Guide
In general civil and commercial transactions, if the creditor fails to recover from the debtor for more than three years from the date on which the creditor knows or should know that its rights have been damaged, the law no longer protects its creditor's rights, that is, the creditor loses the right to prevail. However, there are still a variety of special statute of limitations provisions for civil and commercial transactions, and the statute of limitations for the right of recourse for negotiable instruments is one of them. In recent years, due to the acceptor's financial problems, there have been many cases of commercial acceptance bills bouncing, and in this issue of the official account, we will explain to you the statute of limitations for the right of recourse of bills through cases.
In civil and commercial law, the limitation period for the right of recourse for negotiable instruments
1. Company A issues a commercial acceptance bill with Company B as the acceptor to Company C, with the date of issuance on January 1, 2022 and the maturity date on December 31, 2022. Before the acceptance expired, Company C endorsed the bill of exchange to Company D, which in turn endorsed Company E, which in turn endorsed Company F. On December 31, 2022, the ticket holder of Company F reminded Company B that the payment was rejected. How long is the statute of limitations for Company F to maintain its rights in bills?
2. The statute of limitations for the right of recourse of negotiable instruments distinguishes the holder's right of recourse against the previous hand, the holder's right of recourse against the former hand, and the holder's right of recourse against the drawer and acceptor. The right to the instrument shall be extinguished if not exercised within the following periods:
(1) The bearer's right of recourse against the former hand shall be six months from the date of refusal to accept or refusal to pay. In other words, Company F should claim recourse against Company E, Company D or Company C within six months from the date of refusal of payment, otherwise its rights to Company E, Company D and Company C shall disappear.
(2) The bearer's recourse to the previous hand shall be three months from the date of settlement or the date of the lawsuit. In other words, if Company F seeks compensation from Company E, Company E should continue to seek recourse against Company D or Company C within three months after it repays or is sued by Company F, otherwise Company E's rights to Company D and Company C's notes will be lost.
In civil and commercial law, the limitation period for the right of recourse for negotiable instruments
(3) The rights of the bearer to the drawer and acceptor of the instrument shall be two years from the maturity date of the bill (two years from the date of issuance of bills of exchange and promissory notes payable at sight; the rights of the bearer to the drawer of the check shall be six months from the date of issuance). In other words, if Company F, Company E or Company D misses the time limit for recourse from the front hand, but it has not been more than two years from the date of refusal of payment, it can also seek recourse from Company A (drawer) and Company B (acceptor).
3. Finally, if the right of recourse for the instrument expires, but the underlying transaction relationship is still within the statute of limitations, the creditor may also consider claiming rights against the debtor based on the underlying transaction relationship. In other words, if Company F obtains the commercial draft involved in the case on the basis that it has sold goods to Company E, then the basic transaction relationship between the two parties is a sales contract relationship, and the statute of limitations is three years after the expiration of the payment period.
However, based on the non-causal nature of the bill, the right of recourse to claim the bill only needs to provide the bill and prove that the payment request was rejected within the specified time limit, while the claim for the payment obligation of the goods needs to prove that the delivery obligation has been completed, and the burden of proof is obviously heavier, in case the consignee claims that the delivery party has not delivered the goods in time, the delivery has quality problems, etc., the process of recovering the payment will become longer and full of risks.
In civil and commercial law, the limitation period for the right of recourse for negotiable instruments
4. Finally, in view of the space limitation of the official account, the issue of the interruption of the statute of limitations for the right of recourse for bills will not be extended. Once the bill in hand bounces, everyone should remember to protect their rights through legal means as soon as possible.
Source: Guangdong Right Law Firm
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