includes any bill of lading, dock warrant, quedan, or warehouse receipt or order for the delivery of goods, or any other document used in the ordinary course of business in the sale or transfer of goods, as proof of the possession or control of the goods, or authorizing or purporting to authorize the possessor of the document to transfer or receive, either by endorsement or by delivery, goods represented by such document. Two (2) Functions: 1. As evidence of the possession or control of the goods described therein; and 2. As the medium of transferring title and possession over the goods described therein, without having to effect actual delivery thereof. Jurisprudence: A warehouse receipt represents the goods, but the entrusting of the receipt is more than the mere delivery of the goods; it is a representation that the one to whom the possession of the receipt has been so entrusted has the title to the goods. The endorsement and delivery of a negotiable quedan prior to the filing of petition for insolvency, operates as the transfer of possession and ownership of the goods referred to therein, and had the effect of divorcing the property covered from the estate of the insolvent. Types of Documents of Title: 1. Negotiable Document of Title a document of title in which it is stated that the goods referred to therein are deliverable to bearer, or to order of any person named in such document. 2. Non-Negotiable Document of Title a document of title which does not state that the goods referred to therein are deliverable either to bearer or to the order of any person named therein. Take Note: Errors on documents of title do not destroy the negotiability of the same. Who can negotiate NDT? Page 1 of 2
1. The owner (the person to whom it is originally issued); and
2. Any person to whom its possession/custody has been entrusted by the owner How negotiation properly effected? 1. By delivery alone (without need of endorsement) If payable to the order or to bearer 2. By endorsement and delivery If endorsement in blank, may be renegotiated to another person
A Simple Guide for Drafting of Conveyances in India : Forms of Conveyances and Instruments executed in the Indian sub-continent along with Notes and Tips