Me. Rev. Stat. tit. 33, § 2165 (2025)
1. Prima facie evidence of debt or obligation A record of a putative holder showing an unpaid debt or undischarged obligation is prima facie evidence of the debt or obligation.
[PL 2019, c. 498, §22 (NEW).]
2. Preponderance of evidence A putative holder may establish by a preponderance of the evidence that there is no unpaid debt or undischarged obligation for a debt or obligation described in subsection 1 or that the debt or obligation was not, or no longer is, a fixed and certain obligation of the putative holder.
[PL 2019, c. 498, §22 (NEW).]
3. Overcome prima facie evidence A putative holder may overcome prima facie evidence under subsection 1 by establishing by a preponderance of the evidence that a check, draft or similar instrument was:
A. Issued as an unaccepted offer in settlement of an unliquidated amount;
[PL 2019, c. 498, §22 (NEW).]
B. Issued but later was replaced with another instrument because the earlier instrument was lost or contained an error that was corrected;
[PL 2019, c. 498, §22 (NEW).]
C. Issued to a party affiliated with the issuer;
[PL 2019, c. 498, §22 (NEW).]
D. Paid, satisfied or discharged;
[PL 2019, c. 498, §22 (NEW).]
E. Issued in error;
[PL 2019, c. 498, §22 (NEW).]
F. Issued without consideration;
[PL 2019, c. 498, §22 (NEW).]
G. Issued but there was a failure of consideration;
[PL 2019, c. 498, §22 (NEW).]
H. Voided not later than 90 days after issuance for a valid business reason set forth in a contemporaneous record; or
[PL 2019, c. 498, §22 (NEW).]
I. Issued but not delivered to a 3rd-party payee for a sufficient reason recorded within a reasonable time after issuance.
[PL 2019, c. 498, §22 (NEW).]
[PL 2019, c. 498, §22 (NEW).]
4. Evidence of course of dealing In asserting a defense under this section, and subject to section 2094, a putative holder may present evidence of a course of dealing between the putative holder and the apparent owner.
[PL 2019, c. 498, §22 (NEW).]
PL 2019, c. 498, §22 (NEW).