§64.6 Analysis

• Jurisdiction: Washington

§64.6 ANALYSIS

CR 64 authorizes the use of provisional remedies provided by substantive law; it does not supplant or modify the requirements of such law. Filing a civil suit therefore does not, by itself, amount to an election of remedies that narrows the range of provisional relief made available by other laws.

Caveat: CR 64 must be read with the substantive law of remedies. The latter may force a litigant or potential litigant to choose between remedies. By choosing one remedy, a litigant can forfeit or defer others. In many instances, a creditor, for example, may not simultaneously sue a debtor and seek a nonjudicial foreclosure on a deed of trust. See RCW 61.24.030. When a judgment is obtained, however, the creditor may be free to enforce the judgment or proceed under the deed of trust with a nonjudicial foreclosure The substantive remedial lawprohibits both remedies from being undertaken simultaneously.

The above example illustrates CR 64's limited purview and underscores the importance of reading CR 64 with the applicable substantive remedial law. Anonjudicial foreclosure, for example, is not a provisional remedy to secure satisfaction of the judgment ultimately to be entered. It is a final remedy to satisfy a debt. The remedy, therefore, remains outside the scope of CR 64.

Prejudgment seizure of property normally is obtained by a motion filed at the beginning, or during the course, of an...