Court Opinion

ID: 9761071
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 01:30:43.679659+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:29:19.947464
License: Public Domain

*74Allen, C.J.,
concurring and dissenting. I concur with the majority’s resolution of the first two arguments raised but dissent from the affirmance of the interest award. I believe that the award of interest under the facts of this case was an abuse of discretion.
In its notice of lien, plaintiff stated the amount it was claiming but did not indicate whether interest was included or would be claimed. In seeking an attachment pursuant to 9 V.S.A. § 1924, plaintiff presented evidence that it was likely to recover the sum of $25,349.77 and that interest was likely to accrue in the amount of at least $500. A writ of attachment was issued in the amount of $25,400, but it was never served, and the property was never attached or foreclosed pursuant to the lien statutes, presumably because the general contractor posted a bond in the amount of $25,400 conditioned for the payment of any judgment by plaintiff against the school district. The request for the subsequent writ of attachment issued in February of 1991 for the interest accrued and additional interest should have been denied because it was untimely under 9 V.S.A. § 1924. Filter Equipment Co. v. IBM, 142 Vt. 499, 502-03, 458 A.2d 1091, 1092-93 (1983).
The acceptance of the bond by plaintiff, evidenced by its failure to pursue the enforcement of the lien in accordance with the statutory requirements, limited the exposure of the school district to the penal amount of the bond. While plaintiff argues that it should not be penalized for initially asking too little for post-judgment interest, the school district should not be penalized because it did. Its exposure was fixed by the original judgment, and it should have been free to release monies due over that amount to the general contractor pursuant to the contract.