An attachment bond is a surety bond a plaintiff must post before a court will let them seize or freeze a defendant’s property while a lawsuit is still pending. The bond guarantees that if the seizure turns out to be wrongful, or if the plaintiff loses the case, the defendant has a ready source of money to recover the losses the attachment caused. Courts treat it as a near-universal prerequisite to issuing a writ of attachment, and the bond amount is set either by statute or by the judge based on the probable harm a wrongful seizure could cause.
Why Courts Require the Bond
Pre-judgment attachment is an extraordinary remedy. It lets a plaintiff tie up bank accounts, real estate, vehicles, inventory, or receivables before anyone has proven the underlying claim at trial. That power invites abuse. The bond, backed by a surety company, creates a pool of money the defendant can draw from if the attachment should not have happened.
The U.S. Supreme Court addressed the stakes directly in Connecticut v. Doehr, observing that without a bond at the time of attachment, “the danger that these property rights may be wrongfully deprived remains unacceptably high.”1Justia Law. Connecticut v. Doehr, 501 U.S. 1 (1991) After Doehr, most state attachment statutes were revised to require some combination of prior notice, a hearing, a likelihood-of-success showing, and a bond. The bond is now the piece that almost no jurisdiction will waive for a private plaintiff.
The practical effect is that financial risk shifts from the defendant to the plaintiff and the plaintiff’s surety. If the defendant prevails, they do not have to file a separate lawsuit to collect for a wrongful seizure. The surety is contractually obligated to pay valid claims up to the bond’s face value.
When a Court Will Require One
A plaintiff cannot attach property just because they filed suit. Courts require specific grounds, and the categories recur across jurisdictions. Common grounds include that the defendant is a nonresident, is about to remove or conceal property to defeat a judgment, has committed fraud in the transaction underlying the lawsuit, or that the claim is based on a contract for money owed. Most jurisdictions also require the plaintiff to show a likelihood of success on the merits before granting the writ.
In federal court, the attachment remedy itself usually comes from state law. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 64 directs federal courts to apply the attachment procedures of the state where the court sits.2U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure – Rule 64, Seizure of Person or Property So the bond requirements, grounds, and exemptions in a federal case generally track the law of the forum state. One exception matters: when the United States itself is the plaintiff under the Federal Debt Collection Procedures Act, the government is not required to post a bond.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 U.S. Code 3101 – General Requirements Private litigants in federal court do not get that benefit.
How Much the Bond Costs
Premiums depend on the bond amount, the perceived risk of the case, and the applicant’s financial strength. Well-qualified applicants with strong credit and substantial assets can expect premiums in the range of one to three percent of the bond amount. Weaker financials, or cases where the surety sees a higher risk that the attachment will be found wrongful, push the premium up. The surety may also demand cash collateral on top of the premium.
Expect to sign an indemnity agreement as part of underwriting. That agreement is a personal guarantee that you will reimburse the surety for any claim it pays, plus the surety’s legal costs. It is what gives the surety recourse against you after a defendant collects on the bond.
The bond amount itself is set by the court according to statutory guidelines in the jurisdiction. It may be a fixed minimum, a percentage of the claim, or a figure the judge sets based on the probable damages from a wrongful attachment. Some jurisdictions let the defendant petition to increase the amount if the default figure would not cover their likely losses.
How To Get the Bond
The sequence matters. You need the court order authorizing attachment and setting the bond amount before you approach a surety company. Once you have it, the surety will want:
- Court documents: the complaint, supporting affidavits, the order authorizing attachment, the case number, and the court where the case is pending.
- Property information: a professional valuation of the assets being seized, so the surety can confirm the bond amount is adequate.
- Financial records: personal or business financial statements including assets, liabilities, and credit history, used to evaluate whether you could reimburse the surety for a paid claim.
- Corporate authorization: if the plaintiff is a business entity, a corporate resolution confirming that the signer has authority to bind the company.
With a complete application, most sureties can issue the bond within 24 to 48 hours. The executed bond is then filed with the clerk of the court where the litigation is pending, and the clerk must accept and record it before the writ can be served and the property actually seized. Filing is what gives the bond its legal effect.
What the Bond Covers if the Attachment Was Wrongful
A defendant becomes a claimant against the bond in one of two situations: the court dissolves the attachment after finding it was improperly granted, or the plaintiff loses the underlying lawsuit. In either case, the defendant has to prove specific, quantifiable damages.
Recoverable damages typically include:
- Lost use of assets, such as interest on a frozen bank account or specific business opportunities missed because the funds were unavailable.
- Property depreciation during the seizure period, whether from neglect, market movement, or inability to maintain the property.
- Attorney fees spent specifically to dissolve the wrongful attachment. A majority of states allow this. Fees for defending the main lawsuit on the merits generally are not recoverable from the bond.
- Court costs and filing fees incurred in challenging the attachment.
Vague assertions of harm will not clear the bar. If a frozen account caused the defendant to miss a specific contract or default on a specific obligation, the chain of causation needs documentation. The surety investigates each claim and will push back on amounts that exceed provable damages.
The surety’s obligation is capped at the face value of the bond. Damages beyond that have to be pursued directly against the plaintiff in a separate action. That cap is the reason defendants who think the bond is too low should move to increase it early rather than wait until after the harm has accumulated.
Property the Bond Cannot Reach
Attachment can reach bank accounts, real estate, vehicles, business inventory, and accounts receivable, as long as the defendant has a substantial, non-exempt interest in the property. Some categories are off-limits. The federal attachment statute explicitly excludes earnings, reflecting long-standing Supreme Court recognition that wages are a unique type of property whose seizure causes disproportionate hardship. State laws typically protect wages as well and often extend exemptions to a primary residence up to a certain equity amount, household goods, and retirement accounts. If exempt property is seized by mistake, the defendant can petition the court to vacate the levy and return it.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 U.S. Code 3102 – Attachment
If You Are the Defendant
A defendant whose property has been attached has several ways to fight back, and acting quickly matters because losses compound while assets are frozen.
The most direct move is a motion to dissolve or quash the attachment. Arguments include that the writ is invalid on its face, that none of the statutory grounds actually exist, or that the plaintiff is unlikely to succeed on the merits. Most states require a prompt hearing on these motions. A defendant can also move to increase the bond if the current amount will not cover their potential losses from a wrongful seizure; courts have discretion to adjust the bond to fit the equities of the case. And if any of the attached property is exempt, the defendant can petition for its release. Under federal law, a court must vacate the levy and return exempt property once the exemption is established.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 U.S. Code 3102 – Attachment
Recovery from the surety is meant to be faster and more certain than chasing the plaintiff in a separate lawsuit. That advantage only exists if the bond amount was adequate from the start, which is why the defense strategy on bond size often matters as much as the strategy on the merits.