Chapter 401

401.104 401.104 Construction against implied repeal. Chapters 401 to 411 being a general act intended as a unified coverage of its subject matter, no part of it shall be deemed to be impliedly repealed by subsequent legislation if such construction can reasonably be avoided.

401.104 History History: 2009 a. 320.

401.106 401.106 Use of singular and plural; gender. In chs. 401 to 411, unless the statutory context otherwise requires, all of the following apply:

401.106(1) (1) Words in the singular number include the plural, and those in the plural include the singular.

401.106(2) (2) Words of any gender also refer to any other gender.

401.106 History History: 2009 a. 320.

401.107 401.107 Captions. Section captions are part of chs. 401 to 411, notwithstanding s. 990.001 (6).

401.107 History History: 2009 a. 320.

subch. II of ch. 401 SUBCHAPTER II

GENERAL DEFINITIONS AND
PRINCIPLES OF INTERPRETATION

401.201 401.201 General definitions.

401.201(1) (1) Unless the context otherwise requires, words or phrases defined in this section, or in the additional definitions contained in chs. 402 to 411 that apply to particular chapters or subchapters thereof, have the meanings stated.

401.201(2) (2) Subject to definitions contained in chs. 402 to 411 that apply to particular chapters or subchapters thereof, in chs. 401 to 411:

401.201(2)(a) (a) “Action,” in the sense of a judicial proceeding, includes recoupment, counterclaim, setoff, suit in equity, and any other proceeding in which rights are determined.

401.201(2)(am) (am) “Aggrieved party” means a party entitled to pursue a remedy.

401.201(2)(b) (b) “Agreement” means the bargain of the parties in fact, as found in their language or inferred from other circumstances, including course of performance, course of dealing, or usage of trade as provided in s. 401.303. (Compare “Contract.”)

401.201(2)(c) (c) “Bank” means a person engaged in the business of banking and includes a savings bank, savings and loan association, credit union, and trust company.

401.201(2)(cm) (cm) “Bearer” means a person in control of a negotiable electronic document of title or person in possession of an instrument, negotiable tangible document of title, or certificated security payable to bearer or endorsed in blank.

401.201(2)(d) (d) “Bill of lading” means a document of title evidencing the receipt of goods for shipment issued by a person engaged in the business of directly or indirectly transporting or forwarding goods. The term does not include a warehouse receipt.

401.201(2)(dm) (dm) “Branch” includes a separately incorporated foreign branch of a bank.

401.201(2)(e) (e) “Burden of establishing” a fact means the burden of persuading the trier of fact that the existence of the fact is more probable than its nonexistence.

401.201(2)(em) (em) “Buyer in ordinary course of business” means a person that buys goods in good faith, without knowledge that the sale violates the rights of another person in the goods, and in the ordinary course from a person, other than a pawnbroker, in the business of selling goods of that kind. A person buys goods in the ordinary course if the sale to the person comports with the usual or customary practices in the kind of business in which the seller is engaged or with the seller’s own usual or customary practices. A person that sells oil, gas, or other minerals at the wellhead or minehead is a person in the business of selling goods of that kind. A buyer in ordinary course of business may buy for cash, by exchange of other property, or on secured or unsecured credit, and may acquire goods or documents of title under a preexisting contract for sale. Only a buyer that takes possession of the goods or has a right to recover the goods from the seller under ch. 402 may be a buyer in ordinary course of business. A person that acquires goods in a transfer in bulk or as security for or in total or partial satisfaction of a money debt is not a buyer in ordinary course of business.

401.201(2)(f) (f) “Conspicuous,” with reference to a term, means so written, displayed, or presented that a reasonable person against which it is to operate ought to have noticed it. Whether a term is “conspicuous” or not is a decision for the court. Conspicuous terms include any of the following:

401.201(2)(f)1. 1. A heading in capitals equal to or greater in size than the surrounding text, or in contrasting type, font, or color to the surrounding text of the same or lesser size.

401.201(2)(f)2. 2. Language in the body of a record or display in larger type than the surrounding text, or in contrasting type, font, or color to the surrounding text of the same size, or set off from surrounding text of the same size by symbols or other marks that call attention to the language.

401.201(2)(fm) (fm) “Consumer” means an individual who enters into a transaction primarily for personal, family, or household purposes.

401.201(2)(g) (g) “Contract” means the total legal obligation that results from the parties’ agreement as determined by chs. 401 to 411 as supplemented by any other applicable laws. (Compare “Agreement.”)

401.201(2)(gm) (gm) “Creditor” includes a general creditor, a secured creditor, a lien creditor, and any representative of creditors, including an assignee for the benefit of creditors, a trustee in bankruptcy, a receiver in equity, and an executor or administrator of an insolvent debtor’s or assignor’s estate.

401.201(2)(h) (h) “Defendant” includes a person in the position of defendant in a counterclaim or 3rd party claim.

401.201(2)(hm) (hm) “Delivery” with respect to electronic documents of title means voluntary transfer of control and with respect to instruments, tangible documents of title, chattel paper, or certificated securities means voluntary transfer of possession.

401.201(2)(i) (i) “Document of title” means a record that in the regular course of business or financing is treated as adequately evidencing that the person in possession or control of the record is entitled to receive, control, hold, and dispose of the record and the goods the record covers; and that purports to be issued by or addressed to a bailee and to cover goods in the bailee’s possession which are either identified or are fungible portions of an identified mass. The term includes a bill of lading, transport document, dock warrant, dock receipt, warehouse receipt, and order for delivery of goods. An electronic document of title is evidenced by a record consisting of information stored in an electronic medium. A tangible document of title is evidenced by a record consisting of information that is inscribed on a tangible medium.

401.201(2)(im) (im) “Fault” means a wrongful act, omission, breach, or default.

401.201(2)(j) (j) “Fungible goods” means any of the following:

401.201(2)(j)1. 1. Goods of which any unit, by nature or usage of trade, is the equivalent of any other like unit.

401.201(2)(j)2. 2. Goods which by agreement are treated as equivalent.

401.201(2)(jm) (jm) “Genuine” means free of forgery or counterfeiting.

401.201(2)(k) (k) “Good faith” means honesty in fact in the conduct or transaction concerned.

401.201(2)(km) (km) “Holder” means any of the following:

401.201(2)(km)1. 1. The person in possession of a negotiable instrument that is payable either to bearer or to an identified person that is the person in possession.

401.201(2)(km)2. 2. A person in possession of a document of title if the goods are deliverable either to bearer or to the order of the person in possession.

401.201(2)(km)3. 3. A person in control of a negotiable electronic document of title.

401.201(2)(L) (L) “Insolvency proceeding” includes an assignment for the benefit of creditors or other proceeding intended to liquidate or rehabilitate the estate of the person involved.

401.201(2)(Lm) (Lm) “Insolvent” means any of the following:

401.201(2)(Lm)1. 1. Having generally ceased to pay debts in the ordinary course of business other than as a result of bona fide dispute.

401.201(2)(Lm)2. 2. Unable to pay debts as they become due.

401.201(2)(Lm)3. 3. Insolvent within the meaning of federal bankruptcy law.

401.201(2)(m) (m) “Money” means a medium of exchange currently authorized or adopted by a domestic or foreign government. The term includes a monetary unit of account established by an intergovernmental organization or by agreement between 2 or more countries.

401.201(2)(mm) (mm) “Organization” means a person other than an individual.

401.201(2)(n) (n) “Party,” as distinct from a “3rd party,” means a person that has engaged in a transaction or made an agreement subject to chs. 401 to 411.

401.201(2)(nm) (nm) “Person” means an individual, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, limited liability company, association, joint venture, government, governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality, public corporation, or any other legal or commercial entity.

401.201(2)(p) (p) “Present value” means the amount as of a date certain of one or more sums payable in the future, discounted to the date certain by use of either an interest rate specified by the parties if that rate is not manifestly unreasonable at the time the transaction is entered into or, if an interest rate is not so specified, a commercially reasonable rate that takes into account the facts and circumstances at the time the transaction is entered into.

401.201(2)(pm) (pm) “Presumption” or “presumed” means that the trier of fact must find the existence of the fact presumed unless and until evidence is introduced which would support a finding of its nonexistence.

401.201(2)(q) (q) “Purchase” means taking by sale, lease, discount, negotiation, mortgage, pledge, lien, security interest, issue or reissue, gift, or any other voluntary transaction creating an interest in property.

401.201(2)(qm) (qm) “Purchaser” means a person that takes by purchase.

401.201(2)(r) (r) “Record” means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in perceivable form.

401.201(2)(rm) (rm) “Remedy” means any remedial right to which an aggrieved party is entitled with or without resort to a tribunal.

401.201(2)(s) (s) “Representative” means any person empowered to act for another, including an agent, an officer of a corporation or association, and a trustee, executor, or administrator of an estate.

401.201(2)(sm) (sm) “Right” includes remedy.

401.201(2)(t) (t) “Security interest” means an interest in personal property or fixtures which secures payment or performance of an obligation. The term also includes any interest of a consignor and a buyer of accounts, chattel paper, a payment intangible, or a promissory note in a transaction that is subject to ch. 409. The special property interest of a buyer of goods on identification of those goods to a contract for sale under s. 402.401 is not a “security interest,” but a buyer may also acquire a “security interest” by complying with ch. 409. Except as otherwise provided in s. 402.505, the right of a seller or lessor of goods under ch. 402 or 411 to retain or acquire possession of the goods is not a “security interest,” but a seller or lessor may also acquire a “security interest” by complying with ch. 409. The retention or reservation of title by a seller of goods notwithstanding shipment or delivery to the buyer (s. 402.401) is limited in effect to a reservation of a “security interest.” Whether a transaction in the form of a lease creates a “security interest” is determined pursuant to s. 401.203.

401.201(2)(tm) (tm) “Send” in connection with a writing, record, or notice means any of the following:

401.201(2)(tm)1. 1. To deposit in the mail or deliver for transmission by any other usual means of communication with postage or cost of transmission provided for and properly addressed and, in the case of an instrument, to an address specified thereon or otherwise agreed, or if there be none to any address reasonable under the circumstances.

401.201(2)(tm)2. 2. In any other way to cause to be received any record or notice within the time it would have arrived if properly sent.

401.201(2)(u) (u) “Signed” includes any symbol executed or adopted with present intention to adopt or accept a writing.

401.201(2)(um) (um) “State” means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, or any territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States.

401.201(2)(v) (v) “Surety” includes a guarantor or other secondary obligor.

401.201(2)(vm) (vm) “Term” means a portion of an agreement that relates to a particular matter.

401.201(2)(w) (w) “Unauthorized signature” means a signature made without actual, implied, or apparent authority. The term includes a forgery.

401.201(2)(wm) (wm) “Warehouse receipt” means a receipt issued by a person engaged in the business of storing goods for hire.

401.201(2)(x) (x) “Writing” includes printing, typewriting, or any other intentional reduction to tangible form. “Written” has a corresponding meaning.

401.201 History History: 2009 a. 320.

401.202 401.202 Notice; knowledge.

401.202(1) (1) Subject to sub. (6), a person has “notice” of a fact if the person satisfies any of the following:

401.202(1)(a) (a) Has actual knowledge of it.

401.202(1)(b) (b) Has received a notice or notification of it.

401.202(1)(c) (c) From all the facts and circumstances known to the person at the time in question, has reason to know that it exists.

401.202(2) (2) “Knowledge” means actual knowledge.

401.202(3) (3) “Discover,” “learn,” or words of similar import refer to knowledge rather than to notice.

401.202(4) (4) A person “notifies” or “gives” a notice or notification to another by taking such steps as may be reasonably required to inform the other in ordinary course, whether or not the other person actually comes to know of it.

401.202(5) (5) Subject to sub. (6), a person “receives” a notice or notification when any of the following apply:

401.202(5)(a) (a) It comes to that person’s attention.

401.202(5)(b) (b) It is duly delivered in a form reasonable under the circumstances at the place of business through which the contract was made or at another location held out by that person as the place for receipt of such communications.

401.202(6) (6) Notice, knowledge, or a notice or notification received by an organization is effective for a particular transaction from the time it is brought to the attention of the individual conducting that transaction and, in any event, from the time it would have been brought to the individual’s attention if the organization had exercised due diligence. An organization exercises due diligence if it maintains reasonable routines for communicating significant information to the person conducting the transaction and there is reasonable compliance with the routines. Due diligence does not require an individual acting for the organization to communicate information unless the communication is part of the individual’s regular duties or the individual has reason to know of the transaction and that the transaction would be materially affected by the information.

401.202 History History: 2009 a. 320.

401.203 401.203 Lease distinguished from security interest.

401.203(1) (1) Whether a transaction in the form of a lease creates a lease or security interest is determined by the facts of each case.

401.203(2) (2) A transaction in the form of a lease creates a security interest if the consideration that the lessee is to pay the lessor for the right to possession and use of the goods is an obligation for the term of the lease and is not subject to termination by the lessee, and if any of the following apply:

401.203(2)(a) (a) The original term of the lease is equal to or greater than the remaining economic life of the goods.

401.203(2)(b) (b) The lessee is bound to renew the lease for the remaining economic life of the goods or is bound to become the owner of the goods.

401.203(2)(c) (c) The lessee has an option to renew the lease for the remaining economic life of the goods for no additional consideration or for nominal additional consideration upon compliance with the lease agreement.