67-4a-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 Utah Code 67-4a-1005
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 property subject to this chapter. See Utah Code 67-4a-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 :
(i)
a depositor, for a deposit;
(ii)
a beneficiary, for a trust other than a deposit in trust;
(iii)
a creditor, claimant, or payee, for other property; and
(iv)
the lawful bearer of a record that may be used to obtain money, a reward, or a thing of value. See Utah Code 67-4a-102
Putative holder: means a person believed by the administrator to be a holder, until:
(a)
the person pays or delivers to the administrator property subject to this chapter; or
(b)
the administrator or a court makes a final determination that the person is or is not a holder. See Utah Code 67-4a-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 Utah Code 67-4a-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.
(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 within a reasonable time 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.
