Short answer. Once you pay the purchase price, the officer must execute and deliver you a certificate of sale. That certificate conveys all the rights the judgment obligor had in the property as of the date of the levy on execution or preliminary attachment.

What the law says

When the purchaser of any personal property, not capable of manual delivery, pays the purchase price, the officer making the sale must execute and deliver to the purchaser a certificate of sale. Such certificate conveys to the purchaser all the rights which the judgment obligor had in such property as of the date of the levy on execution or preliminary attachment.

Rule 39, Section 24 — Conveyance to purchaser of personal property not capable of manual delivery. Read the full provision →

Payment triggers a certificate, not physical delivery

Where the purchaser of personal property not capable of manual delivery pays the purchase price, the officer conducting the sale must execute and deliver to him a certificate of sale, since there is no way to physically hand over property of this kind the way manually deliverable property is handed over. Property of this kind, such as intangible rights or interests, simply cannot be handed over the way a physical object can, so the certificate becomes the operative instrument.

What the certificate transfers, and how this differs from manually delivered property

That certificate conveys to the purchaser all the rights which the judgment obligor had in the property, again measured as of the date of the levy on execution or preliminary attachment. Unlike property that can be physically delivered, there is no separate act of handing anything over here; the certificate itself is the instrument that actually conveys ownership to the purchaser. This certificate binds third parties dealing with the property afterward, putting them on notice of the change in ownership, but it does not by itself cure any defect in the obligor's original title; a purchaser who takes the certificate takes it subject to whatever infirmities already affected the obligor's own interest before the levy.

Why the levy date still controls

Tying the transfer to the levy date fixes the exact scope of what is being sold and cuts off later attempts by the obligor to transfer the same interest elsewhere, regardless of the fact that the property in question is intangible rather than a physical thing. Whether the property involved is physical or intangible, the Rule consistently anchors what is actually conveyed to the moment the levy took place. A judgment obligor bound by this rule cannot defeat the sale by transferring the intangible interest to someone else after the levy; any such later transfer is void as against the purchaser, since the levy itself already fixed the obligor's rights as of that date, before the attempted transfer occurred.

Related provisions

Note. Statute text quoted on this page is reproduced from the official enactment and is linked to the full provision. The explanation around it is general legal information from Vivas & Nobles Law Office, not legal advice. Whether it applies to your situation depends on facts only a lawyer reviewing them can assess.