O.C.G.A. § 44-14-239 (2019)
Foreclosure before debt due; grounds; affidavit
Whenever a process of attachment may be legally brought against any person upon any debt or demand secured by a mortgage on personal property, or whenever the purchaser of mortgaged property is seeking to remove the property outside of the county, or when the defendant is seeking to dispose fraudulently or is fraudulently disposing of the mortgaged property and a disposal of the property will lessen the security, the creditor may foreclose his mortgage in the manner prescribed by law, except that the affidavit need not state that the debt or demand is due but shall state that the debtor has placed himself in one of the positions where a process of attachment could legally issue against him, or that the defendant is disposing or seeking to dispose of the mortgaged property and that a disposal of the property will lessen the security and shall state the amount of the debt or demand claimed and when the debt will be due.
History
Ga. L. 1882-83, p. 109, § 1; Civil Code
1895, § 2754; Civil Code 1910, § 3287; Civil Code 1933, § 67-1002.
Annotations
JUDICIAL DECISIONS An affidavit to foreclose a mortgage under O.C.G.A. § 44-14-239 is amendable. Bainbridge Stock Co. v. KrauseMcFarlin Co., 8 Ga. App. 220, 68 S.E. 1013, 1910 Ga. App. LEXIS 110 (1910); Hardy v. Luke, 18 Ga. App. 423, 89 S.E. 540, 1916 Ga. App. LEXIS 388 (1916). Evidence of intention to make fraudulent disposal. - Where a chattel mortgage is foreclosed and levied before its maturity, under O.C.G.A. §§ 18-3-1 and 44-14-239, upon the grounds that the mortgagor is actually disposing or attempting to dispose of the mortgaged property so as to lessen the security, and that the mortgagor is about to remove from the county of residence, it is not necessary for the plaintiff to show that the defendant was attempting to dispose of
the property or was about to remove from the county on the very day upon which the affidavit to obtain the foreclosure was made. It is sufficient to show the existence of such a present design or intention and the defendant’s purpose to carry it into execution at or about the time of the foreclosure. Louis Stix & Co. v. S. Pump & Co., 36 Ga. 526, 1867 Ga. LEXIS 83 (1867); Perryman v. Pope, 102 Ga. 502, 31 S.E. 37, 1897 Ga. LEXIS 524 (1897); Nichols v. Ward, 27 Ga. App. 501, 108 S.E. 832, 1921 Ga. App. LEXIS 232 (1921). Allegations insufficient. - An allegation in an affidavit for the foreclosure of a mortgage before maturity of the debt, that the “defendants” are about to remove the mortgaged property beyond the limits of the county, is not a compliance with
O.C.G.A. § 44-14-239 where the affidavit does not show that the defendants are purchasers of the mortgaged property. Upchurch v. Nichols, 15 Ga. App. 359, 83 S.E. 273, 1914 Ga. App. LEXIS 112 (1914). Sufficiency of statement as to when debt due. - The requirement in O.C.G.A. § 44-14-239 that the affidavit shall state when the amount of the debt or
demand “will be due,” was sufficiently met by the assertion in the affidavit of foreclosure that “there is now due on said mortgage the sum of $500.00 principal and $15.00 interest, and that the amount of said several sums is now due.” Hardy v. Luke, 18 Ga. App. 423, 89 S.E. 540, 1916 Ga. App. LEXIS 388 (1916).
RESEARCH REFERENCES C.J.S. 14 C.J.S., Chattel Mortgages, §§ 356, 360. ALR. Validity, construction, and application of insecurity clause in chattel mortgage, 125 A.L.R. 313.
Failure to keep up insurance as justifying foreclosure under acceleration provision in mortgage or deed of trust, 69 A.L.R.3d 774.