose of satisfying, in part, an expected money judgment. A bank account, however, represents only an intangible right to the payment of money. Intangible property rights by their very nature cannot be physically possessed and cannot serve as the subject of a writ of replevin. See, e.g., Walther v. Central Trust Company, N.A., 70 Ohio App.3d 26, 590 N.E.2d 375 (1990); and Williams Management Enterprises, Inc. v. Buonauro, 489 So.2d 160 (Fla.Dist.Ct.App.1986). The bank account should have been attached by use of a prejudgment writ of garnishment. Wyo.Stat. §§ 1-15-401 to -425 (1988). Replevin was used in the second instance to enforce the district court’s judgment directing that FDIC was entitled to have possession of the tangible personal property identified in the various security agreements. This use of replevin was clearly improper. Replevin is by definition only a prejudgment provisional remedy. The district court’s judgment should have been enforced by contempt or by a writ of execution. See Wyo.Stat. §§ 1-17-101 to -707 (1988).