The Vermont Statutes Online

Title 27 : Property

Chapter 018 : Unclaimed Property

Subchapter 010 : Verified Report of Property; Examination of Records

• § 1565. Evidence of unpaid debt or undischarged obligation

  (a) A record of a putative holder showing an unpaid debt or undischarged obligation is prima facie evidence of the debt or obligation.

  (b) 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 (a) of this section 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) of this section 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 was replaced with another instrument because the earlier instrument was lost or contained an error that was corrected;

  (3) issued to a party affiliated with the issuer;

  (4) paid, satisfied, or discharged;

  (5) issued in error;

  (6) issued without consideration;

  (7) issued but there was a failure of consideration;

  (8) voided not later than 90 days after issuance for a valid business reason set forth in a contemporaneous record; or

  (9) 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 between the putative holder and the apparent owner or of custom and practice. (Added 2019, No. 93 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. Jan. 1, 2021.)