Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 77.djvu/668

 636

PUBLIC LAW 88-243-DEC. 30, 1963

[77 STAT.

§ 28:1—202. Prima facie evidence by third party documents A document in due form purporting- to be a bill of lading, policy or certificate of insurance, official weigher's or inspector's certificate, consular invoice, or any other document authorized or required by the contract to be issued by a third party shall be prima facie evidence of its own authenticity and genuineness and of the facts stated in the document by the third party. §28:1—203. Obligation of good faith Every contract or duty within this subtitle imposes an obligation of good faith in its performance or enforcement. §28:1—204. Time; reasonable time; "seasonably" (1) Whenever this subtitle requires any action to be taken within a reasonable time, any time which is not manifestly unreasonable may be fixed by agreement. (2) What is a reasonable time for taking any action depends on the nature, purpose and circumstances of such action. (3) An action is taken "seasonably" when it is taken at or within the time agreed or if no time is agreed at or within a reasonable time. §28:1—205. Course of dealing and usage of trade (1) A course of dealing is a sequence of previous conduct between the parties to a particular transaction which is fairly to be regarded as establishing a common basis of understanding for interpreting their expressions and other conduct. (2) A usage of trade is any practice or method of dealing having such regularity of observance m a place, vocation or trade as to justify an expectation that it will be observed with respect to the transaction in question. The existence and scope of such a usage are to be proved as facts. If it is established that such a usage is embodied in a written trade code or similar writing the interpretation of the writing is for the court. (3) A course of dealing between parties and any usage of trade in the vocation or trade in which they are engaged or of which they are or should be aware give particular meaning to and supplement or qualify terms of an agreement. (4) The express terms of an agreement and an applicable course of dealing or usage of trade shall be construed wherever reasonable as consistent with each other; but when such construction is unreasonable express terms control both course of dealing and usage of trade and couree of dealing controls usage of trade. (5) An applicable usage of trade in the place where any p a i t of {performance is to occur shall be used in interpreting the agreement as to that pait of the performance. (6) Evidence of a relevant usage of trade ofi'ered by one party is not admissible unless and until he has given the other party such notice as the court finds sufficient to prevent unfair surprise to the latter. §28:1—^206. Statute of frauds for kinds of personal property not otherwise covered (1) Except in the cases described in subsection (2) of this section a contract for the sale of j^ersonal jjroperty is not enforceable by way of action or defense beyond five thousand dollars in amount or value of remedy unless there is some writing which indicates that a contract for sale lias been made between the parties at a defined or stated price, reasonably identifies the subject matter, and is signed by the party against whom enforcement is sought or by his authorized agent. (2) Subsection (1) of this section does not apply to contracts for the sale of goods (section 28:2—201) nor of securities (section 28:8— 319) nor to security agreements (section 28:9—203).

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