Skip to main content

Com. Code, § 7403 · Chapter 4. Warehouse Receipts and Bills of Lading: General Obligations

Com. Code, § 7403

Verbatim from the official edition

Text — As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)

(a) A bailee shall deliver the goods to a person entitled under a document of title if the person complies with subdivisions (b) and (c), unless and to the extent that the bailee establishes any of the following:

(1) delivery of the goods to a person whose receipt was rightful as against the claimant;

(2) damage to or delay, loss, or destruction of the goods for which the bailee is not liable;

(3) previous sale or other disposition of the goods in lawful enforcement of a lien or on a warehouse’s lawful termination of storage;

(4) the exercise by a seller of its right to stop delivery pursuant to Section 2705 or by a lessor of its right to stop delivery pursuant to Section 10526;

(5) a diversion, reconsignment, or other disposition pursuant to Section 7303;

(6) release, satisfaction, or any other personal defense against the claimant; or

(7) any other lawful excuse.

(b) A person claiming goods covered by a document of title shall satisfy the bailee’s lien if the bailee so requests or if the bailee is prohibited by law from delivering the goods until the charges are paid.

(c) Unless a person claiming the goods is a person against which the document of title does not confer a right under subdivision (a) of Section 7503:

(1) the person claiming under a document shall surrender possession or control of any outstanding negotiable document covering the goods for cancellation or indication of partial deliveries; and

(2) the bailee shall cancel the document or conspicuously indicate in the document the partial delivery or the bailee is liable to any person to which the document is duly negotiated.

Notes and commentary — not statutory text

History

Repealed and added by Stats. 2006, Ch. 254, Sec. 49. Effective January 1, 2007.

Source of truth

Edition
As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
Official file
https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=COM&sectionNum=7403.
Text hash
sha256 f7818f8f8ea199949d4b2071cf31f5b6c90bc50d64e15ff067a5daaedbb7e87f
Composed by
compose_ca.py 2026-10-22: the Legislative Counsel's CAML content files read by a tokenizer (caml_readers.reader_a); an independent xml.etree reading (caml_readers.reader_b) agrees on every section

This section cites

Provisions in this library that the text above cites, as it prints each citation. A range cited as “ss. 61.13-61.16” links its first and last provisions.

Cited by 3 provisions

Provisions in this library whose text cites Com. Code, § 7403. Each shows the citation as that text prints it.

Procedural information only. Not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Confirm the current text with the official publisher before relying on it.