Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 76A.djvu/419

–323– -323§ 566. Claims by third persons; filing of claim; undertaking b j plaintiff (a) If tangible or intangible personal property levied on, whether or not it is in the actual possession of the levying officer, is claimed by a third person as his property by a written claim verified by his oath or that of his agent, setting out the reasonable value thereof, his title and right to the possession thereof, and delivered, together with a copy thereof, to the officer making the levy, the officer shall release the property and the levy unless the plaintiff, or the person in whose favor the writ runs, within five days after written demand by the officer, gives the officer an undertaking executed by at least two good and sufficient sureties, in a sum equal to double the value of the property levied upon. (b) The undertaking shall be made in favor of and shall indemnify the third person against loss, liability, damages, costs and counsel fees, by reason of the levy or the seizing, taking, collecting, withholding, or sale of the property by the officer. Where the property levied upon is required by law to be registered or recorded in the name of the owner and it appears that at the time of the levy the defendant or judgment debtor was the registered or record owner of the property and the plaintiff, or the person in whose favor the writ runs, caused the levy to be made and maintained in good faith, and in reliance upon the registered or record ownership, there shall be no liability thereunder to the third person by the plaintiff, or the person in whose favor the writ runs, or his sureties, or the levying officer. (c) Exceptions to the sufficiency of the sureties and their justification may be had and taken in the same manner as upon an undertaking on attachment. If they, or others in their place, fail to justify at the time and place appointed, the officer shall release the property and the levy. If exception is not taken within five days after notice of receipt of the undertaking, the third person is ^^med to have waived objections to the sufficiency of the sureties. (d) If objection is made to the undertaking, by the third person, on the ground that the amount thereof is not sufficient, or if for any reason it becomes necessary to ascertain the value of the property involved, the property involved may be appraised by one or more disinterested persons, appointed for that purpose by the court in which the action is pending or from which the writ issued, or by a judge thereof, or the court or judge may direct a hearing to determine the value of the property. If, upon the appraisal or hearing, the court or judge finds that the undertaking given is not sufficient, an order shall be made fixing the amount of the undertaking, and within five days thereafter an undertaking in the amount so fixed may be given in the same form and manner and with the same effect as the original. (e) The officer making the levy may demand and exact the undertaking provided for in this section notwithstanding any defect, informality or insufficiency of the verified claim delivered to him. The officer is not liable for damages to a third person for the levy upon, or the collectioUj taking, keeping or sale of the property if a claim is not delivered as provided in this section, nor, in any event, is the officer liable for the levy upon, or the holding, release or other disposition of the property in accordance with the provisions of this section and section 567 of this title. (f) If the undertaking is given, the levy shall continue and the officer shall retain any property in his possession for the purposes of the levy under the writ; except that it an undertaking is given under section 568 of this title, the property and the levy shall oe released.

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