N.D. Cent. Code § 41-02-66
(2-603) Merchant buyer's duties as to rightfully rejected goods
Redline — December 1, 2021 → current.View current text →
Current — January 1, 2022
As of December 1, 2021
(1) Subject to any security interest in the buyer (subsection 3 of section 41-02-90), when the seller has no agent or place of business at the market of rejection a merchant buyer is under a duty after rejection of goods in the merchant buyer’s possession or control to follow any reasonable instructions received from the seller with respect to the goods and in the absence of such instructions to make reasonable efforts to sell them for the seller’s account if they are perishable or threaten to decline in value speedily. Instructions are not reasonable if on demand indemnity for expenses is not forthcoming.
(1) Subject to any security interest in the buyer (subsection 3 of section 41-02-90), when the seller has no agent or place of business at the market of rejection a merchant buyer is under a duty after rejection of goods in the merchant buyer’s possession or control to follow any reasonable instructions received from the seller with respect to the goods and in the absence of such instructions to make reasonable efforts to sell them for the seller’s account if they are perishable or threaten to decline in value speedily. Instructions are not reasonable if on demand indemnity for expenses is not forthcoming.
(2) When the buyer sells goods under subsection 1, the buyer is entitled to reimbursement from the seller or out of the proceeds for reasonable expenses of caring for and selling them and, if the expenses include no selling commission, then to such commission as is usual in the trade or, if there is none, to a reasonable sum not exceeding ten percent on the gross proceeds.
(2) When the buyer sells goods under subsection 1, the buyer is entitled to reimbursement from the seller or out of the proceeds for reasonable expenses of caring for and selling them and, if the expenses include no selling commission, then to such commission as is usual in the trade or, if there is none, to a reasonable sum not exceeding ten percent on the gross proceeds.
(3) In complying with this section, the buyer is held only to good faith and good-faith conduct hereunder is neither acceptance nor conversion nor the basis of an action for damages.
(3) In complying with this section, the buyer is held only to good faith and good-faith conduct hereunder is neither acceptance nor conversion nor the basis of an action for damages.
(4) Since this section makes the resale of perishable goods an affirmative duty in contrast to a mere right to sell as under the case law, subsection (3) makes it clear that the buyer is liable only for the exercise of good faith in determining whether the value of the goods is sufficiently threatened to justify a quick resale or whether he has waited a sufficient length of time for instructions, or what a reasonable means and place of resale is.
(5) A buyer who fails to make a salvage sale when his duty to do so under this section has arisen is subject to damages pursuant to the section on liberal administration of remedies.
(6) Except as otherwise stated in this section, its provisions apply to all effective rejections, including rejections that are wrongful. Thus, any merchant buyer whose rejection is effective is subject to the duties set forth in the first sentence of subsection (1), and a merchant buyer that complies with those duties is entitled to the protection provided by subsection (3). However, the right to indemnity for expenses on demand under the second sentence of subsection (1) and the right to reimbursement for expenses and a commission under subsection (2) are limited to buyers whose rejections are rightful.
Official source: North Dakota Legislative Branch. Reproduced from public-domain North Dakota statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.