(a) If a document of title is lost, stolen or destroyed, a court may order delivery of the goods or issuance of a substitute document and the bailee may without liability to any person comply with the order. If the document was negotiable, a court may not order delivery of the goods or issuance of a substitute document without the claimant’s posting security unless it finds that any person that may suffer loss as a result of nonsurrender of possession or control of the document is adequately protected against the loss. If the document was nonnegotiable, the court may require security. The court also may order payment of the bailee’s reasonable costs and attorney’s fees in any action under this subsection.

(b) A bailee that, without a court order, delivers goods to a person claiming under a missing negotiable document of title is liable to any person injured thereby. If the delivery is not in good faith, the bailee is liable for conversion. Delivery in good faith is not conversion if the claimant posts security with the bailee in an amount at least double the value of the goods at the time of posting to indemnify any person injured by the delivery that files a notice of claim within one year after the delivery.

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Terms Used In South Carolina Code 36-7-601

  • Bailee: means the person who by a warehouse receipt, bill of lading or other document of title acknowledges possession of goods and contracts to deliver them. See South Carolina Code 36-7-102
  • Document: means document of title as defined in the general definitions in Chapter 1 of this title. See South Carolina Code 36-7-102
  • Goods: means all things that are treated as movable for the purposes of a contract for storage or transportation. See South Carolina Code 36-7-102