North Dakota Code 47-30.2-58 – (1005) Evidence of unpaid debt or undischarged obligation
1. A record of a putative holder showing an unpaid debt or undischarged obligation is prima facie evidence of the debt or obligation.
Terms Used In North Dakota Code 47-30.2-58
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
- Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
2. A putative holder may establish by a preponderance of the evidence that there is no unpaid debt or undischarged obligation for a debt or obligation described in subsection 1 or that the debt or obligation was not, or no longer is, a fixed and certain obligation of the putative holder.
3. A putative holder may overcome prima facie evidence under subsection 1 by establishing by a preponderance of the evidence that a check, draft, or similar instrument was:
a. Issued as an unaccepted offer in settlement of an unliquidated amount; b. Issued but later was replaced with another instrument because the earlier instrument was lost or contained an error that was corrected; c. Issued to a party affiliated with the issuer; d. Paid, satisfied, or discharged; e. Issued in error; f. Issued without consideration; g. Issued but there was a failure of consideration; h. Voided not later than ninety days after issuance for a valid business reason set forth in a contemporaneous record; or
i. Issued but not delivered to the third-party payee for a sufficient reason recorded within a reasonable time after issuance.
4. In asserting a defense under this section, a putative holder may present evidence of a course of dealing between the putative holder and the apparent owner or of custom and practice.