(A) When a depositor has made a demand for settlement of an obligation concerning an agricultural commodity on which a fee was required to be remitted under section 926.16 of the Revised Code and the licensed handler is experiencing failure, as “failure” is defined in section 926.021 of the Revised Code, and has failed to honor the demand, the depositor, after providing the director of agriculture or the director’s authorized representative with evidence of the depositor’s demand and the dishonoring of that demand, may file a claim with the director not later than six months after dishonor of the demand for indemnification of the depositor’s damages, from the agricultural commodity depositors fund, to be measured as follows:

Terms Used In Ohio Code 926.18

  • Agricultural commodity: means corn, soybeans, wheat, or any other agricultural crop that the director of agriculture may designate by rule. See Ohio Code 926.01
  • agriculture: includes farming; ranching; aquaculture; algaculture meaning the farming of algae; apiculture and related apicultural activities, production of honey, beeswax, honeycomb, and other related products; horticulture; viticulture, winemaking, and related activities; animal husbandry, including, but not limited to, the care and raising of livestock, equine, and fur-bearing animals; poultry husbandry and the production of poultry and poultry products; dairy production; the production of field crops, tobacco, fruits, vegetables, nursery stock, ornamental shrubs, ornamental trees, flowers, sod, or mushrooms; timber; pasturage; any combination of the foregoing; the processing, drying, storage, and marketing of agricultural products when those activities are conducted in conjunction with, but are secondary to, such husbandry or production; and any additions or modifications to the foregoing made by the director of agriculture by rule adopted in accordance with Chapter 119 of the Revised Code. See Ohio Code 1.61
  • Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
  • Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
  • Bailment agreement: means a bailor-bailee agreement between a depositor and a licensed handler as stated in the terms of a receipt that is issued for an agricultural commodity in storage and subject to the requirements of this chapter governing the use of a receipt. See Ohio Code 926.01
  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
  • Depositor: means :

    (1) Any person who delivers an agricultural commodity to a licensed handler for storage, conditioning, shipment, or sale;

    (2) Any owner or legal holder of a ticket or receipt issued for an agricultural commodity who is a creditor of the licensed handler for the value of the agricultural commodity;

    (3) Any licensed handler storing an agricultural commodity that the licensed handler owns solely, jointly, or in common with others in a warehouse owned or controlled by the licensed handler or any other licensed handler. See Ohio Code 926.01

  • Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. Source: U.S. Courts
  • 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.
  • Feed agreement: means a written contract executed by and between a licensed handler and a producer or depositor who delivers an agricultural commodity to the licensed handler for storage whereby each of the following applies:

    (1) The producer or depositor transfers title to the agricultural commodity to the licensed handler in exchange for a nominal sum;

    (2) The producer, upon delivery of the agricultural commodity to the licensed handler, becomes a creditor of the licensed handler due to the lien that arises under section 926. See Ohio Code 926.01

  • handler: means any person who is engaged in the business of agricultural commodity handling. See Ohio Code 926.01
  • Indemnification: In general, a collateral contract or assurance under which one person agrees to secure another person against either anticipated financial losses or potential adverse legal consequences. Source: FDIC
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • Lawsuit: A legal action started by a plaintiff against a defendant based on a complaint that the defendant failed to perform a legal duty, resulting in harm to the plaintiff.
  • 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.
  • Person: includes an individual, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, and association. See Ohio Code 1.59
  • Receipt: means a warehouse receipt issued by a licensed handler. See Ohio Code 926.01
  • 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.
  • state: means the state of Ohio. See Ohio Code 1.59
  • Ticket: means a scale weight ticket, a load slip, or any evidence, other than a receipt, given to a depositor by a licensed handler upon delivery of an agricultural commodity to the handler. See Ohio Code 926.01

(1) The commodity advisory commission created in section 926.32 of the Revised Code shall establish the dollar value of the loss incurred by a depositor holding a receipt or a ticket for agricultural commodities on which a fee was required and that the depositor delivered to the handler under a delayed price agreement, bailment agreement, or feed agreement, or that the depositor delivered to the handler before delivery was due under a contract or other agreement between the depositor and handler. The value shall be based on the fair market price being paid to producers by handlers for the commodities on the date on which the director received notice that the receipt or ticket was dishonored by the handler. All depositors filing claims under this division shall be bound by the value determined by the commission.

(2) The dollar value of the loss incurred by a depositor who has sold or delivered for sale, exchange, or solicitation or negotiation for sale agricultural commodities on which a fee was required and who is a creditor of the handler for all or a part of the value of the commodities shall be based on the amount stated on the obligation on the date of the sale.

(B) The agricultural commodity depositors fund shall be liable to a depositor for any moneys that are owed to the depositor for commodities deposited with a licensed handler pursuant to a transaction for which the handler must remit a fee under division (B) of section 926.16 of the Revised Code and that are not recovered through other legal and equitable remedies as follows:

(1)(a) The liability of the fund shall equal one hundred per cent of the depositor’s loss as determined under division (A)(1) of this section if any of the following applies:

(i) The commodities were stored with the handler under a bailment agreement.

(ii) Payment for the commodities was tendered by the handler and subsequently dishonored, such as payment by a check for which there were insufficient funds or by a check that was written on an account that was frozen by the financial institution.

(iii) The commodities were priced not more than thirty days prior to the director’s suspension of the handler’s license under division (E), (G), or (H) of section 926.10 of the Revised Code, and the handler failed to pay for the commodities on or before the date on which the suspension occurred.

(iv) The commodities were priced not more than ninety days prior to the director’s suspension of the handler’s license under division (E), (G), or (H) of section 926.10 of the Revised Code, the commodities were subject to a written agreement for deferred payment by the handler not later than ninety days following the date of delivery, and the handler failed to pay for the commodities on or before the payment date established in the written agreement.

(b) If the deposit of commodities that were the subject of the depositor’s loss involves circumstances other than those described in division (B)(1)(a) of this section, the liability of the fund shall equal one hundred per cent of the first ten thousand dollars of the loss and eighty per cent of the remaining dollar value of that loss as determined under divisions (A)(1) and (2) of this section.

(2) The aggregate amount recovered by a depositor under all remedies shall not exceed one hundred per cent of the value of the depositor’s loss. If the moneys recovered by a depositor under all remedies exceed one hundred per cent of the value of the depositor’s loss, the depositor shall reimburse the fund in the amount that exceeds the value of that loss.

(C) The director, with the recommendation of the commodity advisory commission, shall determine the validity of all claims presented against the fund. A claim filed under this section for losses on agricultural commodities other than commodities stored under a bailment agreement shall not be valid unless the depositor has made a demand for settlement of the obligation within twelve months after the commodities are priced. Any depositor whose claim has been refused by the director and the commission may appeal the refusal either to the court of common pleas of Franklin county or the court of common pleas of the county in which the depositor resides.

The director shall provide for payment from the fund to any depositor whose claim has been found to be valid.

(D) If at any time the fund does not contain sufficient assets to pay valid claims, the director shall hold those claims for payment until the fund again contains sufficient assets. Claims against the fund shall be paid in the order in which they are presented and found to be valid.

(E) If a depositor files an action for legal or equitable remedies in a state or federal court having jurisdiction in those matters that includes a claim against agricultural commodities upon which the depositor may file a claim against the fund at a later date, the depositor also shall file with the director a copy of the action filed with the court.

In the event of payment of a loss under this section, the director shall be subrogated to the extent of the amount of any payments to all rights, powers, privileges, and remedies of the depositor against any person regarding the loss.

The depositor shall render all necessary assistance to aid the director in securing the rights granted in this section. No action or claim initiated by the depositor and pending at the time of payment from the fund may be compromised or settled without the consent of the director.

(F) If, prior to June 20, 1994, a lawsuit, adversary proceeding, or other legal proceeding is brought against a depositor to recover money or payments from funds to which a depositor has a right of indemnification under this section, and the depositor retains legal counsel resulting in a cost or expense to the depositor, upon the rendering of a judgment or other resolution of the lawsuit, adversary proceeding, or other legal proceeding, the director, in the director’s discretion and with the approval of the commodity advisory commission, may authorize indemnification from the fund for attorney’s fees paid by the depositor. Any claim made by a depositor for the payment of attorney’s fees under this division shall be made in the same manner as a claim under division (A) of this section.

Attorney’s fees payable under this division shall be limited to the actual hourly fee charged or one hundred dollars per hour, whichever is less, and to a total maximum amount of three hundred dollars.

  Previous section
Next section  
 Chapter 926 Contents