RULE 22. INTERPLEADER
(a) By Joinder, Cross-Claim or Counterclaim. Persons having claims against the plaintiff may be joined as defendants and required to interplead if their claims are such that the plaintiff is or may be exposed to double or multiple liability. It is not ground for objection to the joinder that the claims of the several claimants or the titles on which their claims depend do not have a common origin or are not identical but are adverse to and independent of one another, or that the plaintiff disclaims liability in whole or in part to any or all of the claimants. A defendant exposed to similar liability may obtain like interpleader by way of cross-claim or counterclaim. The provisions of this rule supplement and do not in any way limit the joinder of parties permitted in Rule 20.
(b) By Substitution. A defendant against whom an action is pending upon a contract, or for specific real or personal property, at any time before answer, upon affidavit that a person not a party to the action and without collusion with the defendant makes against the defendant a demand for the same debt or property, upon due notice to that person and the adverse party, may apply to the court for an order to substitute that person as a party and to discharge the defendant from liability to either party upon depositing in court the amount of the debt, or delivering the property or its value to such person as the court may direct, and the court, in its discretion, may make the order.
EXPLANATORY NOTE
Subdivision (a) is identical to Rule 22, FRCivP, except for style changes and the deletion of any reference to statutory remedies.
Subdivision (b) is derived from Section 28-0224, NDRC 1943.
Rule 22 was amended, effective March 1, 1990. The amendments are technical in nature and no substantive change is intended.
SOURCES: Joint Procedure Committee Minutes of April 20, 1989, page 2; December 3, 1987, page 11; September 20-21, 1979, page 14; Rule 22(a), FRCivP.
STATUTES AFFECTED:
SUPERSEDED: Sections 28-0223, 28-0224, NDRC 1943.
CROSS REFERENCE: Rules 13 (Counterclaim and Cross-Claim), 14 (Third-Party Practice), 20 (Permissive Joinder of Parties), and 25 (Substitution of Parties), N.D.R.Civ.P.