Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 76A.djvu/255

–159– -159Article B—Obligations and Rights of Warehousemen Upon Their Receipts § 1781. Obligation of warehouseman to deliver A warehouseman, in the absence of a lawful excuse provided by this subchapter, is bound to deliver the goods upon a demand made either by the holder of a receipt for the goods or by the depositor, if the demand is accompanied with: (1) an offer to satisfy the warehouseman's lien; (2) an offer to surrender the receipt if negotiable, with such indorsement as would be necessary for the negotiation of the receipt; and (3) a readiness and willingness to sign, when the goods are delivered, an acknowledgment that they have been delivered, if requested by the warehouseman. If the warehouseman refuses or fails to deliver the goods in compliance with a demand by the holder or depositor so accompanied, the burden is upon him to establish the existence of a lawful excuse for his refusal. § 1782. Justification of warehouseman in delivering A warehouseman is justified in delivering the goods, subject to sections 1783-1786 of this title, to one who is: (1) the person lawfully entitled to the possession of the goods, or his agent; (2) a person who is either himself entitled to delivery by the terms of a nonnegotiable receipt issued for the goods, or who has written authority from the person so entitled either indorsed upon the receipt or written upon another paper; or (3) a person in possession of a negotiable receipt by the terms of which the goods are deliverable to him or order or to bearer, or '' which has been indorsed to him or in blank by the person to whom delivery was promised by the terms of the receipt or by his mediate or immediate indorsee. § 1783. Warehouseman's liability for misdelivery If a warehouseman delivers the goods to one who is not in fact lawfully entitled to the possession of them, the warehouseman is liable as for conversion to all having a right of property or possession in the goods if he delivered the goods otherwise than as authorized by paragraphs (2) and (3) of section 1782 of this title, and though he delivered the goods as authorized by those paragraphs he is so liable, if prior to the delivery he had either: (1) been requested, by or on behalf of the person lawfully entitled to a right of property or possession in the goods, not to make delivery; or (2) had information that the delivery about to be made was to one not lawfully entitled to the possession of the goods. § 1784. Negotiable receipts must be cancelled when goods delivered Except as provided by section 1809 of this title, if a warehouseman delivers goods for which he had issued a negotiable receipt, the negotiation of which would transfer the right to the possession of the goods, and fails to take up and cancel the receipt, he is liable to anyone who purchases the receipt for value in good faith, for failure to deliver the goods to him, whether the purchaser acquired title to the receipt before or after the delivery of the goods by the warehouseman.

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