Commonwealth v. Riebsamen

Citations

• 75 Pa. Super. 234
• 1920 Pa. Super. LEXIS 258

Syllabus

<p>Sureties — Bonds—Funds deposited to secure surety — Liability for seizure.</p> <p>Funds deposited by the principal with a surety company, on a bond to indemnify the company against loss and expense incurred under bond given for the support of the principal’s wife and to keep the peace, are not funds of the principal, and as such, subject to a warrant of seizure under the Acts of March 31, 1812, 5 Sm. Laws 391, and June 13, 1836, P. L. 539, until the liability under such bond is determined and the expense paid.</p> <p>Until the discharge of the liability on such bonds, the principal had no funds in the hands of the surety company subject to a warrant of seizure, and when such liability was released, the warrant .was effective to seize only such amount as the principal himself could have recovered from the surety company. If, by reason of its having executed such bonds, it had incurred counsel fees and expenses in any proceeding growing out of them, or either of them, it could properly deduct a reasonable amount paid in connection therewith, before making settlement with the principal. It had a similar right when attached under warrant of seizure, for this process reached only the funds that the principal himself could have demanded. It attached no higher right than he had.</p>