(a) 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 Tennessee Code 66-29-160

  • 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.
  • Holder: means a person obligated to hold for the account of, or to deliver or pay to, the owner of property that is subject to this part. See Tennessee Code 66-29-102
  • 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.
  • Owner: includes :
    (A) A depositor, for a deposit. See Tennessee Code 66-29-102
  • Putative holder: means a person believed by the treasurer to be a holder, until the person pays or delivers to the treasurer property subject to this part or until a final determination is made that the person is a holder. See Tennessee Code 66-29-102
  • 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 Tennessee Code 66-29-102
  • 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.
(b) A putative holder may establish by a preponderance of the evidence that there is no unpaid debt or undischarged obligation with respect to such debt or obligation or that the debt or obligation was not, or no longer is, a fixed and certain obligation of the putative holder.
(c) A putative holder may overcome prima facie evidence under subsection (a) by establishing by a preponderance of the evidence that a check, draft, or similar instrument was:

(1) Issued as an unaccepted offer in settlement of an unliquidated amount;
(2) Issued but later replaced with another instrument because the earlier instrument was lost or contained errors that were corrected;
(3) Issued to a party affiliated with the issuer;
(4) Paid, satisfied, or discharged;
(5) Issued in error;
(6) Issued without consideration;
(7) Voided within a reasonable time after issuance for a valid business reason set forth in a contemporaneous record; or
(8) Issued but not delivered to the third-party payee for a sufficient reason recorded within a reasonable time after issuance.
(d) In asserting a defense under this section, a putative holder may present evidence of a course of dealing or custom and practice between the putative holder and the apparent owner.
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