Haner v. Bruce

The question raised by this appeal is whether a real estate attachment that is misindexed by the city clerk is valid against a subsequent bona fide purchaser who had no actual notice of the attachment. The trial court dismissed the attaching party’s claim. We reverse and remand.

On March 23, 1979, having obtained a writ of attachment in a pending suit against defendant Wendall Bruce, plaintiff filed the attachment with the St. Albans city clerk. At that time, a recorded land contract gave Bruce the right to purchase property at 58-60 Fairfield Street in St. Albans. Although the city clerk…