(a) Except as otherwise provided in subdivision (c), a document of title is negotiable if by its terms the goods are to be delivered to bearer or to the order of a named person.

(b) A document of title other than one described in subdivision (a) is nonnegotiable. A bill of lading that states that the goods are consigned to a named person is not made negotiable by a provision that the goods are to be delivered only against an order in a record signed by the same or another named person.

Terms Used In California Commercial Code 7104

  • Bearer: means a person in possession of a negotiable instrument, document of title, or certificated security that is payable to bearer or endorsed in blank. See California Commercial Code 1201
  • Bill of lading: means a document evidencing the receipt of goods for shipment issued by a person engaged in the business of transporting or forwarding goods. See California Commercial Code 1201
  • Document of title: includes a bill of lading, dock warrant, dock receipt, warehouse receipt, or order for the delivery of goods, and also any other document which in the regular course of business or financing is treated as adequately evidencing that the person in possession of it is entitled to receive, hold, and dispose of the document and the goods it covers. See California Commercial Code 1201
  • Goods: means all things that are treated as movable for the purposes of a contract for storage or transportation. See California Commercial Code 7102
  • Person: means an individual, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, limited liability company, association, joint venture, government, governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality, or any other legal or commercial entity. See California Commercial Code 1201
  • Record: means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in perceivable form. See California Commercial Code 1201

(c) A document of title is nonnegotiable if, at the time it is issued, the document has a conspicuous legend, however expressed, that it is nonnegotiable.

(Repealed and added by Stats. 2006, Ch. 254, Sec. 49. Effective January 1, 2007.)

  Previous section
Next section  
 Chapter 1 Contents