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O.C.G.A. § 11-3-309

Enforcement of lost, destroyed, or stolen instrument

Applied in 1 court decision — leading case Citimortgage, Inc. v. Garcia (2022)

Most recently applied in Citimortgage, Inc. v. Garcia (July 2022)

Code 1981, § 11-3-309, enacted by Ga

(a) A person not in possession of an instrument is entitled to enforce the instrument if (i) the person was in possession of the instrument and entitled to enforce it when loss of possession occurred; (ii) the loss of possession was not the result of a transfer by the person or a lawful seizure; and (iii) the person cannot reasonably obtain possession of the instrument because the instrument was destroyed, its whereabouts cannot be determined, or it is in the wrongful possession of an unknown

person or a person that cannot be found or is not amenable to service of

process.

(b) A person seeking enforcement of an instrument under subsection (a) of this Code section must prove the terms of the instrument and the person’s right to enforce the instrument. If that proof is made, Code Section 11-3-308 applies to the case as if the person seeking enforcement had produced the instrument. The court may not enter judgment in favor of the person seeking enforcement unless it finds that the person required to pay the instrument is adequately protected against loss that might occur by reason of a claim by another person to enforce the instrument. Adequate protection may be provided by any reason-

able means.

Current official text: Official Code of Georgia Annotated (LexisNexis). Digitized from the Internet Archive scan of the OCGA. Reproduced from public-domain Georgia statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.